Mud, Mud Glorious Mud - Flanders & Swann

Firstly today we welcome country number 166 to the readership, Uzbekistan and hope the new readers will pass the link on to friends and family. See Stat Counter at end of post.

The search for Relict Gull started in earnest today with a bus ride to the Ferry Terminal,

where Tree Sparrows abound,

and small port.

From where the reclaimation ends there are still extensive

Mud Flats and with the tide being at Low Water Springs

and the atmospher smoggy it was impossible to see the tide line.

Not the best conditions to see anything let alone a rare Gull, but there were other things on offer like this Good Luck Tree bedecked in scarfs and mementoes.

Along this stretch of coastline, where all the properties have falled derelict, must have been 'the' place to live at one time given all the houses complete with overhanging verandahs and

huge, now overgrown, gardens holding a wealth of wildlife.

Brown-eared Bulbul was first on the list here, followed by 2 World Lifers in quick succession by way of

the deminutive

Vinous-throated Parrotbill of which there were about 30, and

Eastern Buzzard

which was never positively identified from a series of poor photographs from last time.

Greatest surprise and startle

was this Korean Water-Deer

that in its hurry to escape did a full somersault

before disappearing into the dense undergrowth.

This is where the natural coastline ends, and since my last visit

this new sea defence wall along with a main road on the other side have been built.

A new groyne forming a small harbour has also been added, so little by little the foreshore depletes

and the mud continues. It was about here I found the carcass of another

Korean Water-Deer with tusks.

Then there was time to sort through what Gulls were there, and I make no appology for this short series of photographs of Black-tailed Gull,

a real belter I think (one of the best in the world) but not if you're 'oiled'!

especially in flight - what do you think? This is where I start to get a little out of my depth, so with little literature at hand, I'll venture that this is a

Mongolian Gull

with this more likely to be Vega Gull? This is the very spot were on my last visit there were a good number of Saunders' Gull, but none today. Nor, you'll not be surprised to know (you would have heard before now) was the a Relict Gull. There is a plan afoot for tomorrow so once again it's

NEVER SAY DIE!

To complete today's birds this Mallard showed up as the tide started rising, as did 6 Red-breasted Merganser, a handfull of Eastern Spot-bill Ducks and a Great Crested Grebe.

and finally, some action on the Stat Counter, with things going 'off-scale' such as UK passing the 35 thousand mark and the USA entering the 3 thousands. Just below and not surprisingly South Korea have joined the ranks of the Treble Figure Zone, along with Mexico while South Africa and Indonesia are now on the cusp of joining them.

	Num	Perc.	Country Name
	35789	75.20%	United Kingdom
	3038	6.38%	United States
	655	1.38%	Canada
	503	1.06%	Estonia
	497	1.04%	Germany
	447	0.94%	Australia
	421	0.88%	France
	338	0.71%	India
	330	0.69%	Netherlands
	327	0.69%	Italy
	296	0.62%	New Zealand
	290	0.61%	Spain
	271	0.57%	Brazil
	223	0.47%	Japan
	223	0.47%	Poland
	187	0.39%	Belgium
	179	0.38%	Sweden
	153	0.32%	Russian Federation
	126	0.26%	Korea, Republic Of
	113	0.24%	Ireland
	110	0.23%	Taiwan
	108	0.23%	Switzerland
	103	0.22%	Mexico
	99	0.21%	South Africa
	96	0.20%	Indonesia

While further down Uzbekistan join as our 166th country, once again WELCOME!

	1	0.00%	Afghanistan
	1	0.00%	Guyana
	1	0.00%	Seychelles
	1	0.00%	French Polynesia
	1	0.00%	Uzbekistan
	1	0.00%	Suriname
	1	0.00%	Botswana
	1	0.00%	Saint Lucia
	1	0.00%	Ghana
	1	0.00%	Bolivia
	1	0.00%	Turks And Caicos Islands
	1	0.00%	Cayman Islands
	1	0.00%	Cameroon
	1	0.00%	Mauritius
	1	0.00%	Kazakhstan
	1	0.00%	Honduras
	1	0.00%	Fiji
	1	0.00%	Martinique