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 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