Hungary Day 7 – A Bonus Day

Sat 11 May 2013

Our last day, and as no planned pre-breakfast birding today, a chance for a bit of a lie-in. Of course Steve still went for his early morning walk, and photographed this golden oriole.

Our return flight was not until 18:55 so there was still plenty of time for some more bird watching before the drive to the airport. After breakfast, and checking-out with the help of Roy, we boarded the minibus for the last time to head off to Szilvásvárad in the Bükki National Park.

We were not allowed to drive the last two or three kilometres to the high, mountain forest spot where we were headed, so we parked up the minibus (a black woodpecker flew across the car park) and purchased tickets for the narrow gauge train ride up the mountain. Lesser whitethroat and pied flycatcher were near the ticket office.

The journey up through the trees took about fifteen minutes in an open railway carriage. On arrival at the top Steve demonstrated his incredible skills at identifying bird song by  announcing that he could hear a collared flycatcher in a tall pine tree (despite have only heard one for the first time earlier in the week). We soon found the bird to confirms Steve’s id.  A grey wagtail was seen beside a stream. Climbing a steep bank we then walked along a forest track hoping to find woodpeckers. Blackcap, wren, great tit, and nuthatch were either seen or heard, but no woodpeckers. The chaffinches here were unusual in that they included an additional “chip” at the end of their song.

Returning back down to the area around the summit station we found a goldcrest (a new species for the week) and I picked up an interesting feather when we were  searching an area where white-backed woodpeckers are know to nest. I uploaded this photo to iSpot in the hope of getting it identified. No positive ids have been received, but buzzard or some sort of owl has been suggested.

While we waited for the train to take us back down we enjoyed watching the collared flycatcher again, and also had buzzard and honey buzzard soaring high above. Having descended a raven was seen circling overhead (the first seen this week, though we had heard one on Friday).

After unsuccessfully looking around for some lunch, we left Szilvásvárad and drove back to Villa Völgy to drop off Brian and Shelagh. After saying our good-byes we journeyed south. On a quiet country road we stopped to find a river warbler that Roy had spotted from the car. I do not think anyone else managed to see it, but was that a lesser grey shrike I spotted as we drove off?

Our final birding was at fishponds near Kisköre at the southern end of Lake Tisza. Purple heron, ferruginous duck, marsh harrier and great reed warbler were good final sightings, but we ended with one more new species – bearded reedling (if you don’t count the one that only Roy glimpsed on Wednesday).

We said our goodbyes to Roy and our fellow birders Peter, Gill, Graham and Ann and piled into the minibus to be driven to Budapest Airport by Lewis, who had taken care of us so well all week.

On the motorway journey we counted many buzzards (upwards of twenty) sat on the roadside fence posts. These caused some debate as they appeared to be smaller than the familiar buzzard and the plumage had a more rufous  colour. We speculated that they might be “Steppe” buzzards (a sub-species of the common buzzard), but this could not be confirmed.

New Species today
Goldcrest	Bearded Reedling

Epilogue

The journey back was long, but uneventful. After a week of sunshine and temperatures of 27 - 30°C, the cold and rain at Heathrow airport was a bit of a shock.

Thank you to Roy Adams and Lewis of Hungarian Bird Tours for looking after us so well and finding us some great birds. And thank you to my fellow birders, David, Steve, Malcolm and Brenda, Peter and Gill, Brian and Shelagh, and Graham and Ann for being such splendid company and making it such a successful and rewarding trip.

Finally, my sincere thanks again to Steve for allowing me to illustrate this blog with his photographs, and to Brian for the use of his black woodpecker photo.

And finally finally, if you haven’t already found the full species list elsewhere in this blog it is here

         

Hungary Day 6 – Looking for Woodpeckers again

Fri 10 May 2013

Another early morning rise to go for a walk with Steve along Tulipántkert lane. All the usual cast of birds including golden oriole, hawfinch, wryneck and the Syrian woodpecker (which took ten minutes of patient searching to locate).

Bükki National Park

Roy and Lewis arrived at 6.15am for the pre-breakfast excursion. This morning’s destination was the Bükki National Park Education Centre at Felsőtárkány 13km distant, which we had previously visited on Tuesday. Our target species were woodpeckers, but we only managed to find green – but this was nice as it was the first time we had actually seen one this week (previously only heard). The collared flycatcher was again the star bird at this location, but we also saw spotted flycatcher, serin and the lesser whitethroat (again singing in full view).

We moved on to another site in the forest – the Tamás-Kút Nature Interpretation Trail at about 450m elevation. Being woodland, the birds were difficult to see, as indicated by a high proportion of them being listed in my notebook with a suffix of (h) i.e. heard only. With persistence though we managed to bag quite a few and the (h) crossed out. We heard a wren singing for the first time this week; surprising as wrens are found in every conceivable habitat in the UK from sea-level to mountain top.

