Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 8 January
I trapped a male Red-spotted Bluethroat that we had previously trapped in
January 2014. This bird had presumably been back to its breeding grounds in the
far north and then returned to spend its winter in exactly the same small area
of Sabkhat Al Fasl as where we originally trapped it showing it is site faithful
for its wintering area. Red-spotted Bluethroats are common winter visitors to
the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia where they remain until March before
heading off north to their breeding grounds. This is the second bird we have
retrapped the following winter and we are slowly building up a picture of their
arrival and departure dates as well as site faithfulness.
