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DAY 4 18 MAY 1998
Woken up by the 0600 train.The usual view out of the window: large puddles and the rain pouring down. Embarked at the usual time seeing virtually nothing out of the window other than the occasional CORN BUNTING and RED BACKED SHRIKE. Most self respecting birds were somewhere keeping dry.
Picked Zoltan up at his village and ran south alongside the River Bodrog,seeing a number of boats,and some commercial traffic,but no birds.
Since this was the last day in the Zemplen Hills; I was beginning to worry about the things we hadn’t seen in that region,and the start of the day did not look auspicious. I need not have worried however, since our two Hungarians had all of the outstanding regional birds well tucked away up their sleeves figuratively speaking.
On the outskirts of Tokaj,we suddenly turned sharp right up a narrow road steeply uphill between houses. The houses soon finished and so did the road,deteriorating into a rough track and steepening to about 1 in 6. At this point someone gasped and said “He’s not going up here is he”. He was and he did. accompanied by a deafening silence from the group. The bus roared slewed and skidded, teetering over frightening drops; before we finally came to a halt.on a.patch of level ground ; where we found ourselves in a scrub grown disused quarry about 100 ft above the road; and all the time the rain came down,although by now slowing to a steady drizzle.
On the quarry face opposite to us,our guides set up the ‘scopes so that we could look at a magnificent EAGLE OWL, and it’s two chicks. In spite of the weather the quarry turned out to be a wonderful place for birds. We had wonderful ‘scope views of GREY HEADED WOODPECKER, an extremely colourful ROCK THRUSH, GREAT TIT, NIGHTINGALE, BLACK REDSTART, and CUCKOO, also of course the inevitable three or four RED BACKED SHRIKE, CORN BUNTING and BARRED WARBLER, all topped off by yet another RIVER WARBLER. As everyone commented,it was a rather strange place to find a Locustella type warbler.
We descended back to the main road with Istvan the driver grinning like a Cheshire cat. I think he enjoyed the challenge, as well as the panic he produced in his passengers. Phil later told me he was convinced that Sandor kept egging Istvan on to take his bus into more and more inaccessible places,and he just could not resist it. Although this was much the most dangerous spot of the holiday,we saw enough evidence later to suggest that Phil was correct in his assumption.
We then drove a short distance to another quarry,although this time easy of access where we had the ‘scopes on several BEE EATERS,another ROCK THRUSH,a TREE PIPIT,and the usual R.B.SHRIKE,BARRED WARBLER, CORN BUNTING etc. One or two of us also vainly chased some small blue butterflies,which should not have been flying in the rain.
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The coach then took us through Tokaj town, over the town bridge which is situated at the confluence of the Rivers Bodrog and Tisza, to some gigantic fish ponds. The rain was really coming down by this time and rubber knickers were the order of the day, To make matters even more unpleasant,there was an extremely strong cold wind straight from Siberia.
We walked the length of the ponds; about a mile, but no one could raise too much interest. Wayne was the worst off, since thinking positively, he hadn’t bought any waterproofs with him,and he gave a very good impression of a drowned rat. He was definitely not a happy bunny.
Birds seen on ,or near the ponds were REDBACKED SHRIKE, CORN BUNTING, BARRED WARBLER,inevitably, also NIGHT HERON, WHISKERED TERN ,FERRUGINOUS DUCK, POCHARD, MALLARD, GADWALL, GREY HERON, PURPLE HERON, SEDGE WARBLER,TREE SPARROW, MARSH HARRIER, HOODED CROW, BLACK HEADED GULL, YELLOW LEGGED GULL, MOORHEN, COOT, SWIFT, YELLOW WAGTAIL, REED BUNTING and GREAT CORMORANT.
Despite the birds, we were all glad to get back on the bus, and we returned to Tokaj town whilst the ladies produced towels to try to dry Wayne off a little.
There was a ten minute stop here for stamps etc, and Glory be, the rain actually stopped. Tokaj town was quite notable for the number of WHITE STORKS nesting on the poles and houses.
