Black-headed Heron at Sabya Waste Water Lagoons – Bird records by Phil Roberts

On Phil’s trip to the south-west of Saudi Arabia he visited Sabya Waste Water Lagoons on 19 November 2013. The site is an excellent water area with large pools of waste water continually being filled by water trucks. Very good bird records have come from here in the past including Greater Painted Snipe on our last visit and Black-headed Heron seen by Lou Regenmorter on 6 June 2013, although unfortunately not there in July when we visited. Phil saw some very good birds here including Greater Painted Snipe on our last visit and Black-headed Heron seen by Lou Regenmorter on 6 June 2013, although unfortunately not there in July when we visited. Phil saw some very good birds here including Saudi Arabia’s fifth record of Black Headed Heron that he managed to photograph. On returning to the site on 22 November 2013 the Black-headed Heron was seen again and better photographs taken which Phil has kindly sent me and allowed me to use on my website and which is reproduced below.
Black-headed Heron is a vagrant to south-west Saudi Arabia with four records of five birds:
One Wadi Dhamat near Shuqayri 12 July 2010
Two Malaki Dam Lake 13 January 2011
Yanbu wate water pools April 2011
One Sabya waste water lagoons 6 June 2013
One Sabya waste water lagoons 10, 19 & 22 November 2013
ourtrecord of Black Headed Heron that he managed to photograph. On returning to the site on 22 November 2013 the Black-headed Heron was seen again and better photographs taken which Phil has kindly sent me and allowed me to use on my website and which is reproduced below.
Black-headed Heron is a vagrant to south-west Saudi Arabia with four records of five birds:
One Wadi Dhamat near Shuqayri 12 July 2010
Two Malaki Dam Lake 13 January 2011
Yanbu wate water pools April 2011
One Sabya waste water lagoons 6 June 2013
One Sabya waste water lagoons 10, 19 & 22 November 2013


Black-headed Heron

Other good birds seen by Phil included White-tailed Lapwing, a species that appears to winter in small numbers in the south-west of Saudi Arabia as well as many other commoner birds listed here 150+ Northern Shoveller, one Northern Pintail, three Little Grebes, five Glossy Ibis, five Squacco Herons, 150+ Western Cattle Egrets, one Little Egret, 20+ Black Kites, three Greater Spotted Eagles, one Eastern Imperial Eagle, 50 Common Moorhens, five Eurasian Coots, 50+ Black-winged Stilts, 20 Spur-winged Lapwings, five Common Snipe, one Black-tailed Godwit, two Green Sandpipers, four Wood Sandpipers, 25+ Little Stints, three Temmink's Stints, ten Ruff, two Common Sandpipers, five Whiskered Terns, five African Collared Doves, ten Laughing Doves, five Namaqua Doves, two African Palm Swifts, two Green Bee-eaters, one Daurian Shrikes, two White-spectacled Bulbuls, 20+ Ruppell's Weavers, two African Silverbills, five Yellow Wagtails and ten White Wagtails.