Hungary 1998 .
List of birds seen
* Common in the Zemplen Hills # Common in the Plains / Hortobagy
** Very common in the Zemplen Hills ## Very common in the plains/ Hortobagy
Little Grebe Common Quail
Great Crested Grebe Common Pheasant
Red Necked Grebe Water Rail
Black Necked Grebe Little Crake
Great Cormorant Corncrake
Pygmy Cormorant Moorhen
Great Bittern Common Coot
Little Bittern Common Crane
Night Heron Great Bustard
Squacco Heron Black Winged Stilt
# Little Egret Avocet
## Great White Egret Stone Curlew
Grey Heron Little Ringed Plover
# Purple Heron # Northern Lapwing
Black Stork Dunlin
# White Stork Curlew Sandpiper
# Eurasian Spoonbill Ruff
Mute Swan Common Snipe
Greylag Goose Black Tailed Godwit
Eurasian Widgeon Eurasian Curlew
Gadwall Spotted Redshank
CommonTeal Common Redshank
# Mallard Common Greenshank
Garganey Wood Sandpiper
Shoveller Common Sandpiper
Pochard Little Gull
# Ferruginous Duck # Black Headed Gull
Honey Buzzard # Yellow Legged Gull
Black Kite Caspian Tern
White Tailed Eagle Common Tern
Short Toed Eagle # Whiskered Tern
## Marsh Harrier # Black Tern
Montagues Harrier White Winged Black Tern
Northern Goshawk * # Feral Pigeon
Eurasian Sparrowhawk Wood Pigeon
* # Common Buzzard ## Collared Dove
Long Legged Buzzard * Turtle Dove
Lesser Spotted Eagle * # Common Cuckoo
Eastern Imperial Eagle Eagle Owl
Golden Eagle Ural Owl
Common Kestrel Little Owl
## Red Footed Falcon Long Eared Owl
Saker Falcon Common Swift
Grey Partridge Common Kingfisher
Appendix 1 Page 2
European Bee Eater Bearded Tit
European Roller Long Tailed Tit(White Headed S S)
Hoopoe Marsh Tit
Wryneck Coal Tit
Grey Headed Woodpecker Blue Tit
Green Woodpecker Great Tit
Black Woodpecker Nuthatch
Great Spotted Woodpecker Short Toed Treecreeper
Syrian Woodpecker Penduline Tit
Middle Spotted Woodpecker * # Golden Oriole
White Backed Woodpecker ** # Red Backed Shrike
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Lesser Grey Shrike
Crested Lark Magpie
Woodlark Jackdaw
** ## Skylark # Rook
Sand Martin * # Carrion/Hooded Crow
# Barn Swallow Raven
House Martin Starling
Tawny Pipit House Sparrow
Tree Pipit * # Tree Sparrow
Yellow Wagtail Chaffinch
Grey Wagtail * # Serin
White Wagtail Greenfinch
Wren Goldfinch
Robin Linnet
Rufous Nightingale * Hawfinch
Goldcrest Yellowhammer
Bluethroat (White Spotted) Reed Bunting
Black Redstart ** ## Corn Bunting
Whinchat Common Redstart
Common Stonechat Willow Warbler
Northern Wheatear
Rock Thrush
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
River Warbler
Moustached Warbler
Savis Warbler
Aquatic Warbler
## Sedge Warbler
Marsh Warbler
Reed Warbler Total. Birds:- 172 Species
Great Reed Warbler
Icterine Warbler
* Barred Warbler
Lesser Whitethroat
Common Whitethroat
Blackcap
Wood Warbler
* Chiff Chaff
Collared Flycatcher
Spotted Flycatcher
OTHER WILDLIFE OBSERVED
Reptiles
## Marsh frog
# Fire Bellied Toad
# Edible(Green) Frog
# Common Frog
Green Toad
Fire Salamander
LEPIDOPTERA
Chequered Skipper (Carterocephalus Palaemon)
Large Skipper (Ochlodes Venatus)
Small White (Artogeia Rapae)
Wood White (Leptidea Sinapis)
Pale Clouded Yellow (Colias Hyale)
Danube Clouded Yellow (Colias Myrmidone)
Lesser Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea Trivia)
Scarce Fritillary (Hypodryas Maturna)
Gatekeeper (Pyronia Tithonus)
# Chestnut Heath (Coenonympha Glycerion)
Large Heath (C. Tullia)
## Small Heath (C. Pamphilus)
Speckled Wood (Pararge Aegeria Aegeria);- S.European Form
# Small Copper (Lycaena Phlaeas)
Large Copper (L.dispar)
* # Baton Blue (Pseudophilotes Baton)
Reverdins Blue (Lycaeides Argyrognomon)
## Chapmans Blue (Agrodiaetus Thersites)
Turquoise Blue (Plebicula Dorylas)
Adonis Blue (Lysandra Bellargus)
## Common Blue (Polyommatus Icarus)
Mountain Small White(Ortogeia Ergane)
Common Orange Tip(Anthocharis Cardamines)
TOTAL BUTTERFLY SPECIES :- 23
Plus sundry unidentifiable moths,one unidentifiable blue butterfly,
and a number of small vividly metallic coloured beetles.
