One before the last ringing day at Lotan

Today, we had the penultimate ringing day at the ringing station here on Lotan. There were ups and downs in the ringing, and today we had only 27 birds in the nets, but of 15 different species. Highlights were two new species in the net, one Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) and one Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralliodes). 

The Squacco Heron had been near the nets for the past week, and never in it, but today, with a little more effort from our part, it was finally caught in the net. 

Squacco Heron

Squacco Heron with its bright white wings

The other bird was a Whinchat that was caught a little later during the day. Here are the pictures...

Whinchat

Black Bush Robin, photographed two years ago

In addition, we had another Rufous Bush Robin (Cercotrichas galactotes) in the net, and there are at least five males singing. Stay tuned for a next generation of Rufous Bush Robin. Yesterday, the biggest news was a Black Bush Robin (Cercotrichas podobe) that flew into the net before 6 a.m., but managed to fly out again. It did that to two nets, and still was not caught. It sat in a tree nearby, with its characteristic tail wag, and then was off to other parts.

Rufous Bush Robin

Around the net we also had one Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus) for the second day in a row, but no good pictures. Here is the best I could do, it only rested where there was no clear view of it, but here goes!

Golden Oriole', obscured by a Moringa tree