Citrine Wagtail Motacilla
citreola was until the last
few years a scarce
winter visitor to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, but more birds are now
being seen making it an uncommon winter visitor and passage migrant. Birds are
mainly seen from September until March with some adult birds amongst those seen
in early spring. Whilst birding at Sabkhat Al Fasl last weekend we found a
Citrine Wagtail in fine plumage. As with most Citrine Wagtails the bird was not
easy to photograph as it was mainly in an area of cover next to the waters
edge. It did show occasionally as it was being chased by a White Wagtail that
at ne stage flushed the bird onto the top of the reeds allowing one photographed
to be grabbed. Sabkhat Al Fasl is a good place to look for this species in
winter and I have seen two different birds in the last two weekends there. They
are quite secretive and appear to like shrubs near to the water, such as small
Tamarisk bushes.
 |