Page 1
HUNGARY 1998. ORNITHOLIDAYS/ IT 98038
Friday 15 May DAY 1
I arose very quietly at 0230 hours and managed to get out of the house and into my taxi, without waking Pat. We duly arrived at E.M.Airport coach park
at 0345 leaving me with a fifteen minute wait for the coach.
I whiled away the time talking to an ex WAAF who would be making her first flight; from Gatwick, since she left the R.A.F at Brize Norton twenty-one years ago. The coach arrived on time at 0405 hrs and I enjoyed a very smooth ride down to Heathrow, arriving in the central bus station at approximately 0630.
Grabbing a trolley, I loaded my gear and attempted to find my way to terminal one. This was no mean task since the sign posting was particularly bad, however I was in no particular hurry.
Arriving at the terminal I went to the restaurant and consumed a Hugh “all day breakfast”, hoping that it would not be a bumpy flight. After purchasing a book I settled down to read waiting for booking in time at 0800 hrs.
At around about 0800 I was approached by a tall thin young man in his thirties who had spotted the orange Ornitholidays labels on my luggage, he introduced himself as Wayne and the young good looking girl with him as Sue. I assumed that they were together but was actually incorrect. Very quickly the remainder of the party joined us with bewildering speed, with introductions all round, most of which I immediately forgot. The Ornitholidays tour leader introduced himself and we were very quickly booked through and into the departure lounge. I was highly impressed with the leader who took his responsibilities very seriously but retained a good-humoured attitude at all times.
It was my first experience of flying from Heathrow and I was most impressed with the departure area, which contrasted most favourably with the grotty state of the booking hall. It contained a large number of very luxurious duty free shops restaurants etc. I wandered into the upstairs bar which was open for business at 0900 believe it or not. Whilst queuing for a drink I got into conversation with a pair of guys from Gloucester and talked to them about my time in the RAF in that area. They insisted in buying me a pint of Greene King I.P.A., but when my turn came their wives came to fetch them since their flight had been called. The inner man replenished I returned to our tour party.
A short time later our flight was called and we made our way to the boarding passage and into the aircraft. As I took my place in the middle row of seats I became a little confused as to the type of aircraft we had. It turned out to be a
Boeing 767 named “City of Marseilles” and it had the correct engines I was pleased to note.
We quickly took off making a rapid ascent on a clear, bright morning.
Noting that the plane was only about two thirds full I quickly slid into an empty window seat to enjoy the view. It was clear all the way to Budapest
although I missed the Austrian Alps which were on the other side of the aircraft. We were served the usual nondescript food for which B.A. is infamous, and we had the inevitable duty free and drinks trolleys.
As we descended I had an excellent view of Lake Ballaton and a stunning birds eye view of the city, where I spotted a couple of disused railway roundhouses and a soaring COMMON BUZZARD. A silky smooth landing was accomplished at Ferihegy Airport, Budapest and as we taxied in I noticed all the Russian built planes standing about. We were taken to the terminal in the usual airport type articulated bus and were through Arrivals remarkably quickly, although we had quite a long wait for our luggage. One of the ladies; Gabrielle, was a little twitchy since she had a long record of missing luggage, however it all turned up eventually, with Gabrielle’s the last to arrive.
We then departed into the arrivals area and met up with our full time local
Rep’s: Sandor, the local birder and Istvan our full time driver.