Wood warbler, stock dove and redstart were three birds that were heard but not seen and to that was added white-backed woodpecker, which I had to take Roy’s word for as it is not a species with which I am familiar. A raven called high above us, but no chance of seeing it through the canopy of trees, and the shrill, flight call of a black woodpecker came from afar. The one woodpecker species we did manage to find was the middle-spotted. Good, clear views of it up in the trees before it descended to the ground to bathe in a trickle of water flowing on the forest floor. Another species added to the week’s list was grey wagtail, seen in the road as we drove back.

A quick stop on the way back in a territory where lesser spotted eagles breeding in the surrounding hills are known to come down to feed. A honey buzzard flew over and whilst we were admiring it David spotted (no pun intended) a large BOP flying low behind the hedgerow. It emerged into view and perched up on the hedge – a lesser spotted eagle. It remained for a minute or so before taking to the air again and disappearing from view.

After breakfast at the hotel the plan for the rest of the day was to visit the Borsodi Mezőség Protected Area to drive along the track we had only partially travelled on Tuesday. As we made our way there we took time-out to stop at a couple of places that Roy thought could be interesting. At the first, Hoór-völgye reservoir, we only stayed five minutes as the water level was too high and there was nothing much around. A possible stock/rock dove perched up across the lake caused some discussion but was probably just a feral pigeon.

We stopped at another lake with the hope of finding little bittern. This turned out to be a vain hope, but we did get close views of a pair of great reed warblers. A short walk across the road from this lake to a pond yielded tree sparrow, marsh harrier, cuckoo, red-backed shrike and a brief sighting of a penduline tit.

 

The day had turned into the hottest of the week (30°C), so at midday we stopped in a village for a cooling ice cream. A pair of white storks nesting on a telegraph pole treated us to their bill clattering display.

Borsodi Mezőség Protected Area

We travelled on the long track in the opposite direction from Tuesday, beginning at the northern end near the village of Szentistván. We drove slowly along (the surface was not suitable for doing anything else!), stopping occasionally as we noticed anything of interest. At the first of these stops in a dry area with a few tall trees, we saw quite a selection of good birds, including roller, red-footed falcon, red-backed shrike and spotted flycatcher. A long-eared owl sat quietly on its nest, warily watching us.

Further along, a wet area with plenty of reeds was excellent for warblers - reed, great reed, Savi’s, sedge, and whitethroat. Mallard and garganey flew over us, and was that a Saker falcon in the distance? It was too far away to be certain. A marsh warbler was singing from some low shrubs, and after waiting patiently it gave good views.

As we continued I noted down a possible tawny pipit, but this remained unconfirmed. The track now came to an end and we began the drive back to the hotel. As the rest of us continued in the minibus, Roy stopped the car in the village of Tiszabábolna so that David could pop into the coffee shop to try to recover his hat that he thought he left there on Tuesday. They had no knowledge of it!

One last stop at a small roadside lake that we had stopped at on Tuesday. Some of us walked back along the road a couple of hundred metres as we had spotted a wader that needed investigating. It was a wood sandpiper. A little egret flew off from the lake – another new species.

Species added today
Little Egret	Lesser Spotted Eagle
Stock Dove (h)	White-backed Woodpecker (h)
Grey Wagtail	Wren
Treecreeper	Raven (h)
8 Species

Hungary Day 5 – Exploring Hortobágy

Thurs 9 May 2013

No before breakfast excursion this morning, so no need to get up so early. I left my morning walk until 6.50 and just had a short (30 minute) stroll along the lane that lead uphill from the hotel entrance. The lane eventually opened out onto fields of grape vines. Nothing new to report, but a pair of red-backed shrikes were nice.

Psychiatric Hospital

After breakfast our first visit was to the woods surrounding a psychiatric hospital (I do not know the location). The sharp clicking call of a hawfinch led to the discovery of a pair attending to their nest. At last I managed to add woodpigeon to my list when one was spotted perched high on a dead tree. A woodpecker did not remain long enough to be identified – was it a great spotted or Syrian? Both Savi’s and river warblers were singing, and we spent a few minutes trying to locate the latter. Though it was probably no more than five metres away we could not find it.

Karcag

As we travelled south we stopped at a hotel in the small town of Karcag for our morning coffee. In fir trees in the adjacent park we were lucky enough to find a firecrest, another scarce species for Hungary.

A large fish farm 4 km south west of Karcag was our next destination. In only a short twenty minute visit we added several new species to our tally. Yellow-legged gull and teal were fairly run-of-the-mill but collared and black-winged pratincole were more exciting. These two species are incredibly difficult to tell apart, but we were confident that we had seen both as they flew over our heads. Roy was later able to confirm this when Sandor, the park ranger that we met earlier in the week, told him that both species were present at this lake. A white-tailed eagle flew over in the distance (but close enough to see that it had one of its primary feathers missing). Stonechat, avocet, great egret, marsh harrier, mallard, grey heron, ringed plover (little?), and black-headed gull were also ticked. An interesting yellow wagtail with a white supercilium, dark grey ear coverts and a yellow throat was probably the Romanian sub-species dombrowskii.

