Ringing

At this time of the year we have to target species as they are passing through. On calm evenings we set up a net and tapelure swallows as they gather over the hay meadow at the chicken farm. These birds seem oblivious to Abdulla as he extracts the early birds from the net. We still haven't caught any adults this autumn. We keep expecting them as they usually show up towards the end of the migration. Perhaps they had a late nesting attempt this year?

Ringing of wheatears has hit an all time high with seven species including Mourning, Northern, Isabelline, Desert, Pied, Black-eared and Red-tailed Wheatears, all caught in the past 2 weeks. We have only ringed two mourning wheatears in the past, both of these in January. A blue rockthrush was also trapped this week, which is unusual for this time of year. Abdulla, who has vast experience of wheatears, has never seen such a large and diverse migration in October before. However migration patterns are dynamic and weather conditions have a dramatic effect on a daily basis.
Most of the birds have been trapped on the new lands at Busateen and Northern Newtown, two large areas on the northern shore of the Kingdom which are almost devoid of vegetation.

Mourning Wheatear

Blue Rockthrush

The ringing is slow with less than ten birds most days. However Abdulla had a new species, wryneck, and I had a new species for the project, Turtle Dove. Swallows and martins are coming through but most evenings it has been too windy for nets.