Hypocolius and the Diplomatic Quarter
Just how do you count very large numbers of birds? I had this problem when I visited the Diplomatic Quarter (DQ) of Riyadh on Friday to see a couple of friends and do some birding in the landscaped...
View ArticleFirst Water Pipit of winter – Alba Marsh (Bahrain)
Nicole and I went ringing again at our regular ringing site of Alba Marsh at the weekend. We set off to be at the site before first light to set the nets up, but due to an unforeseen incident on the...
View ArticleKingfishers
In the last few years I have been fortunate enough to have visited four continents, (if you include my home in Europe) and in the next few days I am off to Africa, my fifth! In the UK the Common...
View ArticleRinging at Alba Marsh (Bahrain)
Nicole and I went ringing again at Alba Marsh very early in the morning. This was our first ringing trip for a month as I was away for Christmas and we were interested to see what had changed. We got...
View ArticleKing of Fishers – the Common Kingfisher
The Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) also known as Eurasian Kingfisher or River Kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and...
View ArticleA scattering of migrants – Sabkhat Al Fasl
An early morning trip to Sabkhat Al Fasl proved that spring has arrived in Eastern Saudi Arabia even if the weather was cold and windy. There were quite a few migrants about all-be-it not in large...
View ArticleMigration non-stop
The season proceeds and with it there are evident changes both in the field and at the ringing station. Today we said goodbye for Arnold and Luc from Holland who has been with us for 4 & 2 weeks...
View ArticleHyotanike Lake
This morning I had a little bit of time and the weather was great, so I went to nearby Hyotanike lake to see what was happening. This lake has very nice scenery but is usually a bit low on bird life...
View ArticleWestern Marsh Harriers returning for the winter – Sabkhat Al Fasl
An early morning trip to Sabkhat Al Fasl arriving at first light showed me that many Western Marsh Harriers had returned for the winter. At one point eight birds were in the air together and a minimum...
View ArticleRed-spotted Bluethroat – Alba Marsh (Bahrain)
An early morning trip to Bahrain to go ringing proved quite successful for us with 22 birds caught of eight species. Quite a few re-traps were processes all of which had been ringed at the same site...
View ArticlePied Kingfisher and Common Kingfisher – Alba Marsh (Bahrain)
Whilst ringing at Alba Marsh over the weekend I saw a Pied Kingfisher at the marsh. The bird flew over and perched on top of one of the net poles but did not go into the net. Pied Kingfisher is a...
View ArticleBeautiful Feather Pictures – Birds Flaunt Majestic Tails and Dramatic Collars
A male greater bird of paradise (Paradisaea apoda) poses in the hope of attracting a female in the Aru Islands of Indonesia. This courtship display happens on treetop branches the birds have stripped...
View ArticleThe first signs of migration starting – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Migration starts very early in Saudi Arabia compared to my home country of the UK. Here migrants can be seen in January and by early February numbers are increasing. The first signs of migration are...
View ArticleKing of Fishers – the Common Kingfisher
The Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) also known as Eurasian Kingfisher or River Kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North...
View ArticleA good ringing session – Sabkhat Al Fasl
Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 9 October 2015 we caught 44 birds which is the highest number we have caught in a single day. We set nine 18 metre nets in our normal locations in the reed bed site...
View ArticleDive-bombing kingfisher’s underwater hunt caught on camera
If ever we needed proof that the kingfisher really is king of the fishers, here it is. Wildlife photographer Paul Sawer captured these incredible images of the bird’s hunting skills at a pond in...
View ArticleThe first male Pied Kingfisher of the autumn – Sabkhat Al Fasl
As mentioned previously there has been a major arrival of Pied Kingfishers into Eastern Arabia this winter including a minimum of ten birds at Sabkhat Al Fasl. All the birds photographed and the one...
View ArticleWaders, Winterers and residents – Sabkhat Al Fasl
My last trip to Sabkhat Al Fasl produced a number of waders of various species including the highest number of Marsh Sandpipers I have seen for a while. Most waders were Dunlins with good numbers of...
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