We then parked adjacent to a somewhat deserted Tokaj railway station.in order to scan Tokaj Hill (512 m) for raptors. We saw nothing except for the usual R.B.SHRIKE and CORN BUNTING, a couple of COMMON BUZZARDS and a distant Roe Deer. Nor did we see any trains although I took a photo of a 4.8.0.steam loco preserved at the station; namely number 424-353. We then adjourned to a local csarda for an excellent lunch,some wine and a pint of Dreher.
Now thoroughly replete the coach took us back to the minor road overlooking the River Bodrog flood plain, which we had seen before where we made ourselves a damned nuisance with telescopes straddled across the road.
This spot really turned up the good stuff on this occasion. As soon as we, identified flocks of WHITE STORK, GREY LAG GOOSE, and WHISKERED TERN, Zoltan spotted a WHITE TAILED EAGLE, perched on a tree about a mile away. I wouldn’t have known what it was. He then spotted a distant BLACK KITE,which was a bit more identifiable, we then saw CUCKOO, MARSH HARRIER, BLACK HEADED GULL, HOODED CROW, several GREAT WHITE EGRET, some NIGHT HERON, three WHITE WINGED BLACK TERN, STONECHAT, a flock of MALLARD, and LITTLE GULL, then to round things off Ed. Spotted three BLACK STORK flying in off the river, of which we all had excellent ‘scope views. I have not up to this point mentioned the R.B.SHRIKES, CORN BUNTINGS , SKYLARKS etc. that were hanging around the vicinity of the bus.
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Indeed Gabrielle swore that a one R.B.Shrike was actually travelling around with us perched on the roof, since she kept on recognizing the same one every day.
Crossing the main road we were driven deep into a conifer forest and over a very dodgy wooden bridge, which definitely hadn’t been stressed to take motor coaches. We then alighted and walked deeper into the forest,as the rain restarted.
We shortly arrived at an ornate memorial to deceased foresters , and crossing the stream found a wooden shelter which contained a small dog with it’s head stuck in a plastic container. Zoltan released it and dived out of the way keeping clear of it’s teeth. Elaine tried to sympathize with the creature and Ed. yelled out, ”Come away Elaine ,you dont even like dogs”, so she left it alone.
The reason for our visit soon became evident as we watched a MIDDLE SPOTTED WOODPECKER through the ‘scopes, as it fed on various tree trunks. After a few minutes it was disturbed by a youth on a motor bike who came racing along the track . He was so startled when he saw us that he fell off.
Returning to the bus through the pouring rain we returned to Sarospatak at the earlier time of 1700 hrs. Saying goodbye and thank you to Zoltan we settled down to a pre dinner aperitif of bottled Dreher.
The dining room was also occupied by about twenty five students who had just graduated from the local college,together with their tutor Charlie. He was fiftyish, small, plump,well oiled and together with his students thoroughly enjoying himself. We left them to promises of eternal friendship, and had another bottle of Dreher,whereupon the p.a.club decided to go walkabout. Since the majority of bars appeared to be closed we finish up in a rather unsalubrious seeming establishment adjacent to the hotel. Despite it’s external appearance , it was really quite pleasant inside, with plenty of friendly locals to help with translation. Elaine got ambitious and with some help managed to order bottles of “Bak” beer brewed by Dreher, a black pilsner that tasted something like Porter,and very nice too. It was however,the only place we ever managed to find it.
Back to the hotel I packed for tomorrows transfer and went to bed about 1115 and slept like the proverbial log again.
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DAY 5 TUESDAY 19th May 1998
I got the usual 0600 hooter alarm via the railway station,and set to work packing my gear ready for the transfer to the plains and the Hortobagy marshes. A glance out of the window revealed the usual heavy rain and pools of water, but by the time we’d had breakfast and cleared our bar bills, the rain had slowed to a heavy drizzle. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but for one of the party phoning the U.K the night before and learning that they were enjoying hot, sunny weather.
