The nets were opened before 5:30 this morning in anticipation of the hordes of birds that would be around. There are a total of twelve ringers to process them, but it was not to happen. By 10 a.m., and with high winds, we closed the nets and set to rest for the day. But then the call came that a Black Bush Robin (Cercotrichas podobe) was seen at the northern end of the residential area of Lotan.
Immediately everything went into high gear. First we located the bird and all had a good look at it, and then a total of four spring traps were set to try to get the bird. Three quarters of an hour later, and with the last trap set, we finally got the bird. It was taken to the ringing station, got a ring, was measured and weighed, and, after some photographs was released exactly where it had been captured. All this took no more than twenty minutes. It did remain in the area for quite a while afterwards, and then flew over the perimeter fence of the kibbutz.
When consulting the book "Birds of the Western Palearctic", Jan Visser and I noticed that the bird being described and the one we had in the hand was of the African nominate species and not of the Arabian subspecies. The wings are clearly orange-colored, reminiscent of the Tristram's Starling (Onychognathus tristramii), and the color can be seen in the pictures. Here are some of the pictures...
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| Black Bush Robin from exactly one year ago |
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| Black Bush Robin, version 2014 |
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