Caspian Gulls, United Arab Emirates, 7 Feb 2009

This post shows a number of cachinnans photographed in UAE this winter. Most were photographed in the fish market in Dubai. This is the second time I have visited the market - it is a superb place for gulls in the early morning (0700-0900) when fish is being unloaded. However, the market is a challenging place - sorting out the mass of squabbling immature large gulls is not easy and is rather daunting at first. The most common gull large gull here is barabensis, followed by heuglini then cachinnans. Fortunately the cachinnans attract attention to themselves once they start calling and raising their wings.


Adult, Ras al Khaima. A real beauty.


Third winter (4 cy), Dubai fish market


Second winter (3 cy), Dubai fish market. Same bird is shown in the sequence of shots below.

Same bird as above

Same bird as above; this was a typically aggressive bird and dominated the heuglini and barabensis.

Showing the typical small mirror on second generation P10

First winter (2 cy), Ras al Khaima.

First winter (2 cy), Ras al Khaima. Early morning light makes the overall colour tones look rather warm.

First winter (2 cy), Dubai fish market. Same bird is shown below.

First winter (2 cy), Dubai fish market. Scapulars rather more strongly marked than the textbook cachinnans, but actually this sort of pattern is not too unusual. A few second generation wing coverts are present.