After taking a photo. of the hotel, I boarded the bus a little sorry to leave Sarostapak, since I had rather taken to the place. We then set off through Tokaj and southwards to our first call, at a remnant of the great Hungarian forest on the outskirts of Debrecen. approx. 100k (60 miles) away. And still the rain poured down. In spite of the weather we did see a few birds on the journey through the windows. These were BUZZARD(several); GREAT WHITE EGRET (several); KESTREL; SWALLOW; and many WHITE STORKS on nests as we passed through the villages and towns; GOLDEN ORIOLE, and LAPWINGS, completed the list.
Interesting features of the journey were a railway carriage works at Nyirgyhaza, plus the usual continental tram system,and a goose farm;the first of many, near Debrecen .
We arrived at the forest and parked at a visitors centre; then set off along a track through the trees in the pouring rain. It was not amusing at first, but eventually the rain slowed to a light drizzle, however the mosquito’s were murderous and everyone suffered. We had good views of GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER, MIDDLE SPOTTED WOODPECKER, SPOTTED FLYCATCHER, BULLFINCH, and BLACKCAP. As we made a left turn things cheered up somewhat as Seb. discovered a butterfly dormant on a plant. As good luck would have it, despite the weather I had my book with me, and after a close examination and prising it’s wings apart with a pen knife, the butterfly brigade; Dorothy,Phil and myself all agreed that it was a SCARCE FRITILLARY , a somewhat uncommon species, even in Hungary. Even the non lepidopterists enjoyed this one and kept on referring to it all through the holiday,and Seb. was of course the hero of the hour. This was also the signal for the birds to improve also and we had excellent ‘scope views of SHORT TOED TREECREEPER, COLLARED FLYCATCHER, MARSH TIT, NIGHTINGALE, a superb BLACK WOODPECKER, at it’s nest hole, HAWFINCH, and to complete the set of woodpeckers; GREEN WOODPECKER; at it’s nest hole. Also seen in the forest were STARLING, CHAFFINCH, GREENFINCH, TURTLE DOVE, CHIFFCHAFF, and of course RED BACKED SHRIKE , and BARRED WARBLER. These two species seemed to get everywhere, but from now on we were going to see somewhat less of them. Also in the forest we found some brightly coloured metallic beetle about a half inch long.
After an hour or so , we returned to the coach and proceeded into Debrecen where we had an excellent lunch at a csarda on the edge of a park.
Whilst Seb. and I were in the gents toilet, we saw through the open window both NUTHATCH, and SYRIAN WOODPECKER, feeding on a trunk about fifteen feet away. Even I , am managing to get tuned in on these woodpeckers by now. There was a party of German birders outside whose guide was known to Sandor. They had seen all of the area specialities except for PENDULINE TIT. Oh dear, I thought,this being one of the species I was keen to see. And all this time the rain was coming down in Hungarian stair rods.
We left Debrecen which seemed to be a very pleasant city with lots of parkland, and the usual tram system, and headed for a section of marsh adjacent to the local sewage and rubbish dump at a place near Balmazujvaros.
This was a desperate looking place along a muddy churned up track on a featureless plain with piles of refuse and the odd building scattered about with an awful sewage smell. It was here that we saw our first RED FOOTED FALCONS, which were about to displace Red Backed Shrike as one of the most often seen birds. On the right of the track was a raised bank planted with short posts. We soon realised that every post had a bird perched upon it, as well as lots more milling about over what turned out to be a series of small ponds, with some much larger ponds to the right of them; as well as a number of small reed beds.
Although the pouring rain made things a little difficult ;as did the mosquitos we obtained good views of WHISKERED TERN, BLACK TERN , and WHITE WINGED BLACK TERN, of which there were about thirty of each on the posts and the small pools; where we also saw GREAT REED WARBLER, REDSHANK, JACKDAW , SWALLOW and a lot of SAND and HOUSE MARTINS flying about. Turning our attention to the large pools we had good ‘scope views of RED NECKED GREBE and BLACK NECKED GREBE in summer plumage, as well as another GREAT REED WARBLER , MALLARD, and POCHARD; which together with Ferruginous turned out to be the most frequently seen duck, also MAGPIE ,COOT, R.B.SHRIKE and CUCKOO.
