I recently spent two days ringing in the
Tanoumah area with Chris Boland and Abdullah Alsuhaibany and trapped many
species I have not ringed previously. This area is part of the Asir Mountains
and is an endemic hotspot for animals, plants and birds and olds a number of
African species as well. As a result, we caught many birds, 70 on the first day
and 24 the next morning. Some of them only occur in the southwest such as
Arabian Warbler, Brown Woodland Warbler, Gambaga Flycatcher and Little Rock
Thrush. The recently proposed new Arabian Endemic species Arabian Green
Bee-eater was also caught as were the more widespread Eurasian Hoopoe, Palestine
Sunbird and Ruppell’s Weaver. Ringing was pleasant temperature wise but
difficult for the nets as it was in acacia scrub with plenty of thorns and with
large flying beetles that became caught in the net and then tried to chew their
way out. We set eight nets in various locations with all catching birds. The
nets were set in the open, between open acacia cover and in denser juniper
trees. Ringing was much easier for me than normal due to the excellent help of
Abdullah and Chris.
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| Green Bee-eater |
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| Arabian Warbler |
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| Arabian Warbler |
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| Brown Woodland Warbler |
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| Eurasian Hoopoe |
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| Eurasian Hoopoe |
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| Gambaga Flycatcher |
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| Little Rock Thrush |
 |
| Little Rock Thrush |
 |
| Palestine Sunbird |
 |
| Ruppell's Weaver |
