
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.

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.
 | 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 |  |