Near Nádudvar

We moved on to the southern end of the Hortobágy National Park in the vicinity of the village of Nádudvar (I am not sure of the exact location). We explored around the neighbourhood, occasionally stopping to see what was about. At one such stop a group of seven common crane were soaring high above and a red-footed falcon passed over. Steve found a hoopoe and a stonechat. We left the metalled road and continued on a dirt track.  Several ruff were close to the track, along with lapwing, purple heron and assorted marsh terns. 

The track led us to a derelict control tower, which suggested we were on an old
airfield, though I could not see evidence of any runways in the extensive wetlands that surrounded it. A reed filled ditch had many whiskered and white-winged terns patrolling along it that did not seem to be particularly bothered by our presence. A pair of black-necked grebe were diving for food on an area of open water and the deep booming of a bittern could be heard occasionally from somewhere close by. Steve photographed an interesting barn swallow with the usual white belly and chest showing as a rusty-red colour. We think it was probably the sub-species transitiva from the eastern Med/Levant, though it could have been savignii  from Egypt.

We discovered that the bricked up entrance to the control tower had been broken open, which allowed us to climb a couple of flights of stairs and emerge onto a flat roof that gave us a great viewing platform (taking care not to go too close to the unguarded edge). There was an incredible number of great egrets – Peter stopped counting at 98! A bittern flew across, disappearing into the reeds, where a bit of a commotion ensued. Whether it was a scuffle with another male, or some interaction between a male and female, we could not tell. Three individuals were eventually seen.
 

Coot, cuckoo, reed bunting, purple heron, tree sparrow, greylag, marsh harrier, garganey and little grebe (a new bird for the list) were all seen as well. Great reed warbler and skylark were heard.

In the distance we could see a small lake that appeared to be worth investigating so we moved on to try and get a bit closer. Here we found pochard, corn bunting, black-winged stilt, white-winged tern, black-necked grebe and ferruginous duck. The fast, rippling call of a whimbrel was heard. A farmer on horse-back and his dogs were slowly driving a herd of cattle towards us – a pleasantly bucolic scene.

Journey Back

On the way back we called into a lake/wetland run by the Hortobágy Environmental Association. Time was pressing, so this was only to be a quick visit, but in the brief time we were here we found black-winged stilt, little ringed plover, and new species for the week,  common tern, shoveler and redshank.

Those travelling in Roy’s car had a fleeting glimpse of a moustached warbler as it flew across the road in front of them.

Back at the hotel a huge moth that had been there in the morning was still on the wall of the hotel. It was a Giant Peacock Moth, Europe’s largest species and without doubt very impressive.

Additions today

Teal	Shoveler
Little Grebe	White-tailed Eagle
Crane	Collared Pratincole
Black-winged Pratincole	Whimbrel (h)
Redshank	Yellow-legged Gull
Common Tern	Moustached Warbler
Firecrest
13 additions

Hungary Day 4 – Woods and the River Again

Wed 8 May 2013

I rose early to go for a walk along the lane near the hotel. All the usual birds were singing as I wandered slowly along. I had not gone far when I bumped into Steve on his way back. Steve had seen a hawfinch and together we found a nuthatch and saw golden oriole chasing around in the foliage. We encountered a woodpecker, which on close inspection turned out to be a Syrian. The differences between this and great spotted are subtle. The most obvious is the white gap in the black neck-band, and its call was slightly softer than the harsh kick of the great spotted.

Nosvaj

The second pre-breakfast visit of the week to this woodland (though not the same spot as on Monday). We had not gone far when the shrill flight call heralded the arrival of a black woodpecker. It perched on a tree trunk allowing us good views. Red-backed shrike and hawfinch were seen, and a short-toed treecreeper located from its song. We played a recording of middle spotted woodpecker in the hope of attracting one, but without success.

 

We crossed the road to explore more woods. After patiently watching and waiting in a clearing for several minutes two lesser spotted woodpeckers eventually showed up, and then a middle spotted put in an appearance as well. Oh, and we saw a hoopoe too!

Kerescend Sewage Works

Our first port of call after breakfast was to these sewage works. Lesser whitethroat, corn bunting and greenfinch were singing as we arrived. We had not walked far when we stumbled upon a small flock of bee-eaters sat in the top of low shrubs. They soon flew off, maybe because of the Saker falcon that flew across in the middle distance. Buzzard, marsh harrier and kestrel were also around and in the bushes a whitethroat was delivering its scratchy warbled song. A water rail and the unmistakable racket of a great reed warbler were heard and finally, and less impressively, a pheasant was spotted.

 

As we pressed on we stopped for five minutes at a closed down hotel to take a look at the souslik (aka European ground squirrel, and a favourite meal of Saker falcon) that had made their homes in the lawns.

