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| White-eyed Gull - adult summer |
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| White-eyed Gull - second calendar year |
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| Sooty Gull |
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| Slender-billed Gull |
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| Baltic Gull |
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| Heuglin's Gull |
Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia
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04 August 2014
Several different Gull species – Jizan
Whilst bird watching in Jiazan in April 2014 I came across various different species of Gull. This site is in the southwest of Saudi Arabia and is on the Red Sea coast and is a favoured location for White-eyed Gulls and Sooty Gulls. The best place to see White-eyed Gull is the fish market area and the nearby small fishing harbor where they gather in good numbers to scavenge fish waste. When we arrived about 30 White-eyed Gulls and 10 Sooty Gulls were sitting on the rooftops and we spent about an hour trying to photograph the birds in flight. Most White-eyed Gulls were adults but at least two second calendar year birds were also present. The species has a restricted world range confined almost entirely to the Red Sea and is a spectacular bird. Sooty Gulls have a slightly wider range and are more common but are still difficult to see away from the Red Sea. Other gulls included small numbers of Slender-billed Gulls as well as a few Heuglin's Gulls, one Armenian Gull and several Baltic Gulls. Most of these were scattered along the coast, in the fishing harbor or up the main inlet from the sea.
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