We were quickly ushered on to a Mercedes twenty-seater coach with single seats down one side and doubles down the other. I was the last to board and took one of the rear seats sharing it with a slim attractive lady in her forties from Heywood; Lancs who was with her husband Jack. She had a deep husky voice rather like Andrea Marriot and it soon turned out that she and Jack were seasoned travellers having been on many tours, from the Antarctic to Nepal and Africa. It appeared that Jack was an inveterate note taker as we were to find out and sat up for an hour or so most nights getting his paperwork in order.
The coach left the airport and we were immediately running alongside a railway line a few yards away. I wasn’t ready for the first train we saw hauled by a rather stubby BoBo overhead electric loco painted pale blue. I was ready for the second one however and started my Hungarian loco spotting career with a loco similar to the first, numbered 1292. Both trains appeared to be travelling at a respectable 60 mph with eight coaches.
The houses in the Budapest suburbs appeared to be of a small, detached steep roofed bungalow construction, many with rooms in the roof space and apart from in the large towns where there were blocks of flats this seemed to be the commonest type of dwelling.
Traffic was relatively heavy with cars and lorries mixing in well with horse drawn vehicles and bicycles. Although there were a lot of European cars there were very few Orientals except for Suzuki Swifts, which were present in good numbers. A high percentage of the vehicles were in fact Trabants and Wartburgs particularly in the country districts. The general standard of driving appeared extremely good except for the occasional German tourist.
We plugged along at 40 -50 MPH and eventually joined a fifteen mile section of newly constructed motorway. After about a hundred and twenty miles on the road, we stopped at a small roadside csarda or inn for a comfort break. At this point the sun disappeared, and periodic heavy showers commenced.
As we entered I noticed a flock of GOLDFINCHES in the trees outside, which were just about the first identifiable birds we had seen. Inside I noted that one couple from our party had already got themselves a large beer. I naturally immediately joined them and found they were CAMRA members from near Southwell Notts. They were Ed. and Elaine, both in their forties with no family. She was a manager at the Boots factory in Nottingham and Ed. was a dropped out teacher who had taken up hedging and ditching and general gardening and was very much enjoying life, thank you very much. The day that Ed finished teaching she was made redundant from Roundtrees at York, so they moved to Southwell when Elaine got another job. These two together with Sue became the regular evening drinking group. Incidentally the beer was a local keg pilsner called Dreher, and very nice too.
Rejoining the bus, tongues had loosened somewhat due to both taking on and dispensing with liquid and conversation became the order of the day with everyone. We slogged on North West and eventually started to climb; not steeply but steadily, and this went on for about twenty miles without a break, with quite high hills beginning to appear on our left. Shortly after the road flattened out we were held up by a minor accident in front and I saw my first new bird of the holiday. Phil the leader called out that there was a CRESTED LARK on the adjacent factory roof. I certainly wouldn’t have seen it, and it was only the first of very many demonstrations of his tremendous expertise and professionalism. He almost immediately saw another feeding in the road about three yards from the bus. These birds really do have a very erect crest at all times as I noted later.
The country began to get hillier and more wooded although the road mostly kept fairly flat with gradients long rather than steep, and we began to see birds, which were called out by Phil and often drawn to his attention by Gabrielle who was very quick to spot birds, but not always identify them. We heard nothing from Sandor at the front, but this was to change as he got used to us.
We saw nothing very dramatic, but HOUSE SPARROW, SWALLOW, STARLING, COLLARED DOVE, FERAL PIGEON, GREY PARTRIDGE, CARRION CROW, LINNET, SKYLARK, and TURTLE DOVE, all joined the list as we proceeded, with the latter two particularly common..
We passed through a largish town about the size of Burton on Trent called Miskolc, very lively and bustling with a largish appearing tram system with the powered vehicles towing trailers. Leaving, I noted that these Hungarian towns do end rather suddenly with little or no ribbon development along the roads.
As we proceeded we occasionally saw roadside stalls selling watermelons. Another feature of the country which I have failed to mention; is the large number of water towers of differing sizes and shapes, the commonest being a round ball shaped tank on the top of a stem; others having flat diamond shaped and full diamond shaped tanks, and all clad with shiny stainless steel or more likely polished aluminum.
We shortly spotted another “exotic” in the shape of a WHITE STORK feeding in a roadside field, the first of many of this species we were to see.