 

Another hotel/restaurant complex with a small lake afforded us great views of a very tame black-crowned night heron, which was content to pose no more than three metres away from us as we photographed it. It seemed more interested in the extremely large carp that was surfacing next to the platform it was sat on. The heron definitely had eyes bigger than its stomach as the fish looked big enough to swallow the bird! A squacco heron was patrolling along the far side of the lake, but close enough for fine views. We found another wryneck for Brenda.

  

 

Across the road from the hotel, a reed bed next to a fishing lake held sedge, Savi’s, reed and great reed warblers. A cuckoo was calling from some electricity cables and Roy spotted bearded reedling on distant reeds. We thought we heard the call of penduline tit in the willow trees, but we did not see it. Another night heron was on the lake.

Tiszaörvény

After a coffee stop we visited this spot on the east bank of the River Tisza. A long, straight walkway over a reedy pond afforded good views into the reeds, but the hoped for little bittern did not materialise. A reed warbler flitted amongst the stems and a great reed warbler delivered its raucous song from the tops of the reeds. Without doubt the best find here was a penduline tit. It was collecting the downy seeds of willow and bulrush and then flying, usually under the walkway we were stood on, across the pond to a stand of trees where, we assumed, it was busy constructing its nest. We watched for several minutes as it made numerous return trips. As we were leaving a female cuckoo flew silently over the reeds and dropped down into them, presumably to deposit an egg in an unsuspecting reed warbler’s nest.

Near Egyek

Travelling on a dusty track in the Hortobágyi park we stumbled upon a group of waders on a tiny wet area. There were several wood sandpipers and a single curlew sandpiper, but they were spooked by our presence and quickly flew off.

 

Searching around farm buildings we found crested lark and several jackdaw (apparently not common in Hungary). On some open water there was quite a gathering of species – garganey, ferruginous duck, lapwing, coot, greylag, pochard, black-necked grebe, marsh harrier, whiskered tern, and white-winged tern. Around the buildings were swallow,  yellow wagtail (blue headed variety), rook, wheatear, house sparrow, white wagtail, magpie, collared dove and, on the roofs, some strange ornamental pigeons.

Ároktő-Tiszacsege Car Ferry

We had lunch at a famous fish restaurant near the river. Steve continued birding while the rest of us lunched and added kingfisher and redstart to our list.

 

After crossing the river on the ferry we continued on a quiet track beside the Tisza. A hoopoe flew over as we drove. We eventually arrived at a lake only partially visible through the trees. Great crested grebe and black-headed gull took second place to the group of pygmy cormorants (eleven in total) perched on posts in the water.

 

On the journey back to the hotel we stopped again by the pylons just south of the M3 motorway. Two birds that could have been Saker were sat on a distant pylon, but they were too far away to tell for sure. We could only use binoculars as we had pulled-up on a fairly busy road with no parking area, so it was not safe to stop long, or to get out of the minibus.

 

The scops owl was calling again at 9.30pm.

 

Species added today

Black-necked Grebe	Pygmy Cormorant
Saker Falcon	Water Rail
Curlew Sandpiper	Kingfisher
Middle Spotted Woodpecker	Redstart
Reed Warbler	Bearded Reedling
Short-toed Treecreeper	Jackdaw
12 Species

Hungary Day 3 – The Bükki and the River Tisza

Tues 7 May 2013

In his usual early morning ramble, Steve found (and photographed) a Syrian woodpecker.

Novaj

Roy and Lewis again arrived early to take us out before breakfast; Roy’s home village was this morning’s destination. We parked at the edge of the village and began to walk along a track that had become very muddy after the previous day’s rain. Steve cried out for us to stop as there was a wryneck sat on a fence post 10m in front of us. This delighted Brenda as this was the species that she really wanted to see. A bit further on Roy pointed out the nest hole that the wryneck was using. It goes without saying that cuckoo, nightingale and turtle dove were heard. The first two soon seen as well. Tree sparrows were on the buildings to our left.

The track continued to lead us across a meadow. In the surrounding trees there was a red-backed shrike and golden oriole. Swallow swooped low over the grass. A bird flying into a tree caught my eye. I got my ‘scope on it, but then had to call Roy to have a look as I did not recognise it. Roy identified it as a barred warbler, a first for me. It’s song was very similar to that of whitethroat, and it had a very distinctive yellow eye. As we viewed it another bird flew over in fast undulating flight – a hawfinch, and the drumming of a great spotted woodpecker came from afar.

Crossing the field, we continued on a narrow muddy path. We paused to scan the trees across another meadow which was a good spot for woodpeckers, but did not find any. As we continued the path become much muddier before leading into a field with knee-high, wet grass. The loud drumming of a black woodpecker carried across to us, and soon after its shrill flight call heralded the arrival of the bird into a tall tree across the field. It paused there for a couple of minutes, occasionally drumming, before flying off in the direction from whence it came.

We could hear the chugging song of a river warbler nearby, so we walked further into the field to try to locate it. Sadly, I could not repeat my success of yesterday, so the bird remained unseen. A marsh harrier patrolled over the distant reed bed and the yaffle of a green woodpecker was heard.

