Birds of Saudi Arabia: Bahrain - Morning Ringing Session at Alba Marsh

I went ringing again at Alba Marshes in Bahrain with Brendan in the early morning. I was unable to go over to Bahrain in the afternoon due to family commitments so we went in the early morning. This was the first time we had tried the site in the morning and it proved to be very successful for us. Brendan and I put up three 18 metre mist nets in the normal place in the reed beds and a double panel 14 metre net to the side of one of the 18 metre nets. All nets caught birds and our final count for the morning amounted to 27 birds of nine different species. Abdulla and Mubarak came along just as we finished setting up the nets and Abdulla helped me with the ringing whilst Brendan was keeping an eye on the nets and me as well. I ringed Common Moorhen that I had not ringed before, and all the other birds mentioned with the exception of Little Bittern that Brendan had not ringed before. We had three re-traps including two Clamorous Reed Warblers and a Bluethroat, all of which had been ringed at the same site with one of the Clamorous Reed Warblers ringed in February 2011 as a breeding adult female with a brood patch. The final count was one Daurian Shrike, one Common Moorhen, one Little Bittern, one Graceful Prinia, two Water Pipits, three Common Chiffchaffs, four House Sparrows, five Bluethroats (plus a re-trap) and six Clamorous Reed Warbler (plus two re-traps).