Also seen before journeys end were ROOK and COMMON PHEASANT feeding in the fields.
We finally arrived at the pleasant small town or large village of Sarospatak;
and our base until Tuesday; the Hotel Bodrog, situated in the middle of the large town square. It now being 1935 hrs we were immediately served with the first of many substantial, if eccentric meals served with the excellent local Tokaji wine, followed by a quick bottle of Dreher pils, and off to our large and luxurious rooms for a hot shower and early night, utterly shattered.
Since by now we were all getting to know each other a, resume of the party members would be appropriate at this point
Phil Jones :- Leader. 44 5ft 8 dark haired, solidly built, lives with his
parents in Croydon when not leading tours. Very professional
and considerate. The ideal leader.
Sandor Konyhas:- Local birder specializing in the Hortobagy plain.
Middle 30’s 5ft 7 short fair hair, slightly built. Lives in
Debrecen when not accompanying tours. Good command of
English. Very professional and considerate. Wry sense of
humour when he gets to know you. Rather shy. The ideal local
rep.
Istvan:- Our full time driver and owner of the coach and two others. An
excellent and careful driver. Prepared to take the coach
anywhere, sometimes to our dismay. Middle thirties, 5ft 10
thick dark hair, muscular. Lives in Hajduszoboszlo when not
driving tours. Little English; always smiling, a thoroughly
cheerful soul. Single man with an eye for the ladies.
Totally professional and considerate.
Colin Barker:- myself. Wonderful in all respects.
Gabrielle Sutcliffe:- ex nurse, retired the day before we left. Sixtyish,
6 ft , short fair hair. Very lean and athletic, fanatic tennis
player. Hails from Tonbridge, Kent. Unmarried, rather
high class, but with an excellent sense of humour. A very
quick eye and something of a lateral thinker,. a self confessed
distant relation of the Yorkshire Ripper.”He was always a
strange sort of bod”
Dorothy Vincent:-retired, 60-70, 5ft 10, very thin but plenty of energy
Short grey hair. Circumstances not known. Lives in Headington
Oxford. Rather refined and very shy and retiring. Prefers to keep
in the background. A keen all round naturalist, with a persistent
streak. Appears to have health problems, and has to keep to a
strict special diet., which did not stop her getting up at dawn
every day to go on solitary birding expeditions. She, Phil, and
myself collaborated a lot on Butterfly identification.
Page 5
Sue Cooper:- bank employee, 30 ish, 5ft 2, Long dark hair, extremely
good looking. Lives in St Martins, Guernsey. Husband died of
cancer in January, hence, somewhat emotional. The least
experienced birder of the group. Generally fairly quiet
during the day, but came to life in the evenings,and was the life
and soul of the party.
Wayne Fendley:- Tool Maker. 35 to 40, 6 ft , Short dark hair,very thin.
Comes from Huntingdon,Cambs. Generally rather quiet. Stayed
on the fringe of the group most of the time. A keen birder
with a very quick eye. Quite a pleasant sort when you got
to know him. Personal circumstances unknown.
Ed. Gathercole:-Husband to Elaine. Hedger,ditcher and general gardner.
45 ish. 6ft . Dark hair,quite slim. Lives with Elaine in Halam
near Southwell, Notts. No family. Very dry,lateral sense of
humour. One of the group comedians. Good birder with a
quick eye.
Elaine Gathercole:- Wife to Ed. Manager at Boots factory in Nottingham.
42. 5ft 6. Short,greyish hair. Good figure. Glasses . Basic
birder. Keeps Ed. well under control.
Catherine Ross:- “With” Seb Boston. Retired. 60 to 70. 5ft 6. Grey hair,slim
Although Witney is given as their home,they are a little
evasive about it. Rather high class.Has a problem with either
hips or legs,but does not restrict her in any way. Basic birder
but useful as keen botanist
Sebastian Boston:- Companion to Catherine. Retired. 60 to 70. 5ft 7. Grey
hair. Somewhat plump. Also rather high class,and inclined
to be argumentative. Rather clumsy,and always in the way.
Basic birder,but keeps his eyes open for anything. Another
born comedian.
Marjorie Thompson:- Wife to Jack. 45 to 50. 5ft 7. Short fair hair. Very slim
wears glasses, always cold.Deep husky voice. Sympathetic
considerate sort of soul. Lives with Jack in a small house
in Heywood , Lancs. Seem to spend most of their life
travelling. Never without a fleece.