Retracing our steps, we arrived back at the wryneck’s nest to find one of the pair perched by it. The second bird arrived and they began mating. We watched for as long as we could, but eventually had to leave as there was a danger we would be too late back for breakfast.

Whilst waiting for the minibus to arrive after breakfast, a sparrowhawk passed over, the only one seen during the week.

Omya Hungaria Limestone Quarry

Our next destination was a limestone quarry a few kilometres to the north of Eger. We waited at the main entrance whilst our entry was negotiated. This was a working quarry and so we were not allowed to move around at will; we had to be accompanied by the quarry’s young safety officer (who looked remarkably like Ayrton Senna). We followed the road as it zig-zagged high up into the quarry and stopped to view a rock face hoping to find eagle owl. No luck, but we were rewarded with a fine honey buzzard flying over. A couple of other locations were tried in the quarry, but nothing much was found. Jay, black redstart, house martin, buzzard, wheatear and white wagtail was the limit of our sightings. A brief shower of rain sent us scurrying for the minibus.

Bükki National Park Education Centre, Felsőtárkány

A short 5km drive from the quarry for a brief visit to this education centre at the edge of the Bükki National Park. The attraction here was the possibility of collared flycatcher, and we found one immediately – a first for many of us. Serin and nuthatch were also detected from their calls, and located in the tops of the trees. A lesser whitethroat was singing in full view (why do they never do that in the UK?).

Having seen what we had come for, we drove to the nearby Bambara Hotel (built in African style) for our morning coffee stop. A white wagtail was perched on the roof and in the car park a great spotted woodpecker (carefully checked to make sure it was not a Syrian). In the nearby woods coal tit was heard, and the only marsh tit for the week was found by Steve.

River Tisza

We headed south toward the River Tisza for the afternoon’s birding. Roller, lapwing, white stork and buzzard were seen en route, and we stopped briefly  by the roadside just south of the M3 motorway to try to spot the Saker falcon that nest on an electricity pylon. No sign of them though.

A 15 minute stop by small lake beside a quiet road was quite productive. The pick of the birds here were ferruginous duck, garganey, wood sandpiper, little stint, little ringed-plover and an icterine warbler (heard only).

We drove along a single-track road south of the Tisza, with a screen of trees blocking our view of the river. We halted at a spot where Roy hoped to find penduline tit. We did not find any, but Savi’s and great reed warblers were singing and purple heron flew over. As we continued a black stork flew past.

After another quick stop beside the river where we unsuccessfully searched for kingfisher, we moved on to the village of Tiszabábolna where we stopped for refreshment (the last place David remembers having his hat!). White stork were nesting on a roadside telegraph pole, and right next to where we parked the minibus a house martin was busy constructing its nest.

   

Borsodi Mezőség Plain

This was the last visit of the day, a long dirt track across the Borsodi Mezőség Plain. Exploring around some farm buildings next to a small pond produced roller, corn bunting, red-backed shrike and tree sparrow amongst others. Coot and moorhen where on the pond and golden oriole in the trees behind. Hoopoe and lesser grey shrike were seen by a lucky few. A bit further along the track a small wetland area had all three species of marsh terns - whiskered, black and white-winged tern. The whiskered we had already learned how to identify. The black, despite its name, is mainly dark grey in colour with just the head and breast black. The white-winged has a jet-black body and underwing coverts and gleaming white on the the tail. Steve’s photo illustrates this well.

As we continued along the track we stopped again to investigate the distant electricity pylons as Saker falcon were known to use them. Two very distant birds on them disappointingly turned out to be hooded crows. Avocet, grey heron, kestrel, more very close white-winged terns, and even a pheasant, noted here.

We continued along the track, but the surface had become very soft from the recent rain and Louis was concerned that the minibus could get stuck. As we were in the middle of nowhere this was the last thing we wanted, so we turned around and returned the way we had came.

On the way back to the hotel Shelagh pointed out a woodpigeon - which I missed. This was becoming a bit of a running joke as I had mentioned that I was surprised that I had not seen any.

After dinner as we returned to our rooms at 8.45pm, the Scops owl that others had heard on previous evenings, began to call. In fact, it sounded as if there were two birds calling in turns from either side of the hotel grounds.

Species Added Today

Mute Swan	Garganey
Black Stork	Honey-buzzard
Sparrowhawk	Moorhen
Little Ringed Plover	Little Stint
Black Tern	Woodpigeon
Scops Owl (h)	Hoopoe
Great Spotted Woodpecker	Syrian Woodpecker
Black Woodpecker	Collared Flycatcher
Long-tailed Tit	Coal Tit (h)
Marsh Tit	Nuthatch
Total added 20

Hungary Day 2 – Warblers and Woodpeckers

Mon 6 May 2013

Near Noszvaj

Our day started with a short drive from the hotel for a pre-breakfast woodland walk. The song of a barred warbler was briefly heard as soon as we got out of the minibus, but we did not find it. Nightingale and cuckoo soon followed. Our first yellowhammer and hawfinch were found, but as is usual in woodland, birds were easier to hear than see. We did manage to find turtle dove, golden oriole, red-backed shrike and a hobby that flew over. The call of wryneck came from deep within the woods, and for the only time during the week we heard the call of a grey-headed woodpecker.