Sandor was a little peeved because he couldn’t interest any one in a Tufted Duck on a more distant pool,this being quite a rarity in Hungary,so he went on his own. Whilst we dried off and waited for Sandor , Istvan drove us further along the track where we saw literally dozens of RED FOOTED FALCONS, six or seven LESSER GREY SHRIKE also some WHITE STORK, ROOK, HOODED CROW, TURTLE DOVE, two CUCKOOS, and a KESTREL.
Having retrieved Sandor , we headed south across the plain towards our next base at Hajduszoboszlo,which I shall refer to henceforth as Haj.
En route KESTREL, PHEASANT, STONECHAT also numbers of R.F.FALCON, CORN BUNTING,R.B.SHRIKE, LAPWING, and MARSH HARRIER ,were seen from the bus windows. We later pulled up at a line of enormous electricity pylons and had very distant views of SAKER FALCON perched on one of them . This was to be a regular stop in the days to come ,and I christened it “The great pylon hunt”; a name which stuck .
It was actually the last day before we got a reasonably decent view of one of these birds.
As we headed the last three miles into Haj. we must have seen 20 or 30 RED FOOTED FALCONS perched on overhead wires.
We eventually arrived at the Hotel Liget in Haj. It was situated on a road of hotels, all of which were aimed at German tourists who came to “take the waters”,this being a spa town, and a more arrogant, ignorant, loud bunch than this crowd I have yet to meet. Everything you hear about German tourists is true if the one’s in Haj. are anything to go by, and they all wear shell suits. I suspect that the younger Germans are somewhat more refined but the ones in Haj.were mostly elderly or middle aged, all fat, and probably former members of the Hitler Youth organization.
Neither the hotel or the rooms were as good as our previous base but conversely the food was better. After unpacking I wandered out for a look around,since the rain had by now stopped and the sun was attempting to come out. I was not impressed by the town; it consisted almost entirely of new buildings mostly of post 1970 vintage,and although well hung with trees and plenty of open space , just did not appeal to me. Also all the signs and notices were in German. I attempted to find the railway station which was situated on a main electrified line but gave up after half an hours walking, as time was getting short.
As I shouldered my way through the Germans back into the hotel, I found the P.A. club already sampling the bar menu which was again Dreher,but this time on draught. The meal was really excellent, with a welcoming glass of schnapps; the German influence again, and the usual Tokaji wine with the food.
Following the meal our party took over the lounge to have a drink and recap. on the days events,much to the discomfiture of our Germanic cousins who soon saw that they were not going to get things all their own way.
Incredibly,the bar closed at 1900 so we prevailed upon the very pleasant reception staff to corral a dozen bottles of beer to keep the P.A. club going and a bottle of red wine to keep Sue going for the night.
Set my alarm for 0600 for breakfast at 0700 and hit my pit feeling a tiny bit the worse for wear.
DAY 6 Wednesday 20 May 1998
Arose at 0600 to find a glorious sunny morning, whilst partaking of a solid continental breakfast. The Germans were just about beginning to stir as we left the hotel. Some of the party had already been busy. Dorothy had been out for 0500 and found a small reed bed on the edge of the park with a singing GREAT REED WARBLER in residence, plus SERIN and other sundry passerines, whilst Marjorie and Jack(“He’s always up by 5 o’clock”) had clocked up SERIN, BLACKCAP, SPOTTED FLYCATCHER etc. in the vicinity of the hotel and the park.
We headed off West with another brief fruitless episode in the great pylon hunt, seeing the occasional BUZZARD, and frequent R.F.FALCON and very frequent CORN BUNTING and MARSH HARRIER.
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In the village of Nadudvar we saw a number of WHITE STORKS sitting on nests, a feature of most of the villages in the area. They don’t seem to occur in Haj. however ,and I dont blame them, the Germans would probably eat them.
As the bus crossed areas of totally flat marshland, you could see for probably thirty miles ,the only features being the occasional line of trees or buildings .
