Birds of Saudi Arabia: Some good birds – Sabya Waste Water Lagoons

I visited Sabya Waste Water Lagoons three times in late June 2015 and saw a lot of good birds in the area. As I spent more time than normal in the area I had time to explore further away from the lagoons and found good areas of Acacia scrub and well vegetated wadi and a large rubbish dump that I had not located before. I also found additional access to the ponds at the back making access much easier and viewing better than was previously the case. The rubbish dump was full of Black Kites with more than 50 birds around either flying over or resting around the edge of the dump in trees or on walls. Abdim’s Storks also used the dump to feed on in the late afternoon and hundreds of Ruppell’s Weavers were also present. The acacia scrub had old Arabian Golden Sparrow nests and plenty of Ruppell’s Weavers and Arabian Babblers. The wadi area had Blackstart and White-throated Bee-eaters and looks good for birds if more time can be spent there. The pools held Purple Heron, Grey Heron, Glossy Ibis, Common Moorhens, Western Cattle Egrets, Greater Painted Snipe and Black-winged Stilts but water bird numbers were down when compared to previous summer visits I have made. The area around the pond had Spur-winged Lapwings, White-spectacled Bulbul, Black Scrub Robin, Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse and Green Bee-eaters.