Ringing

Ringing has been continuing at A'Ali farm with blackcap, whitethroat and a gansie load of bulbuls. We are up to over 100 birds for September so far. The traps are now starting to work well with Abdulla catching 14 wheatears in the past 2 days.
Below is a selection of shots in the hand. A pied and a blackeared wheatear for comparison. Note the tail and black bib differences.

Over the summer we applied to the Minister for Agriculture for access to the experimental farm west of Isa town. Thanks to some serious follow up by Abdulla we managed to get limited access for Abdulla and I and our cars. The site looks very promising with groves of fruit trees and palm trees interspersed with irrigated grassland and scrub. The security is tight which means it is relatively safe to leave nets furrelled up but in place in some areas.
This weekend we managed to catch 27 birds including 1 barred warbler, 1 whitethroat, 1 isabelline shrike, 2 great reed warblers, 3 rufous bushchats, 3 red-vented bulbuls and 14 white-cheeked bulbuls. One each of collared and palm doves. I'll give more details in another posting.

While out around Busaiteen I came across a reasonable sized flock of Lesser Crested Terns - although close approach was not possible (soft sand) I did manage a few distant shots. When I viewed them on my computer I was surprised to find one a 1cy bird had a ring - It must be one of Brendan's from the Jarim Colony ringed earlier in the year.

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