A short halt at the side of a minor road produced ROOK, JACKDAW, CARRION CROW, BLACK HEADED GULL, many WHITE STORKS, dozens of SKYLARK, and CORN BUNTING, plus WHISKERED TERN, LESSER GREY SHRIKE, STONECHAT, HOODED CROW, and a number of GREAT WHITE EGRET and YELLOW WAGTAIL of the grey headed race, which seemed to be the prevailing sub species in these parts. After another short drive we headed off into the wilderness about half a mile along a cracked concrete road for another halt and scan around. This stop was a bit more productive providing good views of WHINCHAT, YELLOW WAGTAIL, STONECHAT, GRASSHOPPER WARBLER, SEDGE WARBLER, REED BUNTING, SWIFT, SAND MARTIN, and PURPLE HERON as well as the inevitable CORN BUNTING and MARSH HARRIER. Once again we set off, seeing several birds en route, the only ones worthy of mention being PURPLE HERON and LESSER GREY SHRIKE. They being so common,from now on, I will only rarely mention MARSH HARRIER, CORN BUNTING, and SKYLARK.
We then pulled up outside what turned out to be a military post in order to get permission to drive into a closed area in the marsh.Nobody seemed too fussed about it ‘though. Another concrete track to nowhere bought us pretty much the same as the previous one except for great excitement being caused by a distant MONTAGUES HARRIER, of which I had a rather poor view.
In spite of the excellent weather and little wind,butterflies were notable only by their absence.
Yet another concrete road into the marsh ,this time ending at an old disused aircraft control tower,which we daren’t get too close to, because of pieces of broken glass crashing down with every breath of wind . There were FERAL PIDGEON, HOUSE SPARROW, and SWALLOW breeding in the structure.
From here we recorded MARSH HARRIER etc, LAPWING, a pair of GARGANEY,eight SPOONBILL and three GREAT WHITE EGRET plus SEDGE WARBLER, R.B.SHRIKE, WHITE WAGTAIL, REED BUNTING, COMMON WHEATEAR REDSHANK, MALLARD and JACKDAW. Also someone found a COMMON FROG in an old cistern.
After crashing back to the road,we set off in a northerly directionto join trunk road number 33, which is the main artery through the Hortobagy Nemzeti National Park..
Having joined 33 we headed west for a short distance before stopping at a visitor centre with a wood a short distance away .As we approached the wood the noise was deafening. The twenty five foot high trees formed one enormous rookery,or so it appeared at first glance.
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As well as a huge numbers of ROOKS, it was also evident that a not inconsiderable number of RED FOOTED FALCONS were also breeding amongst them,but making less noise. Also there were butterflies everywhere,all small blue or brown. The three entomologists galloped everywhere ignoring the birds and hurling themselves flat in the grass to count underwing spots. The vast majority turned out to be large numbers of SMALL HEATH and COMMON BLUE, but persistance ,close study and spot counting also found us TURQUOISE BLUE, SMALL COPPER and LARGE HEATH. Coming once more back to earth ,I noticed that most of the others were glued to telescopes looking into the wood . Upon enquiry, I was shown a female LONG EARED OWL, elongated upwards in alarm sitting on a branch next to a nest with a chick in it. Not the rarest bird we saw but definitely one of the most satisfying and it was only thirty feet away. As we returned to the bus ,the butterfly hunt started again in earnest,with everyone joining in, where we satisfactorily identified
CHAPMANS BLUE, and a magnificent LARGE COPPER, which was somewhat smaller than I thought it would have been. Suddenly Phil let out a yell
and I saw a large yellowish white butterfly racing by; then another ; the third one I managed to catch more by luck than judgement, and we all gathered round with the books, and declared it a definite PALE CLOUDED YELLOW. Aside from this , all three of us were beginning to get tuned in to the blues by this time, something I’ve never had the opportunity to do in the U.K.
We then carried on to the village of Hortobagy, the centre of the tourist industry in these parts. There were various stalls selling “tat”manned by gypsies,and a rather large csarda,where we enjoyed a sumptuous meal and identified a LARGE SKIPPER alighted on a wall.
Following the meal I had a mooch about looking for butterflies but found only the odd COMMON BLUE and SMALL HEATH. I did however approach to within six feet of two CRESTED LARKS running about in the gravel. There were also a number of WHITE STORKS nesting on the surrounding houses.
