Ringing

The month finished with a couple of nice catches. Below is only the second ringed Black Eared Wheatear and a new species for Abdulla. He has now ringed over 550 birds of more than 70 species. He also ringed his first masked shrike yesterday.

We will upload the March monthly table for the last four years shortly

This weekend saw lots of birds stopping off on migration. We caught 12 birds in traps on Friday, ringed juvenile Palm Dove, Crested lark and Kentish Plover, and caught 22 birds on Saturday including two 'Southern Grey Shrikes'. We are confident that we have two different races of southern shrike passing through Bahrain. The typical southern grey with pink on the flanks and a white wing bar on the upper primaries, and a steppe grey which is grey, black and white and has an extensive white inner web on the secondaries in addition to the white on the upper primary. Current wisdom suggests that these are two races of southern grey shrike and that great greys do not occur in the middle east. Pics Howard King

Southern Grey Shrike Lanius meridionalis pallidirostris. We are currently collecting feathers and photographs in addition to biometric data of the birds we catch and intend using DNA barcoding of the Middle Eastern birds to try to shed more light on the Lanius complex on this side of their range.

When I took this Chiffchaff out of the net I assumed it was our first Willow Warbler of the season. However there was no obvious emargination on the 6th primary but the 2nd Primary length of 6/7 suggests it is a chiff. The chiffchaffs we catch here have a smaller tarsus, a longer wing, a longer bill (skull) and often weigh lighter than the western European birds. We are still waiting on our first willow warbler!

Of 16 Chiffchaff caught this one stood out. Its head was much more rounded than the other individuals and the colour was very washed out.

While conducting a survey in the south of the island on Saturday afternoon, Abdulla trapped a Great Grey Shrike. It proved to be the largest individual trapped here so far. However further to this the wing pattern as can be seen below was totally unlike any other bird caught thus far.
The Great Grey Shrikes passing through Bahrain don't conform to any of the races listed in the Svensson ringers guide and we are a little puzzled as to the racial origins. I welcome comments please bkavanagh@rcsi-mub.com

Still a bit dusty with a slight breeze after the weeks sandstorm - not as bad as in Saudi but it does get up your nose.

The Old Youth Hostel site at Al Jazair continues to deliver warblers chats and Shrikes on Friday morning while the gardens and palm groves of Buri delivered more wheatears and shrikes. The bird of the weekend had to be the Black Redstart that we enticed into a trap a first for the project.

Female Black Redstart - a project first

Isabelline Shrike

Chiffchaff

Palm Dove

A good mix of species today including the following. Of twelve birds ringed 4 were retraps from two days earlier. The highlight was our first rufous bushchat in beautiful condition after its winter holiday in Africa.

Rufous Bushchat - the seasons first

Isabelline Shrike

Female Redstart

Male Redstart

White-cheeked Bulbul

Brendan has started ringing at an additional site - the old scout camp south of Al Jazair Beach on the western shore. The first large patch of green for birds moving north along the coast - it looks to have the potential of a major fall out point for warblers in particular.

Chiffchaff

Lesser Whitethroat

Great Grey Shrike

Its been a rough few weeks as far as the weather goes wind wind and dust storms seem the norm these days - ringing continues however often using spring traps for birds like these two Pied Wheatear. Abdulla who from a boy has been trapping them now for good reason always manages if he spots one of any species to trap it successfully. The up dated records for the project can now be found by following the links to the side

Pied Wheatear