Whilst birding the Jubail area in early May I came across a small group of thunbergi Yellow Wagtails. They are also known as Grey-headed Wagtail and occur from Scandinavia eastwards to northwest Siberia and they winter mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and across South & southeast Asia. Yellow Wagtails are common in Jubail throughout the spring with various subspecies passing but thunbergi appears to be one of the late passing subspecies with most records occurring in late April and May. These birds fit the pattern of occurrence nicely. One or two birds showed a pattern of marks across the breast forming a necklace, a feature I had not noticed previously. As always with wagtails they were difficult to get good photographs of as they are always moving and in areas with lots of vegetation. My best shots are shown below.