Jack Thompson:- Husband to Marjorie . 60 to 65 Retired. Grey hair, slim
A real ball of energy. Never stops ,despite Marjories moaning
A fanatic note taker , and excellent observant birder.
.
PART TIME MEMBER
Zoltan :- local ornithologist/warden for the Zemplen hills area. 40 ish
6 ft. Short,dark hair. Heavy beard. Married, lives with wife and
family in Bodrogkeresztur near Tokaj . Excellent,valuable
. birder . Knew where everything was to be found. Little English.
Joined us on days 2,3 and 4.
PAGE 6
MAY 16 Saturday DAY 2
Following an excellent nights sleep, disturbed by the clock radio bursting into life at midnight, I awoke at 0530 to find heavy rain outside and a surprising number of people out and about. I also heard the sounds of a diesel loco leaving the station with a lot of hooting and roaring. This section was obviously not electrified. This 0600 departure every day served better than an alarm clock.
As the rain stopped I went for a short stroll around the town, which appeared a very pleasant little place, with a ruined castle and a sociable crowd of locals, who attempted to start a conversation, obviously about the weather.
Following an excellent, continental style breakfast we boarded the bus at 0745, bound for the hills, which were apparently around 2000 ft. high and quite thickly wooded with mainly deciduous trees with occasional groves of Scots Pine.
We were introduced to Zoltan for the first time, who proved his worth within ten minute when he spotted a LESSER SPOTTED EAGLE perched in the top of a bush near the main road. Also at this spot where we stopped we also found a magnificent ROMAN SNAIL; which we eventually found to be quite common,and saw through the rain, RAVENS and LINNETS feeding close by in a field,HERON, MARSH HARRIER and TURTLE DOVE; flying over, and a wonderful flock of SERIN feeding on the road and on the adjacent vines.
The country hereabouts as it started to slope up towards the hills ,was a mixture of arable,vineyards and rough scrub. None of the roads were fenced and there seemed to be no restrictions on where you could walk or even in most cases take the bus.
We reboarded; a little damp,leaving a generous helping of Hungarian mud on the bus floor, and continued climbing gently upwards. Attracted by the sound of a hooter I looked back and saw a bulky maroon bo-bo deisel loco ,with four coaches heading west.
As we proceeded; great excitement was aroused by the sight of a male RED BACKED SHRIKE sitting on the top of a bush. The locals were not terribly impressed as it this was one of the commonest birds of this region and was shortly to become a case of “only another RED BACKED SHRIKE”. They all seemed to be males however since the females were sitting on eggs. SONG THRUSH and BLACKBIRD ,were also recorded on this stretch. Still climbing steadily in fairly open country,we all saw a BROWN HARE racing across a field,another common sight.
The bus stopped alongside a field with a black bare patch close to the road,where Phil had spotted a NORTHERN WHEATEAR. Whilst scanning this patch,we also saw STONECHAT, SKYLARK and GREENFINCH, plus a magnificent and most obliging male HOOPOE about three yards away,one of the very few that we saw. Also, sitting on a post at the far side of the field was a COMMON BUZZARD.
The rain had stopped by now,and we pulled up and left the bus at a spot called Alvalylab,which consisted of a large area of mixed scrub and mature trees with a lot of open spaces,sloping away towards the SE and SW, with much higher wooded hills a little further away to the SW. Almost before we disembarked we saw HAWFINCH feeding in the road a few yards away. We then walked a little way into the scrub and up the hill parallel to the road where we had good views of BARRED WARBLER(several), GOLDEN ORIOLE, YELLOWHAMMER, BUZZARD, BLUE TIT, CHIFF CHAFF, HAWFINCH and LESSER WHITETHROAT. As the ground levelled out we were joined by a most unhealthy looking mixed flock of shorn sheep and goats,which bought the mosquitoes with them. Whilst the rest of the party attepted to shoo away the livestock, I dived for the bus which had driven up the road to join us, and retrieved my” roll on” insect repellent ,which most people used liberally.
