Bahrain’s second Paddyfield Warbler trapped and ringed – Alba Marsh

Paddyfield Warbler is a rare vagrant in the Arabian Peninsula with very few records documented. Kuwait has three records one in August 2012, one October 2013 and one September 2014, Saudi Arabia has yet to record the species, Qatar has two records in December 2011 and November 2013, United Arab Emirates has two records January 2000 and October 2007 and in Oman it is a vagrant. Bahrain also has only two records with the first a bird seen in the late morning of 13 September 1991 at Ghalali, close to the airport at Muharraq in an area of fields with crops such as sorghum and grass, ditches and lines of small palm trees along the tracks between the fields and the second the bird we trapped and ringed at Alba Marsh 28 November 2014. The bird was trapped along the edge of a small marsh where we have been ringing for a number of years. We had not ringed at the site since January 2014 as we are now spending time at a larger site in Saudi Arabia that has easier access but went back to meet up with our ringing trainer Brendan Kavanagh who was visiting Bahrain and had no visa to enter Saudi Arabia. As a result we went to Bahrain to meet up and trapped the Paddyfield Warbler that certainly made the trip very worthwhile. As it was only the second record for the country it was obviously a new ringing species for the Bahrain ringing project and was good timing by Brendan to be there when it was trapped as he set up the ringing group but is now back in Ireland with his work.

North Caspian Taxon Eastern Stonechat S. m. hemprichii trapped and ringed in Bahrain – Alba Marsh

The latest data on the Stonechat Saxicola torquatus has found convincing reasons for recognising three species: European Stonechat S. rubicola, Eastern Stonechat S. Maurus and African Stonechat S. torqatus. The taxa breeding in the Caspian region, both of which winter in Saudi Arabia, were revisited and after studying the type description and various museum specimens it was concluded that the name variegatus should not be applied to the taxon breeding north of the Caucasus but rather to the population in eastern Turkey and Transcaucasia presently named armenicus. This means the former variegatus, northern Caspian population, needed a new name with hemprichii being the oldest available and valid name for the population. The paper also called hemprichii (formerly variegatus) North Caspian Taxon (NCT) and variegatus (formerly armenicus) South Caspian Taxon (SCT). The northern population NCT has a very characteristic male plumage with white portions on each side of the outer tail extending to half to three-quarters of the tail feather length, similar to many Wheatears and Red-backed Shrike. This can be seen easily when perched birds spread their tail or when birds fly but on perched birds with tails closed it can often not be seen. NCT also has a large unstreaked pale rump patch, buffish when fresh becoming white when abraded. In comparison European Stonechat has a streaked rump with usually limited white. Females are more difficult as they resemble both SCT and nominate birds and often need the tail coverts to be lifted to see the white (even in the hand), with a few females lacking any white at all. The South Caspian Taxon is similar to NCT birds but is larger, although a number of measurements overlap, has less white on the tail bases in male plumage (normally one-third to half the tail feathers white) often not visible in flight. Females invariably lack white in the tail. We caught a first year male NCT Eastern Stonechat S. m. hemprichii at Alba Marsh 28 November 2014 and studied the bird in the hand. It was sexed as a male due to the dark axillaries and dark feathers on the throat when these feathers were moved to expose the colour below. This is only the second Stonechat we have caught with the first not assigned properly due to the fact I did not lift the tail coverts to expose any white on the base of the tail feathers that it appeared to lack. I would like to thank Yoav Perlman for informing me of the need to lift the tail coverts to see the white on some birds in the hand, allowing me to do this on this bird and any subsequent ones we catch. Eastern Stonechat Saxicola maurus is an uncommon passage migrant and winter visitor with NCT Saxicola maurus hemprichii and STC Saxicola maurus variegatus occurring but NCT birds being the commoner type. Migrants occur mainly from March to April and September to November with many birds spending the winter where they are often seen in open areas with scattered bushes and in reeds beds near wetland areas as well as open fields.

Little Bitterns – Alba Marsh (Bahrain)

Nicole and I ring mainly at a small marsh on the east side of Bahrain. The marsh is less than one kilometre square, possibly half this size and comprises areas of deep water and extensive phragmites reed beds. There are a few scattered tamarix bushes within the marsh and wet areas with muddy edges near the sides. Many areas are too deep to access but we have a small area were it is possible to set nets. Reed cutters come every weekend to cut reeds for their animals and this helps maintain the marsh in a suitable condition to ring as the reeds grow extremely fast and swamp the area in a very short time if not cut. The marsh is good for typical marsh birds with herons numerous. The Indian Reef Herons and Little Egrets have yet to be caught but we have started to catch a few Little Bitterns. They are relatively common on the marsh and are seen almost every visit, particularly just after first light. Below are photographs of two male Little Bitterns we caught last weekend and photos of a female can be seen in my last post on ringing at the marsh.

