Ringing

Last evenings ringing session at Badaan Farm was one we initially endured rather than enjoyed - It was an extremely hot and humid, balmy evening with high irritant bug levels, well outside the comfort zone. Large numbers of Red-throated Pipits, Blue-cheeked and European Bee-eaters and various Shrikes sat mockingly on the Electrical wires close by watching our sweaty efforts as we set out four nets in sets of two across the partially harvested fields of tall sorghum grass. One set was placed under some power cables at the side of a track crossing the fields, close against the tall grass but directly under a power line than runs to a near by water pump. The other set close to the end of a harvested section.

Weather apart the catch was fairly light, we re-trapped the Savi’s Warbler (see below) from a previous session and added Great Reed Warbler (see below), Reed Warbler, several White-throats and Isabelline Shrikes to our list before turning our attention to the tape lure as the sun set and the few Swallows and Sand Martins hawking around. The tape attracted a small number of Martins and concentrated a flock of around twenty Swallows, which on this occasion only resulted in four Swallows being trapped. With no real twilight to mention here in the tropics, it was not long before we had taken out the last of the swallows from the net set with the tape lure and, so as usual made a return to our vehicles via the other nets. A last look around that we normally used to collapse the nets or raise them if we were staying late for Nightjars. In the nets under the power lines to our complete surprise was our prime candidate for ringing an Egyptian Nightjar Caprimulgus aegyptius, what’s more in the bottom shelf. The bird had obvious dipped down to avoid the overhead power lines got into the space between the grass and the net and with no where to go the rest is now history.

Soon forgotten were the bug bites and the sweat dripping from the end of our noses as we enjoyed our moment of success, ringed and documented the bird.

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Photographs by
Juhani Kyyrö
Electronic triple flash array used
juhani.kyyro@sci.fi www.virtual-bird.com, www.kyyro.com