Birds of Saudi Arabia: Bahrain - Ringing Little Bittern at Alba Marshes

12 December 2011

Bahrain - Ringing Little Bittern at Alba Marshes

I went ringing again at Alba Marshes in Bahrain and we caught an adult male Little Bittern. This was a new ringing species for Brendan so he ringed the bird and Abdulla kindly held it and allowed me to get some photographs of it. This bird, or a similar one, had been seen at the site the week previously but we were not expecting to catch it in a mist net. Brendan said it was caught by its bill in the net and took quite a long time to extract it, but all was done safely and the bird was in good condition. When released it flew straight into the deepest part of the reed beds. There is some pollution going on in the area at the moment and Abdulla flew over the site in the week and said that 75% of the reeds were dead. Brendan is going to see if he can speak to the right authorities to prevent more serious damage to this site which has been discussed as becoming a reserve. We ring at the far end of the reeds and the pollution is just now reaching the areas where we ring so if something does not happen soon we may not be able to continue ringing at this site.