Moustached Warbler – Sabkhat Al Fasl

While ringing last Friday we trapped and ringed a Moustached Warbler. This is a local breeder in the Central region and Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia that is only a scarce migrant and winter visitor in the north of the country. The Moustached Warbler is now quite widespread in the Eastern Province, with the first record at Sabkhat al Fasl seen in 1990 but there are no breeding records from the site as yet.  There are breeding records from nearby where Brian Meadows found them at a small wetland in Jubail as well as at nearby Khafra Marsh about 30 kilometers south. Pairs have been seen at Sabkhat Al Fasl in April and May indicating a strong likelihood of breeding.  They tend to be resident on their breeding grounds but there is evidence for an influx of birds in winter to the area. It was a surprise find as we have not ringed the species before in Bahrain and it is mentioned as a vagrant there with less than 12 records. As Nicole had ringed them before in Turkey I ringed the bird and added it to my birds ringed list. Not bad for the first ringing expedition in Saudi Arabia for us. The first breeding site in Saudi Arabia was located at Hufuf in the Eastern Province. Breeding numbers are small and it will be interesting to see if we catch more of this species as the year progresses.

Ringing in Saudi Arabia - Sabkhat Al Fasl

After many years trying, I have finally managed to obtain permission to ring in Saudi Arabia from the Saudi Wildlife Authority. This will allow me to stay in the country that I am really interested in birding, rather than having to go to Bahrain to ring as previously. The main issue with Bahrain, apart from it not being my country of residence, and thus less interesting to me bird wise, is the trouble trying to get across the causeway. The customs and passport control can take anything from a few minutes to several hours and you are never really sure which one it will be. With my skill of always choosing the slowest moving queue, it was never a pleasant experience. I am very grateful to the Saudi Wildlife Authority, especially Ammar from Jubail for granting me permission as well as Mohammad Shobrak for putting me in contact with the correct people. I now have the Saudi Arabian bird rings in my possession and a signed letter from the Saudi Wildlife Authority for me to ring at Sabkhat Al Fasl as well as Dhahran and I am a very happy man. All the data gathered on the birds we ring will be passed on the Saudi Wildlife Authority for processing and safekeeping. Hopefully this will be a long a fruitful experience for both me as well as the Authority.

Common Kingfisher

Common Kingfisher

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Bluethroat

Bluethroat

Red-spotted Bluethroat

Red-spotted Bluethroat

Nicole and I went to Sabkhat Al Fasl on Friday 7 February for our first outing using Saudi Arabian rings and as such we were not sure where to set the nets. As I know this area very well I choose a place I thought would be good and quiet. We only set three nets as we started catching birds as soon as the first net was up. Unfortunately the wind got up and stopped ringing a bit early but we managed to catch a few good birds. Some of the birds caught we could not ring as we did not have the correct rings from Saudi Arabia, such as two female Common Kingfishers and a Graceful Prinia. We did ring nine Clamorous Reed Warblers, two Red-spotted Bluethroats and a new ringing species for me that I will post about later.