Spanish Sparrows a ringing ringing species for me in Saudi Arabia – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 8 January with Nicole we trapped and ringed a male and two female Spanish Sparrows. This is the first time either Nicole or I have ringed the species and made two new site species for the day after the Jack Snipe.

I had seen a small group of Spanish Sparrows near one of the main net rides and mentioned to Nicole that it would be great if we could catch some and on the next net round we caught a male and a female followed later by a second female. Spanish Sparrow has recently (the last three years) started occurring at Sabkhat Al Fasl in the winter with at least two groups regularly seen now.

They are not so common in the were where I live but occur much more frequently in the northern areas of the province as well as elsewhere in the north and west of the Kingdom.

Spanish Sparrows a ringing ringing species for me in Saudi Arabia – Sabkhat Al Fasl — Spanish Sparrow

Spanish Sparrow male %2526 female — Spanish Sparrows

Spanish Sparrow male %2526 female1 — Spanish Sparrows

Spanish Sparrow female — Spanish Sparrow

Spanish Sparrow female1 — Spanish Sparrow

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.