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18 September 2017

Ringing White-throated Kingfisher – Sabkaht Al Fasl

Whilst ringing on 15 September we trapped and ringed a White-throated Kingfisher. This is a scarce visitor to the Eastern Province although they may have bred in Jubail this year. Since 2012 birds have been seen regularly mainly in the Jubail to Dhahran areas. Sabkhat Al Fasl has had quite a few records recently with three birds wintering at the site in winter 2014-2015. Up until the end of last century it was regarded as a vagrant but its status has changed with more records since 2000. It was a big surprise to see the bird fly into the net whilst we were checking the final nets set over a small area of water. I had seen White-throated Kingfisher in a number of areas around this site over the years but never in this particular spot. This was a first ringing record for us and almost certainly for Saudi Arabia as well. The bird was in wing moult as can be seen from the bottom photo.
White-throated Kingfisher

White-throated Kingfisher