The barred warbler was still singing back at the minibus, but it started to rain as we were looking for it, so we abandoned the search and returned to the hotel for breakfast.

Ostoros

After breakfast, with the weather now clear, we visited Ostoros  about 8km to the south-east of Eger. This was an open, grassy area with a few reeds and adjacent woodland.

A marsh warbler was singing low down in the reeds and we spent some time trying to find it. Some were lucky enough to see it as it moved around amongst the reed stems, but it eluded many. Walking on along a track with grassland on our left and woodland to the right, the continuous song of a river warbler came from the grassland. The song is similar to a grasshopper warbler, but with a chugging rhythm like an old steam train. Although we looked hard, we did not find the bird. A whitethroat delivered its scratchy warble from a shrub beside the track and occasionally circled around on a song flight.

Southern festoon and Hungarian glider butterflies were on the wing as we moved into the woodland, where we saw the only willow warbler of the trip. There was not a great deal found amongst the trees, so we made our way slowly back to the minibus. Determined to find the singing river warbler, I spent some time searching with my ‘scope in the area where the sound appeared to be coming from. Success! It was in a short, leafy tree about 1m off the ground and could be seen well. Only David and Graham saw it with me, as the group had split up as we made our way back. For the five minutes we stood watching it never moved from its perch.

We caught up with Steve to tell him about the river warbler, but he trumped it with a penduline tit! But it had now gone, chased off by a red-backed shrike. A shame to have missed it, but you can’t have everything!

Before climbing back into the minibus we spent a few minutes trying to find that marsh warbler again. Glimpses of it were the best we could get, but it was singing well at times with blackbird featuring heavily in its song. The unmistakable loud song of a great reed warbler was also heard close by.

Coffee Stop

As it was now late morning, it was time to find some coffee, and this was provided at a rather smart restaurant/hotel in Zsórifürdő, near Mezőkövesd. A pair of blackbirds were busy bringing food to their chicks in a nest in the garden, and swift, swallow and house martin swooped around overhead. A puddle in the car park was a popular bathing place for serin, goldfinch, linnet, greenfinch, chaffinch and house sparrow. Steve, Brian and Shelagh found a rather nice wood warbler nearby.

   

Old Russian Airfield, Mezőkövesd

Walking around the overgrown scrubland at this long since abandoned Russian airfield we had great views of four golden orioles as they flew around in the treetops. A tree pipit was singing (and seen) at the same spot. As we walked a bit further we found spotted flycatcher and a blackcap and heard nightingale, green woodpecker and wood warbler.

Roy led us to a clearing that he knew was good for woodpeckers. After five or ten minutes of patiently waiting we were lucky enough to catch sight of a lesser spotted woodpecker as it darted into its nest hole half way up a dead tree stump. It remained in the hole, poking out its red-capped head (indicating a male) every now and then. After a while in emerged from the hole and and perched out to give us good views.

Returning to the minibus we saw hobby and tree sparrow, and a large bird of prey in the distance. Although it was a long way off, Roy could identify it as an Eastern Imperial eagle. A nice addition to our list, even if it was too far away to see in detail.

Back in the minibus we drove along the runway looking for tawny pipits. We heard corn bunting and saw a whinchat. Peter spotted a pipit on a small tree. It was very pale in colour and seemed quite large, so this could have been a tawny, but as we did not stop we did not get good enough views to be certain.

Lunch Stop (Unknown location)

Whilst the others lunched inside, Steve and I continued birding. Nothing new, but a distant bird of prey was interesting. I spotted it in flight and it looked eagle-like to me, gliding with its wings held horizontal. It landed it the top of a tree about 2km distant. We could see that it was long-legged, but from such a distance we could not make out much other detail. We observed it for five minutes, but while we were looking at another possible interesting bird a bit closer it moved off without us noticing. It remained un-identified.

Fish Ponds (Unknown location)

We saw white stork whilst travelling to this next site. They are common, with many of the concrete telegraph poles in the villages having frameworks fixed to the top for them to build their nests on.

The unmistakably loud song of great reed warbler greeted us on arrival at the fish ponds, and the bird was immediately obvious at the top of some reeds. The many posts standing in the water each had a whiskered tern sat on them. I always find it tricky to identify marsh terns, but Roy’s tip was that whiskered are the grey terns with a common tern’s face pattern. Learning how to separate black from white-winged would come later in the week.

Four cuckoos were chasing each other around, a great crested grebe was on the water and a great egret at the water’s edge. Hobby and marsh harrier flew over, and grasshopper and Savi’s warblers were singing. Brenda thought she saw treecreeper.

