Bulletin 311 - China #11 - Gulls, tern, grebes

I had an 8 day birding to trip in eastern China with a wonderful guide Lin Zhang based in Shanghai. He is perfectly fluent in English. We visited 5 different locales. His website is here. FYI making contact within China by email is a problem as the government blocks some email accounts coming in including gmail.  So I had to contact him using MS Outlook. His email is zhanglinas@hotmail.com.

The lumping and splitting of gulls makes them a difficult family of birds and the multiple plumages as they progress form juvenile to adult over 3 or 4 years is challenging so I always use a guide. 

The small 12" Saunder's Gull (Choriocephalus saundersi) is listed as vulnerable with a very small range in eastern China. It is a black-headed gull in breeding plumage. It also has a distinctive underwing pattern.

Saunder's Gull - breeding adult

The 23" Heuglin's Gull (Larus fuscus) is now lumped within Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Heuglin's Gull (lumped with Lesser Black-backed Gull)

The 24" Mongolian Gull (Larus vegae) is currently lumped in with Vega Gull which itself was split from Herring Gull

Mongolian Gull (lumped with Vega Gull)

The 19" Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) is a white-headed gull with a black tail tipped in white. It is endemic to east Asia.

Black-tailed Gull

 The winter 16" Black-headed Gull  (Choriocephalus ridibundus) has a black spot behind the eye, red and black bill and black tips to primary wing feathers.

Black-headed Gull - adult winter

I also saw the Relict Gull another rare East Asian species and in my excitement to get closer to the bird, I forgot to take a photo before approaching the flock and they flew away. Live and learn - ugh.

The only tern I photographed was the 11" Whiskered Tern (Childonias hybrida). It is a small gray tern with a black whisker behind the bill. It is visible on a larger photo.

Whiskered Tern

The winter 11" Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) is mostly brown with a yellow eye. In summer he has a red throat and breast. We saw many of these cute birds in Poyang Lake area and I finally got some nice close-up photos.

Little Grebe - winter

The huge 19" Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) has a black and white neck and white face and rufous behind the eye and chin. The bushy crest is just visible.

Great Crested Grebe - breeding

I have put the different bird families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 33 of the 101 species of gulls and terns.

I have photos of 11 of the 22 species of grebes.

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2018 David McDonald

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