Pied Kingfisher & Common Kingfisher – Alba Marsh (Bahrain)

Whilst ringing at Alba Marsh over the weekend I saw a Pied Kingfisher at the marsh. The bird flew over and perched on top of one of the net poles but did not go into the net. Pied Kingfisher is a scarce winter visitor to Bahrain with the last record I know of being a bird at the same site in winter 2011/12. I have only seen a single bird in Saudi Arabia at Sabkhat Al Fasl in winter the same winter as the Bahrain bird above. Along with the Pied Kingfisher were at least three Common Kingfishers and although I did not photograph the Pied Kingfisher I did get some pictures of the Common Kingfishers. Other good birds seen included a Marsh Sandpiper, one Common Redshank, 10 Black-winged Stilts, four Little Bitterns and a Marsh Harrier.

Common Kingfisher

Common Kingfisher

Little Bittern - adult male

Eye colour of juvenile and adult Clamorous Reed Warblers – Alba Marsh (Bahrain)

Whilst ringing at Alba Marsh Bahrain we have caught and ringed over 50 Clamorous Reed Warblers. As the species is mainly sedentary, and the marsh is a small size, we re-trap quite a number of birds each year. This allows us to confidently age them as adults if the re-trap date is more than one year after original trapping. Although we have not done a scientific study of the birds it has become apparent that the eye colour of Clamorous Reed Warblers alters with age from a dull grey brown to a rich brownish. This has been noted before in European Reed Warblers (Karlsson K, Persson K & Walinder G 1988: Var Fagelvard 47 : 141-146) although we were unaware of this paper when we first thought the eye colour may change in adult birds. We have little data on Clamorous Reed Warblers and so this appears it may to be a good way to age birds. We will continue monitoring this as well as checking tongue spots and tarsus colour as this is also mentioned in the paper for European Reed Warblers as ways to help with ageing.

Clamorous Reed Warbler - Juvenile

Clamorous Reed Warbler - Juvenile

Clamorous Reed Warbler - Juvenile

Clamorous Reed Warbler - adult

Clamorous Reed Warbler - adult

Clamorous Reed Warbler - adult

Clamorous Reed Warbler - adult

Clamorous Reed Warbler - adult

Change to the Status of Savis Warbler in Bahrain – Alba Marsh (Bahrain)

An early morning ringing trip to Alba Marsh in Bahrain in mid-October produced another Savi’s Warbler. This is the fourth record of the species we have had from this small marsh in Bahrain. Prior to ringing at the marsh there had only been a few records of the species recorded from Bahrain and it was regarded as a vagrant. We have caught birds in the spring and autumn and the true status of the species is probably a scarce passage migrant, which is similar to the status of nearby Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. This is a useful piece of information that has been added during out small scale ringing project and as the species is not easy to see I suppose this has always been the status but birds just have not been seen by the limited number of birders that bird or have birded the country. This bird was in wing moult.

Possible breeding of Great Reed Warbler a first for Bahrain – Alba Marsh (Bahrain)

On Saturday 12 October 2013 Nicole and I caught a very young Great Reed Warbler at Alba Marsh in Bahrain. The bird had a patch on the belly indicating it was just out of the nest as well as a fairly obvious yellow gape (see photographs below). Due to these reasons we initially thought the bird was a Clamorous Reed Warbler as they breed in Bahrain at Alba Marsh but after taking wing measurements it became apparent the bird was a Great Reed Warbler. We also caught three other Great Reed Warblers on the same day including adult birds. The fact the bird was so young suggests it may have bred at the site, which, as far as I know, would be a first occurrence for Bahrain. Bill measurements as well as all other ringing data also confirmed the bird was a Great Reed Warbler rather than a Clamorous Reed Warbler. Great Reed Warbler has bred in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia as well as in Kuwait but most records refer to birds breeding in the summer months. They breed from April to August in northern Europe, but during the winter in parts of Africa so it is possible they could breed much later than August in Bahrain. The late date of this bird could indicate it was a passage migrant, and I am unaware of how young birds can be before migrating? I am trying to find out more information on the breeding of Great Reed Warbler and will report further if more interesting information becomes available.