The bus then carried us further westwards over an elegant bridge across the River Hortobagy and on to some large fish ponds near Arkus. Istvan of course, insisted in taking the bus off the road and right up to the ponds.
Although the weather was still fine and sunny,the wind had risen to a quarter gale which put paid to butterflies for the day.
The ponds were of the usual type with high banks between the stretches of water with reed fringes. In this case there were two large ponds to our left ,and a series of smaller ones to the right. The whole area was alive with the sound of amphibians. The fire bellied toads sounded like wind in the wires or even a distant bittern booming, while the other species made the most indescribable noises like geese gobbling etc,and all of it very loud.
Birdwise, with the exception of 12 CURLEW, numbers were small in the vicinity of the big ponds i.e . COOT, NIGHT HERON, GREY HERON, LITTLE EGRET, MARSH HARRIER, GADWALL, GREAT REED WARBLER,
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MALLARD, ,SPOONBILL, GARGANEY, GT W EGRET, HOUSE MARTIN, SAND MARTIN, POCHARD, REDSHANK, MED.GULL, RUFF, BLACK TAILED GODWIT, SHELDUCK, SPOTTED REDSHANK, DUNLIN, YELLOW LEGGED GULL, WOOD SANDPIPER, FERRUGINOUS DUCK, and a very distant BITTERN. As we moved over to the smaller more westerly pits, a fast flying HOBBY shot past at about fifteen feet elevation. These pits were a little shallower, and we were able to see; and hear MARSH FROG, COMMON FROG, BLUE BROWN TOAD and FIRE BELLIED TOAD in large numbers . The furthest pit; close to a thatched farmhouse, produced good numbers of BLACK TERN, WHISKERED TERN, BLACK HEADED GULL, YELLOW LEGGED GULL, two LITTLE GULL, and SQUACCO HERON, one AVOCET, and the usual selection of GREAT WHITE EGRET, CORN BUNTING, SKYLARK, R.F.FALCON, MARSH HARRIER, and LAPWING, sculling about.
On the other side of the pits were a large herd of very large and ugly dark grey Water Buffalo tended by a man and his dog. everyone was unanimous in claiming that our job was safer than his.At this point I asked Phil why he was so sure of his identification of YELLOW LEGGED GULLS; since their legs were rarely visible in flight , and why weren’t they Herring Gulls. I was informed that Herring Gulls just did not occur this far east except as rarities. Ask a silly question ! .
We now moved to the banks of a narrow canal and reedbed within the marsh where Sandor told us to watch out for Bluethroat and Little Crake,although seeing the latter was akin to finding the Holy Grail . We certainly heard them close by, but even Sandor’s faithful tape recorder could not tempt them into the open.
However ,half an hour in this spot provided us with some good birds i.e KINGFISHER, SWALLOW, GREAT WHITE EGRET, HOODED CROW, PURPLE HERON, GREAT CRESTED GREBE, LITTLE GREBE , BEARDED TIT, REED BUNTING, CUCKOO, NIGHT HERON, SQUACCO HERON, nicely topped off by close views of MONTAGUES HARRIER, HOBBY, and three COMMON CRANE, flying over.
Heading back to Haj. on the bus, we saw GREY LAG GOOSE, BLACK TERN, LITTLE EGRET,and the usual other species in large numbers.
Afer a fruitless ten minutes on the great pylon hunt we arrived back at the hotel at 1800. This being Pat’s birthday I tried to contact her by phone on three occasions,but with no success.
During our drink after lunch a whole mob of noisy,drunken German women came in about 2200 having been to a strip show. They just about woke the entire hotel up. Hit the sack at 2300, and slept like the proverbial log.
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DAY 7 THURSDAY 21 MAY 1998
An early start this morning,in order to get to the area of the Great Bustards before the heat haze developed. Apparently gypsies had been picking Camomile in the area,and had unintentionally disturbed them which made the birds extremely nervous. so there was a mutual agreement to avoid undue disturbance which meant that we had to keep well away. Phil told us that the warden for the area: Dr Kovacs, was a miserable old sod and if you upset him you never got to see anything.
