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30 June 2016

Ringing endemics – Tanoumah

I went to the southwest to try to catch Abyssinian White-eye to get blood samples to compare to the Mangrove White-eye we trapped and ringed last summer. The original plan was to ring at the top of the Raydah Escarpment, or at the farm on the Raydah Escarpment near Abha, but unfortunately we could not obtain permission from the Rangers to ring where we intended. As a result we headed 120 kilometres north and tried our luck in the Tanoumah area a location that holds all the Arabian endemics except Golden-winged Grosbeak and Arabian Accentor (which does not occur in Saudi Arabia at all). We managed to catch a number of endemic species including two Yemen Thrush, one Arabian Serin and a male Arabian Woodpecker. We also caught two (Arabian) Green Bee-eaters a taxon that some people regard as a full species like HBW. Handling these species was a real pleasure as not many people have ringed in Saudi Arabia and Yemen so I obtained some valuable biometric data from the birds. The Arabian Serin photographs below are by Chris Boland and I thank him for allowing me to use them on my website.
Yemen Thrush
Yemen Thrush
Yemen Thrush
Yemen Thrush
Yemen Thrush
Yemen Thrush
Arabian Serin
Arabian Serin
Arabian Serin
Arabian Serin
Arabian Woodpecker - male
Arabian Woodpecker - male
Arabian Woodpecker - male
Arabian Woodpecker - male