Ringing

Having opened the nets for two hours in the evening only 4 birds were caught. I don't generally ring sparrows as there are far too many in Bahrain and I would need 1000s of rings since we catch so many. I was struck by the bib on this guy and realised immediately that it was a bit different. Spanish sparrow is a new species for the ringing project. I wonder how many females we might have inadvertently thrown out of the nets! Photographs by Juhani Kyyro.

A small fall of reed warblers occurred recently and we ringed about half a dozen. Juhani Kyyro was with me when I caught this one. The bird was very small and the wing length (60mm) pointed towards Blyth's reed so I did a full set of measurements based on Svensson's Guide which confirmed it. Blyth's is a vagrant to Bahrain and has only been recorded a few times in the past 30 years. They normally overwinter in the Indian subcontinent. This one was fit and well with a fat score of 50. Photographed by Juhani.

I've just finished collating the ringing data in preparation for a submission to the BTO. Below are three photographs by Juhani of a weaver ringed on 11th May last. I am pretty sure it's a Yellow crowned bishop but if anyone can confirm this please contact me. The total list for ringing in Bahrain is now 1625 records including retraps. 82 species have been caught to date. The totals table will be updated shortly. Watch this spot!!