It dawned a beautiful sunny day with little wind,in fact it turned out to be the hottest day we had.
As we waited outside for the bus to arrive Wayne and myself recorded SERIN, BLACKCAP, SPOTTED FLYCATCHER , WILLOW WARBLER and BLACKBIRD in the hotel garden. Dorothy however had gone at least one better on her five thirty stroll, with ICTERINE WARBLER in the nearby park.
No messing about at the pylons on this occasion,we were straight to highway 33 and heading west fifteen miles to arrive in the vicinity of the village of Nagyivan; Dr Kovac’s home by 0900 . En route from the bus we observed GREY PARTRIDGE, SWALLOW , BUZZARD, GREY LAG GEESE, YELLOW LEGGED GULL, and PURPLE HERON.
The village had about twenty WHITE STORKS nesting on various erections, and we picked up the infamous Doctor at his home. He was a short ,stocky heavily sun tanned man of about fifty, wearing a broad smile and obviously in a very sunny mood. Phil was amazed, and Gabrielle commented soto voce, that he’d probably managed to get his leg over on previous night.
We set off into the marshes along a rough track,with the good Doctor jabbering away happily, but since he had little English, Sandor had to translate.
We eventually pulled up at a picturesque farm where photographs were taken,and set off walking towards the horizon. We were warned not to stray off the track because of nesting birds. However, I became preoccupied chasing the many butterflies and received a “tightener” from Phil: “For Gods sake don’t upset the doctor”. It wasn’t really worth it anyway since they were all LARGE HEATH, SMALL HEATH, CHAPMANS BLUE and COMMON BLUE.
Our objective was a slight hump in the ground about a mile from the farm,and during the walk we recorded nesting BLACK TAILED GODWIT, SKYLARK and LAPWING, with QUAIL calling all around us,as well as the usual common species flying about. This was a dry part of the marsh really more akin to a scrubless heath.
We set up the scopes on the rise to see the GREAT BUSTARD about half a mile away. There were two males and nine females,and due to their sheer size were quite identifiable even at that distance. Whilst waiting for a ‘scope I was the only person to see a QUAIL, have a quick glide along the surface of the grass. The others were not amused. Due to the presence of Dr Kovacs ,Sandor could not use his tape recorder ,so mine was the only sighting.
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. Due to the increasing heat haze ,we had been none too early. Our return walk produced little of note except for masses of the usual butterflies and some very decorative breeding GREY HEADED WAGTAILS. As we once more approached the village ,the doctor had us stop and get out of the bus on a short hill; a great rarity in these parts, adjacent to a reed bed and a rough field. Gabrielle instantly spotted a BITTERN on the edge of the reeds, but the rest of us were too slow,and missed it. At this spot we ticked in quick succession three STONE CURLEW , single GREY HEADED WAGTAIL and WHINCHAT, plus a rather poorly seen WHITE SPOTTED BLUETHROAT, due to both the sun and it’s extreme twitchiness,and two rather distant ROLLERS. As we drove on we had a ten foot view of one of the Stone Curlew, also a WHEATEAR which we had missed previously.
Following a circuit of the village we took a very rough track into the marsh, running alongside a small canal. There were the usual cries of “He’s not going to drive it up there is he etc” but of course he did,looking as though he was going to overturn us on two occasions. I was taking my turn in the”naughty seat” over the back wheel and was beginning to feel very queasy, although I recovered when we eventually stopped by a disused barn on a low rise . During the course of the drive; before we turned away from the canal, we had superb close views of NIGHT HERON, PURPLE HERON and SPOONBILL.
We set off walking through a fairly dry area of short rough rush and grass for about half a mile with COMMON BLUE, CHAPMANS BLUE, and SMALL and LARGE HEATH butterflies everywhere, whereupon we got to the water. Although only eight to twelve inches deep , it was too much for boots and you were walking through coarse sedge and rushes about twelve inches high interspersed by occasional large beds of higher sedge about two feet high. These were our objective,the breeding area of the AQUATIC WARBLER. Most of us elected to follow precedent ,and so took off our shoes and socks, and paddled. Dorothy however,always planning ahead had bought some wellies with her. Two of the girls,Elaine and Sue elected to stay on dry land and give the Aquatic Warblers a miss. Ed. was giving everyone grief about leaches, water snakes, and dreadful diseases picked up from marsh water ; but the only real problems were the voracious mosquitos, and the danger of losing your footing and falling down in it; which Catherine very nearly did,giving an excellent impression of a ballet dancer performing a complex movement. This, to the sarcastic accompaniment of Seb’s witty comments.
