Brendan recently sent me a ringing recovery of a European Roller that he and Abdullah trapped and ringed in Bahrain in 2008 that was found dead in the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia in 2014. It was a bit of a shame that it was not found on its wintering grounds as we could have found out a bit more about where it went but it is still very interesting.
The dates of ringing and finding are very similar so it would be interesting to know if it used a different route for both migrations as they are some distance apart or the route goes through both Riyadh and Bahrain? As the direction between the two points is not on the route for migration then it suggests the bird used a different migration route in 2008 than it did in 2014.
I would like to thank Brendan for sending me the details that are shown as follows: European Roller; Ring Number: DN76785; Ringing date: 11-Apr-2008; Ringing Place: Badan Farm, West Manama, Bahrain, Bahrain & Qatar (Co-ords: 26deg 7min N 50deg 27min E); Age: Adult; Ringer: B Kavanagh, 4736; Finding date: 15-Apr-2014; Finding Place: Al Aflaj area, Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia (Co-ords: 22deg 3min N 46deg 34min E); Finding Condition: Bird found dead; Duration: 2195 days; Distance: 599 km; Direction: 221 deg (SW); Finder: Anonymous
Jem Babbington
Jem Babbington is a keen birder and amateur photographer located in Dhahran, Eastern Saudi Arabia where he goes birding every day. Jem was born in England and is a serious local patch and local area birder who has been birding for almost forty years and has birded in more than fifty countries. Jem is learning to ring birds in Bahrain as a perfect way to learn more about the birds of the area. Saudi Arabia is a very much under-watched and under-recorded country.
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