27 October 2015

Ringing typical wetland birds – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Nicole and I went ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl 16 October and although we caught a few birds the numbers were well down on the previous weekend. The weather was extremely humid, so maybe this affected the bird numbers? We caught the typical wetland birds we normally catch with plenty of Indian (Clamorous) Reed Warblers and Common Kingfishers. We also caught several Great Reed Warblers, a juvenile Caspian (European) Reed Warbler, several Graceful Prinias and Barn Swallows. Two Little Bitterns were trapped along with a Turkestan Shrike and the first Bluethroat of the autumn, an immature female bird. It was quite hard work ringing in the high humidity but we ended up with 28 birds trapped and ringed in total so not too bad. Numbers decreased markedly around 09:00 hrs so we ended up getting home earlier than normal to cool off.
Indian Reed Warbler
Indian Reed Warbler
Great Reed Warbler
Great Reed Warbler
Great Reed Warbler
Great Reed Warbler
Caspian (European) Reed Warbler
Caspian (European) Reed Warbler
Common Kingfisher - female
Common Kingfisher - female
Common Kingfisher - male
Common Kingfisher - male
Little Bittern
Little Bittern