At this point Zoltan spotted an EASTERN IMPERIAL EAGLE gliding over an adjacent hillside about a quarter of a mile away. We all had good views through the ‘scopes, similarly a HONEY BUZZARD also appeared above, Phil explaining quite succinctly the identification features i.e long pointed wings and a very small head. Even I could recognize one after this lesson..The next bird of note were two WOODLARKS feeding on the ground, whereupon we rejoined the bus amidst a flock of GOLDFINCHES.
The rain now restarted in the form of a lightish drizzle and we proceeded along a valley with rising woodland on both sides. We turned off the road onto a woodland track and left the coach after after about half a mile,in order to walk back down the valley to the road. The rain stopped once more and we even saw a gleam of sun as we walked along the valley bottom between the trees. The birdsong was positively deafening,but the first thing we saw was an enormous vivid blue beetle about 1.5 ins long on the side of the track.
A GOSHAWK then exploded off it’s nest above us, and we had good views of a LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER on a tree trunk through the ‘scopes.
A CUCKOO then flew through the trees and good views of (WHITE HEADED) LONG TAILED TITS were obtained. COAL TIT, WREN, WOOD WARBLER, SPOTTED FLYCATCHER, JAY, BLACKCAP, NUTHATCH,and GREY WAGTAIL,appeared in quick succession. Then Sandor heard a COLLARED FLYCATCHER calling,but I only had a poor view of it in flight.
A woodpecker hole in a tree led us to suspect GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER,which had afforded us good views,but when the bird emerged, it was actually a WHITE BACKED WOODPECKER,of which we had excellent views through the ‘scopes. Amongst a positive carcophany of birdsong in which CUCKOO,WOOD WARBLER and WREN were the most noticeable,we arrived back at the sawmill near the road
The butterfly brigade had a little excitement with a pretty mottled yellow moth which was examined by the experts Dorothy and Phil,who were convinced that it was not a British species although it could not be identified.
PAGE 8
Back to the bus onwards and upwards through the forest along the bottom of the valley. REDBACKED SHRIKE were even common here away from the more suitable scrubland, and amidst the constant calling of CUCKOOS we alighted from the coach once more,this time on the roadside near to an old quarry face . Here the almost inevitable CUCKOO, BARRED WARBLER and GOLDEN ORIOLE were seen whilst a SPARROWHAWK and another EASTERN IMPERIAL EAGLE were spotted circling overhead.
At this point we stopped for a picnic lunch on some tables outside a scruffy roadside cafe which was not open for business. It was situated overlooking a small village called Aranyos on a low rise above a stream with high hills to the SW. The meal consisted of delicious cherry soup, chicken legs, bread, cold meats and salad. Whilst there we saw only GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER, CHIFFCHAFF, and WHITE WAGTAIL, and as we got back onto the bus the weather began to deteriorate once more, and the light rain restarted.
A mile up the road we came to a Tee junction with a main road ,but as the rain started to fall heavily our guide decided to return back down the valley the way we had come. Another roadside stop produced the usual WOODPIDGEON, R.B.SHRIKE and BARRED WARBLER (yawn). Whilst BUZZARD, HONEY BUZZARD, SPARROWHAWK and CUCKOO, passed overhead. GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER provided good views,and a grey wagtail flirted along the stream,whilst the rain slowed to a light drizzle again.
Sandor pulled out his trusty tape recorder and loud speaker ,promptly attracting a GREY HEADED WOODPECKER, and BLACK WOODPECKER,the latter being a highly impressive bird, but neither affording terribly good views.
We carried on down the hills seeing little of note in Hungarian terms,only R.B.SHRIKE, BARRED WARBLER , BUZZARD etc. Although I keep banging on about the former two species which were very common virtually everywhere Phil told us that last year the party had only seen two Barred Warblers,and far less R .B.Shrikes.
The bus then disembarked us against some rough fields at the base of the hills and the party entered a piece of forest where we soon came across an enormous URAL OWL, perched in a twenty foot tree about ten yards away, in fact too close for telescopes. It growled at us ; flew into the next tree ,flew back and then looked as if it was about to attack, whereupon we made an orderly withdrawal.
A little way down the track I stopped to obey a call of nature, but our big brown friend flew across to investigate, therefore I effected a rapid withdrawal, in both senses of the word.
A spell by the side of the road at the bottom of the track overlooking the rough fields produced HOUSE MARTIN, SWIFT, SWALLOW,YELLOWHAMMER, YELLOW WAGTAIL, HAWFINCH, and two WRYNECK, which presented us with excellent close views.
