26 March 2017

Winter visitors and spring migrants together - Jubail

Birding the Jubail area a week ago is quite interesting as you can see winter visitors and spring migrants side by side. I saw a reasonable number of migrants as well as a few winter visitors with wintering birds still around in small numbers including Water Pipit, White Wagtail, Red-spotted Bluethroat and Greater Spotted Eagle. Many of the Water Pipits and some Red-spotted Bluethroats are already in summer plumage and will be leaving very soon for their breeding grounds. Summer migrants were mainly Barn Swallows, Sand Martins, Pallid Swifts and a few Yellow Wagtails of various subspecies but mainly Black-headed Wagtail. A single Citrine Wagtail was present with the Yellow Wagtails and this could either be a winter visitor as some winter in very small numbers or more likely a passage migrant as March is the best month for seeing the species in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom.
Water Pipit
Water Pipit
White Wagtail
White Wagtail
Greater Spotted Eagle
Greater Spotted Eagle
Red-spotted Bluethroat
Red-spotted Bluethroat
Black-headed Wagtail
Black-headed Wagtail
Black-headed Wagtail
Black-headed Wagtail
Citrine Wagtail
Citrine Wagtail