Lewis came to warn us that he had heard on the radio that there was a thunderstorm over Budapest with golf-ball sized hailstones, and it was heading our way. We did not want to get caught out in it.

Near Mezőcsát

Now on the way back to the hotel because of the impending storm, roller perched on wires was found near this village. A passing farmer informed Roy that he had hoopoe around his farm (in fact, most of the farms have a resident hoopoe), so we walked across the grassland toward the farm in the hope of finding it/them. No luck, but we did find wheatear, black redstart, tree sparrow, skylark, swallow, feral pigeon and a splendid yellow wagtail (blue-headed race).

With the storm getting closer, prudence dictated that we called it a day and returned to base. The rain and lightning began as we travelled home, and the thunderstorm continued into the early hours of the morning.

Species Added Today

Pheasant (h)	Great Crested Grebe
Eastern Imperial Eagle	Hobby
Green Woodpecker (h)	Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Grey-headed Woodpecker (h)	Tawny Pipit
Tree Pipit	River Warbler
Marsh Warbler	Great Reed Warbler
Barred Warbler (h)	Whitethroat
Willow Warbler	Penduline Tit
Greenfinch	Hawfinch
Yellowhammer
19 Species

Hungary Day 1–A first taste of Hortobágyi

Sun 5 May 2013

My birding began early – 2:30 in the morning! A black redstart was delivering his whistling song and peculiar crackling noises from right outside my window. The lights around the hotel swimming pool presumably confusing it into thinking it was daytime. It was in the nearby tree, but I could not locate it.

 

At 5:00am I met Steve on the steps outside the hotel, and whilst we waited for David we heard nightingale and cuckoo. The nightingale showed on a wooden fence, scolding one of the hotel cats. The black redstart was singing from the aerial on the hotel roof.

 

Once David arrived we began a slow stroll along Tulipántkert Street, a wooded lane leading from the hotel. The dawn chorus was well underway – blackbird, great tit, robin, chiffchaff an nightingale were all singing well. In the dull morning light an unusual bird in a fir tree in the distance was difficult to identify (especially as none of us had our ‘scopes). As we edged closer we could see that it was a wryneck, a nice bird to get so early on our trip.

 

At the end of the metalled road linnet and tree sparrow were spotted. A path continued through a short wooded section and then emerged into more open countryside. The reeling of a distant grasshopper warbler could be heard as could turtle dove, which was eventually found perched on a wire some way off. A pair of red-backed shrike were a splendid sight, as were golden orioles chasing each other around through the trees.

 

As we retraced our steps back to the hotel for breakfast, a local let out his herd of goats, which included a very smelly Billy with a magnificent pair of horns.

 

After breakfast everybody boarded the minibus (apart from David who travelled in Roy’s car as there was one too many of us to all get in the bus). Our first stop was at the local Spar supermarket to withdraw local currency from the cash machine and get food/drink to sustain us for the day. Swift added here whilst waiting for everyone to get back.

 

We saw several familiar, common species whilst travelling to our first destination, plus marsh harrier, white stork and hooded crow. Lewis pointed out over-flying ferruginous duck and red-footed falcon to us.

Hortobágy National Park, near Kócsújfalu

A brief 15 minute visit here for our first taste of the park. Bee-eater were heard as we got out of the bus, but only some of us were lucky enough to see them before they flew off. Sand martin, sedge warbler, carrion crow, rook, corn bunting, and a whinchat all seen. Best  were six red-footed falcons circling around in the distance.

Hortobágyi-halastó

A drive of about 15 km brought us to our next destination. This is one of the main centres of the park, formerly a fish farm. The first birds heard were nightingale and cuckoo, which was to become the norm for almost every place we visited. Within the first few metres we had heard, and seen, icterine warbler, pied flycatcher and bluethroat. Great egret, purple and squacco herons flew over. A Savi’s warbler delivered its loud, insect-like, reeling perched obligingly out in the open at the top of the reeds. A pair of ferruginous ducks with their distinctive white rumps were another nice find. Walking to the other side of the ponds to check-out nest boxes in the trees, whiskered tern and kestrel put in an appearance. A long-eared owl was found sitting in one of the large nest boxes. Walking back to the centre, a black-crowned night heron flew over and lesser whitethroat was singing in full view.

 

We hurried back to the centre as we were due to meet Sandor, a ranger from the National Park who was going to accompany us for the rest of the day, giving us access to areas of the park only available with an official guide. We ate our lunch under the canopy of the picnic area.

 

On the move again we saw our first Hungarian Grey Cattle (almost white and with impressive horns), and glimpsed wheatear and crested lark at a farm. Stopping at a small lake beside a quiet country road, we found greenshank, avocet, black-winged stilt, curlew, ruff, wood sandpiper and spotted redshanks. On the far side of the lake, and very difficult to get a clear view, was a marsh sandpiper.