The sun having come out once more, the butterfly brigade leaped back into action with CHEQUERED SKIPPER and two WOOD WHITES.
PAGE 9
.
I was amazed at the small size of the latter,but there could be no mistake.
Our journey continued back to the main road where we crossed it, and proceeded SW along a secondary road running parallel to the main road but half a mile to the SE. This overlooked the floodplane of the River Bodrog which was about fifty feet lower. As we drove along we saw GREAT WHITE EGRET,WHITE STORK galore, and HOODED CROW, plus maroon BOBO diesel loco 2181 on a passenger train on the adjacent railway. We shortly arrived at our next stop Bodrogkistalud village; where we set up camp, to the amusement of the locals, opposite to a tree with a woodpecker hole.
After a ten minute wait this provided us with magnificent views of SYRIAN WOODPECKER, from about five yards. At the same time on the opposite wooded hillside we saw BEE EATER, HOODED Crow and JACKDAW.
Back aboard we ran alongside the river where we glimpsed GREAT WHITE EGRET, LITTLE EGRET and WHISKERED TERN, before we pulled up alongside a small marsh,in the vicinity of Bodrogkistalug, where we turned up NIGHTINGALE, GREAT WHITE EGRET(several), GREAT TIT,and more than forty NIGHT HERON. Returning to the roadside; Zoltan heard RIVER WARBLER singing,a notoriously difficult species to see. Sandor played his faithful tape recorder and the bird nearly knocked our heads off trying to get at it’s singing rival,finally settling on the tip of a bullrush and singing it’s little heart out. A most satisfactory performance.
Half a mile along the road we used the car park of a friendly csarda to overlook another section of the marsh, and the proprietor and staff came to join us for a look through the ‘scopes,whilst two friends of Sandor’s plus their girlfriends also arrived in a car and had a scan around.
At this vantage point, we had good views of GREAT WHITE EGRET, NIGHT HERON; in large numbers flying over,also NIGHTINGALES, TREE SPARROWS, WRYNECKS, PURPLE HERON, WHITE WAGTAIL, GREY HERON, BEE EATER, CUCKOO and a solitary KINGFISHER. we then retired to an nearby csarda for an evening meal and wine tasting of the local Tokaji vintage, both of which were excellent. From the csarda windows we observed BUZZARD, SPOTTED FLYCATCHER,and a magnificent male BLACK REDSTART, which appears to be a common garden bird in these parts. After dropping Zoltan off in his village we returned to Zarospatak arriving at 2100, which did not stop the P.A’s having a couple of bottles of Dreher and putting the world to rights before we went to bed.
PAGE 10
DAY 3 17 MAY 1998
Woken up again by the 0600 train, and boarded our coach at 0745.
Turned NW along a farm track about a mile along the main road,and picked up Zoltan taking his ease in the middle of nowhere. Apparently he,d caught the train to the nearby station ; Bodrogolaszi, and walked a little way.
Drove to a spot overlooking scrubland, and power wires,with a vineyard behind us up the hill. CUCKOOS were calling all around us, as were CORNCRAKE up the hill on the far side of the scrub. Excellent views were obtained of WOODLARK, GREENFINCH, PHEASANT, SERIN, LINNET, GOLDEN ORIOLE, BLACKBIRD, CUCKOO, REED BUNTING , YELLOW HAMMER, and TREE SPARROW;and also the inevitable BARRED WARBLER, SKYLARK and R.B.SHRIKE. Due to sheer persistance on Gabrielles part, she and I also had good views of a singing NIGHTINGALE.
Up into the hills a little way, we parked at a village called Nagyhuta which provoked some corny jokes, and set off uphill along a thickly wooded gorge called Udedides,with a small stream , along a very muddy track. Ed in his very posh suede walking boots of course glided over the ground and kept them pristine clean,whilst Seb who always waked in a pair of tatty old canvas bumpers whatever the weather, also managed to keep relatively clean. The rest of us were muddied up to the eyeballs. On the way up the hill we found two FIRE BELLIED TOADS,and a COMMON FROG in the stream, also a pair of FIRE SALAMANDERS about ten inches long crawling up a bank alongside the path. You could see they had no predators,since they were a vivid orange and black ,and you could see them from yards away. We eventually stopped and Zoltan went walkabout to try to find Red Breasted Flycatcher; but had no luck, so we returned down the track to the village. On the way down and in the village WOOD WARBLER, CHIFFCHAFF, COMMON TREE CREEPER, MARSH TIT, SWALLOW, WHITE WAGTAIL, BLACK REDSTART , and COMMON REDSTART were recorded.
