Bahrain Obs

Friday was dull and gloomy with a thick dust haze while Saturday bright and sunny - Still slow in terms of species and numbers turning up, the weekend was notable not for the first collared Pratincole more Yellow Wagtails, Pied Wheatears or Woodchat Shrikes but for an end of day spectacle put on over head by over three hundred House Martins three Swifts and a few swallows. Impossible to photograph, we had set up a net in a vain hope of catching some based on a tape lure - the flock whirled around the lure for half an hour before dusk. It was a low level stunning example of aerial ballet not a single bird caught and to our amazement as the flock came together in a tight knot on sunset, if by magic they were gone; heading north as if on a silent command. It was an evening to remember doubly so as Wales won the Grand slam by beating our Gaelic cousins the French. Sadly for Brendan the Irish lost to the perennial enemy the English.