season, produced two flying young. Two pairs of Little Ringed Plovers 
Charadrius dubius also bred successfully. 
Perhaps the most interesting species at Azraq is the White-tailed Plover 
Chettusia leucura. The nearest regular breeding area is 600 km east in the 
marshes of the Euphrates, but in successive summers I have seen family 
groups at Azraq - two fannilies on 3 August 1989 and one on 23 July 1990. 
White-tailed Plovers are regularly seen in April, and there were one or 
two territorial pairs in April 1963. On 25 May 1991, an adult flew over 
with alarm-calling pratincoles, but could not be relocated. No-one has 
yet found a White-tailed Plover's nest at Azraq. 
At least 10 successful pairs of Yellow Wagtails Motacilla flava were seen 
in June 1991. The race involved has not previously been determined. 
Wallace (1983) saw males resembling M f flava with puzzling females 
with uniform dark heads, and was unsure of the race involved. Nelson 
(1973) thought his breeding record referred to Mffeldegg. My observations 
of Yellow Wagtails in the breeding season virtually all refer iofeldegg, but 
one pair feeding young on 28 June involved afeldegg male and a female 
with a clear supercilium resembling M//Ifli?a. 
Autumn and winter 
For much of the year, including the winter, even in wet years, the Azraq 
wetland now contains a very small amount of surface water - a far cry 
from the permanent lushness of the past. Apart from the pools in the 
villages themselves, the birds have to seek refuge on a small marsh 
formed by an artesian borehole and a small, recently dug area of fish 
pools. Both are near the town and since they are outside the Wetland 
Reserve, are often disturbed by frequent shooting or even the erection of 
a bedu tent nearby! Birdwatchers may be the only ones to benefit, as this 
paucity of water concentrates the birds, but it also means that birds have 
so few alternatives when disturbed. 
In autumn, these sites are magnets for birds as they are the only wetlands 
in the entire Jordanian desert. Birds of prey come in to drink, and waders 
and terns make use of the only pools for hundreds of kilometres. During 
two autumns, I have seen 15 species of raptor at the pools. Most notable 
were 66 drinking Montagu's Harriers Circus pygargus (8 September 1990) 
and 1 4 Honey Buzzard sPernisfl/Tzi^ons (15September 1990). Total numbers 
of birds rarely exceed 200, but the lack of large numbers is made up for 
by variety, with Baillon's Porzam pusilla, Little P parva and Spotted 
Crakes P porzam, Broad-billed Sandpipers Limicola falcinellus, Terek 
Sandpipers Xenus cinereus, Black-winged Pratincoles Pratincola nordmanni, 
Little Gulls Larus minutiis, Citrine Wagtails Motacilla citreola all seen in 
autumn. It shows how important such a small area of water is and how 
many birds are migrating across the desert. In winter, shooting leaves 
17 
