Clamorous reed warblers in Bahrain

This BBC video says about itself:

12 May 2012

In the Gulf on the coast of Bahrain, 100,000 Socotra Cormorants are settling down to nest. In the intense heat, the only nutrition to be had comes from the wind blowing in from the ocean, making the barren wasteland a fertile place to raise their young.

In Bahrain, there are not only clamorous royals and their propaganda lackeys, clamouring that their absolute monarchy is really a land of freedom … and clamorous political prisoners, clamouring because of being tortured … fortunately, there are clamorous reed warblers and other birds as well.

From Jem Babbington:

Nicole and I went ringing again at Alba Marsh on Friday morning. A very early start from Saudi Arabia to get across the causeway and to the Alba Marsh site in Bahrain by first light was undertaken and after setting the nets it became apparent there were a few more birds about than the previous week.

As it turned out we caught a few more birds also, but almost all of them were Clamorous Reed Warblers with four re-traps from 2011 or 2012 amongst them all from the same site. I like Clamorous Reed Warblers more than almost any bird we catch and it was good to catch so many in a single session with the final total being nine birds.

We also caught a single Graceful Prinia, one Red-Backed Shrike (which was a new ringing species for me) and the first returning Common Chiffchaff of the year. A few birds were seen but not caught including two Purple Herons, two Eastern Marsh Harriers and lots of waders mainly Little Stint, Common Greenshank and Common Redshank.

We met a local hunter who had killed a Eurasian Teal and had a beautiful juvenile Gyr Falcon in his car which he said he was training to hunt.

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