Long-legged Buzzard Area (precise location unknown)

This stop was a large, grassy area where long-legged buzzards are breeding in the trees about 1km distant. We remained here for about half-an-hour but no luck finding the LLBs. Sandor spotted a tawny pipit, but I am not sure that anyone else saw it. A Montagu’s harrier was seen in the distance, and closer to us we got hooded crow, kestrel, skylark, white-winged and whiskered terns, marsh harrier and sedge warbler. A small flock of spoonbill flew over (there must have been an area of water fairly close by that we could not see) and the Montagu’s harrier appeared much closer to give us better views.

Great Bustard Site

After a stop for ice-cream in a village, Sandor led us off-road deep into the park. Roy, DL and SC saw red-footed falcon and a lesser grey shrike at a brief stop. Moving a bit further the vehicles stopped and we were told to get out quietly and keep by the car/minibus so that we did not appear on the skyline – four great bustards were parading about 300metres away and they could be easily spooked. A fifth one was found slightly closer, a magnificent sight in the afternoon sunshine. A quail was calling close by and Steve heard a corncrake. Whinchat and yellow wagtail showed on the track ahead of us. Pochard, gadwall, purple heron and wood sandpiper were in the adjacent wetland. Someone claimed bittern, but I can’t remember who, or if it was seen, or only heard booming.

 

Another red-footed falcon put in an appearance as we left to return to the hotel and Steve managed to photograph a roller. Buzzard, stonechat and pheasant were seen on the journey back. The final bird of the day was serin, found in the tree tops at the hotel before dinner.

 

Today's List

Greylag Goose	Gadwall
Mallard	Pochard
Ferruginous Duck	Quail (h)
Cormorant	Bittern
Black-crowned Night-Heron	Squacco Heron
Great White Egret	Grey Heron
Purple Heron	White Stork
Spoonbill	Marsh Harrier
Montagu’s Harrier	Buzzard
Kestrel	Red-footed Falcon
Corn Crake (h)	Coot
Great Bustard	Black-winged Stilt
Avocet	Lapwing
Ruff	Curlew
Spotted Redshank	Greenshank
Marsh Sandpiper	Wood Sandpiper
Black-headed Gull	Whiskered Tern
White-winged Tern	Feral Pigeon
Collared Dove	Turtle Dove
Cuckoo	Long-eared Owl
Swift	Bee-eater
Roller	Wryneck
Crested Lark	Skylark
Sand Martin	Swallow
House Martin	Yellow Wagtail
White Wagtail	Robin
Nightingale	Bluethroat
Black Redstart	Whinchat
Stonechat	Wheatear
Blackbird	Song Thrush
Grasshopper Warbler (h)	Savi’s Warbler
Sedge Warbler	Icterine Warbler
Blackcap	Lesser Whitethroat
Wood Warbler	Chiffchaff
Spotted Flycatcher	Pied Flycatcher
Blue Tit	Great Tit
Golden Oriole	Red-backed Shrike
Lesser Grey Shrike	Jay
Magpie	Rook
Carrion Crow	Hooded Crow
Starling	House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow	Chaffinch
Serin	Goldfinch
Linnet	Reed Bunting
Corn Bunting
Total 89 Species

Hungary May 2013–Prologue

Sat 4 May 2013

This year’s birding holiday for David, Steve and I was to Hungary – all arranged soon after we returned from the Netherlands last year. Friends and fellow Vale of White Horse RSPB members Malcolm and Brenda joined us on a trip organised by Hungarian Bird Tours based in Eger, and run by Roy Adams, a retired British policeman.

We flew British Airways to Budapest. Passing through Heathrow all went smoothly, though David’s cabin bag set off an alarm as it was scanned through security, prompting a thorough search and testing for explosives. It could only happen to David!

The flight was an hour late taking-off, but we arrived in Budapest only slightly after the scheduled time. Not quite sure how that happened – the pilot must have put his foot down.

We were met at the airport by Lewis, who was to be our minibus driver for the week. His name was really Louis (pronounced Loo-ish), but was known to everyone as Lewis. Our first Hungarian birds were house martin and barn swallow that were nesting on the terminal building. The drive to the Hotel Villa Völgy in Eger took about two hours. As the light faded we noticed lots of buzzards beside the motorway (see Day 7 report for more comments about these).

We were met by Roy at the hotel, and as it was pretty late we were ushered straight into the restaurant for dinner, leaving the sorting out of rooms to afterwards.

We did not meet the other birders on the tour until the following morning. These were Brian and Shelagh from Northampton, and Peter and Gill from Cheshire. On Monday Graham and Ann from Scotland would also join us and, just for Friday, Hans and Corinne from Sweden would join us for the day.

A map showing the principal places mentioned in the following posts can be seen by clicking here and the full list of species seen during the week is here.

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Acknowledgements

Steve has kindly allowed me to use his bird photographs to illustrate this blog and break up my boring text. The black woodpecker photo is by Brian and used with his kind permission.