Relict and Saunders' Gulls at Beidahe, China (2 Viewers)

[Edward woodwood]

Hi all

prior to the OBC Tibet trip my friend and i are thinking of spending a week around Beijing and Beidahe, primarily to see Brown-eared Pheasant but also there is a great possibility of seeing both Relict and Saunders' Gulls (plus Vega, Black-tailed etc) two enigmatic species i've long wanted to see...

does anyone out there (Martin Williams are you reading this?) have any info on the best areas locally to catch up with these two species in the last week of July...

any help greatly appreciated.

atb
Tim B

 

[Grampy Bustard]

Tim
Having got back yesterday, I can say there are plenty of gulls to sort through, but make sure you have a tripod for the scope as many are distant on the mudflats. There were at least 30,000 Black-headed at some distance, and who knows what else was amongst them. The mudflats do tend to get disturbed by walkers, and I do not know how close the roosting gulls may come, as it always seemed to be low tide on my two visits there.
I did get close views of Vega, Black-tailed and eastern Common Gulls, which were all interesting.
Good luck on the two real goodies.