Our driver then took us to a spot called Fony; more jollity, to look for raptors. This was on a high point at about 2000 feet, overlooked by a spectacular ruined castle. By this time, after a dull showery morning the sun was trying to come out.
Whilst there, GREENFINCH, GOLDEN ORIOLE, WRYNECK, and HONEY BUZZARD provided good views, as well as the inevitable numbers of R.B.SHRIKE, BARRED WARBLER, CUCKOO, SKYLARK and COMMON BUZZARD . The big bonus here however,were the other forms of wildlife seen.
First of all one of the ladies spotted and briefly captured a STRIPED FIELD MOUSE,whilst someone else spotted a very pretty brown and tan moth,which our expert Phil, was convinced was not a British species. Then the butterfly brigade were called to five blue butterflies resting on long grass stalks,which we identified as LITTLE BLUE and BATON BLUE, then another WOOD WHITE slowly fluttered by. The botany group were not to be left out as Catherine and Seb. called our attention to a clump of a form of mullein, coloured bright purple,which we later found to be quite common. Then to top things off someone else discovered a group of orchids which were identified as GREEN WINGED ORCHID. A spot not too good for birds,but made up for by other things.
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As the coach descended from the hill the party were treated to superb views of two GOLDEN EAGLES being mobbed by two BUZZARDS. Further down BEE EATER, GOLDEN ORIOLE, STONECHAT , SHORT TOED EAGLE and LESSER SPOTTED EAGLE were seen from the bus,as well as the other species which I am tired of mentioning.
By this time it was a beautiful sunny day and we returned to the same picnic spot as previously, where on this occasion the meal commenced with cold peach and apricot soup. Strange but delicious.
Whilst here I took some group photographs, Ed; or Mister Clean as his wife called him, wiped the dirt off the soles of his boots. Jack frantically scribbled notes,and it got so hot that Marjorie stripped off her fleece and anorak. Birds seen from here; as well as the inevitable, were SHORT TOED EAGLE, GOSHAWK and RAVEN whilst the butterfly brigade got all of a flutter with MOUNTAIN SMALL WHITE, COMMON ORANGE TIP, and several WOOD WHITE, plus a bright yellow unidentifiable moth .
We descended the valley through the woods on the by now familiar road. Two stops to find woodpeckers being unsuccesful,although we did find an unidentifiable “plume moth” in the road at one point.
We stopped at the bottom of the valley and left the bus for a look around in the open fields and scrub. Phil spotted an unfamiliar butterfly,and after descending off a bridge into a stream bed captured it, after climbing through some virulent stinging nettles and over an even more virulent dead sheep. We got the books out, but had to settle for the eastern continental form of SPECKLED WOOD, amidst much moaning from Phil i.e “After all that it only turns out to be a bloody Speckled Wood”,one of the few times I heard him swear. Having three butterfly fanatics in the party was encouraging many of the others to take an interest and keep their eyes open. Something that Phil says has not happened before,in his experience.. The usual birds were seen at this spot plus CORN BUNTING which from now on seemed to be even commoner than R.B.Shrike,HONEY BUZZARD, LINNET, HOUSE MARTIN and SWALLOW.
CORNCRAKES appeared to be calling from all sides and after a long stalk aided and abetted by Sandors tape recorder, he succeeded in flushing one,giving the whole party excellent views of it in flight about ten yards away. Phil rather disapproved and said to me quietly:”I wouldn’t have done that. It stresses the bird” .However since it was a new bird for most of us ,I don’t think we would have agreed with him.
After a short drive we took up an elevated position among some vineyards to look for Black Stork which didn’t show. We saw little of note here except for a superb view of a HOBBY which “buzzed” us at about ten feet.
On the road back to Sarospatak we saw WHINCHAT,and the other usual species. The usual P.A club met after lunch,together with one or two honorary members to discuss the days happenings,although I did dash down to the station to photograph Number 2146 on the 1850 train. Turned in at 1000 and slept like a log.
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