Whilst ringing at Alba Marsh last weekend we caught a very young, juvenile, Graceful Prinia. These birds are really beautiful and very small and often escape by creeping through the mesh of the nets, so to catch a very young bird was a pleasant surprise when I took it out of the bag. The graceful Prinia is a resident breeder in Bahrain and the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia and can be heard singing at the site form early February onwards throughout the summer. We have caught quite a few adult birds here over the last year, and I have personally ringed 22 birds at this site. This bird is the first juvenile I have ringed though. They are very light birds and the average weight of the birds I have ringed only comes to 6.9 grams.
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A late European Nightjar was seen just as it was getting dark as we were taking the nets down and male and female Little Bitterns were busy catching the last of the fish from an area near the nets before it got dark. Two adult Night Herons also came out just as it was getting dark, so maybe they are breeding in the marsh as well?