Great Reed Warbler & Clamorous Reed Warbler - Alba Marsh (Bahrain)

Whilst ringing at Alba Marsh (Bahrain) in the early morning of last weekend we caught four Great Reed Warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus and a single Clamorous Reed Warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus. We caught a Clamorous Reed Warbler and a Great Reed Warbler in the same net on the same net round allowing me to take a few photographs of both species in the hand together, something that has probably not happened too often. The Clamorous Reed Warbler is mainly sedentary, although some perform short distance migrations, and the Great Reed Warbler is a long-distance migrant throughout its range. The Clamorous Reed Warbler is largely a breeding resident in Arabia with the only positively identified race occurring in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia as Bahrain is A. s. brunnescens which has a longer primary projection and shorter thicker bill than A. s. stentoreus making it look more like a Great Reed Warbler than many people think. We do trap birds on passage in autumn with much narrower and longer bills with shorter wings, such as the one shown below. These birds may be from the northern form A. s. stentoreus? Although currently this subspecies is only recorded as occurring in Egypt, including Sinai and Levant. They are darker/warmer and more buff coloured over most of the under-parts with a very restricted whitish area on the mid-belly, throat and chin, which is sometimes absent. Breeding birds in the region prefer phragmites reed beds rather than mangroves which is their preferred habitat in the United Arab Emirates.

Great Reed Warbler (left) & Clamorous Reed Warbler (right)

Clamorous Reed Warbler (left) & Great Reed Warbler (right)

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Great Reed Warbler

Great Reed Warbler

Above are a few photographs of both Great Reed Warbler and Clamorous Reed Warbler with side by side birds in a couple. All photographs were taken in Bahrain in October 2013. A good way to identify the two species are the wing shape and primary length with Clamorous Reed Warbler A. s. brunnescens having a short primary projection about two thirds the tertial length (half the tertial length on A. s. stentoreus) and Great Reed Warbler A. a. arundinaceus having a longer primary projection as long as the exposed tertail length. The longest primary is normally p3 for Great Reed Warbler and P3/4 for Clamorous Reed Warbler.

Eurasian Wryneck new ringing species - Alba Marsh

Whilst ringing at Alba Marsh last weekend we caught a Eurasian Wryneck. The net we caught the bird in was placed at the edge of the reed beds between two small Tamarisk bushes and the bird was the last bird we caught during the day. It was a very pleasant surprise when I saw it in the net, although I thought it was a shrike from a distance. They are really beautiful birds and the movement of their necks when in the hand is quite comical.

 

This was a new ringing species for me and although Nicole had not ringed one in Bahrain before she had done so in Turkey so I got the chance to ring the bird. It was certainly a great way to end a slow but enjoyable days ringing back on the marsh. We also cut a couple of new rides to use next time we are back at the marsh as the site has grown a lot over the summer and reed cutters have cut the reeds in a couple of places we sued to set nets.

Savi’s Warbler and more - Ringing at Alba Marsh (Bahrain)

Nicole and I went ringing last weekend for the first time since last spring. The temperature is now low enough to get back to ringing and as a result we got to the site early. We had to cut a few new net rides and it took a little longer to set the nets than normal as we were out of practice but by 06:30 everything was up and running. We caught ten birds in total including a Common Moorhen, Clamorous Reed Warbler re-trapped at the same site from 2 November 2012, six European Reed Warblers and a Wryneck.

European Reed Warbler

European Reed Warbler

Common Moorhen - juvenile

 The best birds for us were the Wryneck but especially the Savi’s Warbler which is the third we have caught at the same site. It is a good bird for Bahrain where it is currently classed as a vagrant with birds seen in both spring and autumn migration periods. The fact we have caught three different birds in two years at the same site indicate they are a scarce passage migrant rather than a vagrant and this will need to be updated by the relevant authorities over time. The subspecies of Savi’s Warbler that occurs in the region is Locustella luscinoides fusca which is more olive brown with paler under-parts and more obvious white tips to the under-tail coverts than the nominate European form L l luscinodes making it look slightly different. They are certainly dark looking birds compared to the Reed Warblers we were catching.

Savi's Warbler

Savi's Warbler

Savi's Warbler

Savi's Warbler