Although the birds were seen almost immediately, the doctor insisted that everyone should have a good ,close view through the’scopes; and so we spent about an hour paddling around until everyone had had their fill. Ed was heard to remark during the latter stages of the chase;”Please,will somebody tell me I can go home”. By this time the two dry land ladies ,were mere specks on the horizon. and so we started to splash back towards them. Whilst in the water we observed
as well as AQUATIC WARBLER; SEDGE WARBLER, WHITE WINGED BLACK TERN, WHISKERED TERN and the inevitable MARSH HARRIERS, and would you believe it, a distant ROE DEER.
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The butterfly trio had also been busy in the marsh recording,as well as the usuals, another LARGE COPPER,and a number of CHESTNUT HEATHS which I think we had misidentified before since there were a fair number to be seen in company with the Small and Large Heaths,once we rechecked. We also saw what was probably the eastern european race of the GATEKEEPER.
As we rejoined the two waiting ladies an AQUATIC WARBLER sat up on a reed about twenty feet away much to their hilarity, so they saw one after all without getting wet , muddy, and bitten.
Everyone agreed that it had been great fun in spite of the mud and the mossies. The mud came off easily but some of us,especially Jack and Phil were positively disfigured by bites.
Returning to the village we said goodbye to the jovial Doctor and Phil presented him with a gift for his trouble,and he presented each of us with his own wonderful photograph of an Aquatic Warbler.
Returning to highway 33 and turning east we stopped almost immediately to admire two ROLLERS perched on the wires about twenty feet away.
Following the usual excellent lunch at a csarda; and seeing the usual species from the bus, we halted at a large fishpond with a hide, the only one we saw. Parking the coach alongside a large SAND MARTIN colony we walked along the bank to the hide . At this place we recorded GREY LAG GOOSE, WIDGEON, GARGANEY, SHOVELLER, GADWALL, LAPWING, WHISKERED TERN, BLACK TAILED GODWIT, GREAT WHITE EGRET and SEDGE WARBLER, all in some numbers; also single CURLEW SANDPIPER, GREENSHANK, REDSHANK, and COMMON TERN; whilst we all had superb views of SAVIS WARBLER, and GREAT REED WARBLER, through the ‘scopes ,whilst a marauding HOBBY zoomed low overhead harassing the innumerable SAND MARTINS. At this point we were joined by a German birder in his twenties who attempted to pick our brains, but due to his rather superior attitude and his nationality, he did not learn much.
All this time the party was also being distracted by numerous butterflies. As well as the usual LARGE ,SMALL,CHESTNUT HEATHS,COMMON BLUE, and CHAPMANS BLUE, Wayne spotted and caught something much more interesting which with the aid of the books we unanimously identified as LESSER SPOTTED FRITILLARY. Upon our return to the bus Phil saw a large yellow butterfly which obligingly alighted on a flower and stayed there flexing it’s wings. At first glance ,we thought Clouded Yellow , but on consulting the books on the spot ,it turned out to be a DANUBE CLOUDED YELLOW.
A little way eastward we stopped and walked along a rough farm road alongside some trees , to look for TAWNY PIPIT, which we soon found and examined through ‘scopes.
Here we also saw CORN BUNTING, GOLDEN ORIOLE, LESSER GREY SHRIKE and PURPLE HERON; whilst four ROLLERS posed on the wires about fifty yards away. A NIGHTINGALE singing in a tree was only spotted by eagle eyed Gabrielle. Butterfly wise, as well as the usual Heaths and Blues , we had another BATON BLUE at this place.
Closer to Haj. we stopped at a reedbed alongside a csarda and with the aid of Sandors tape recorder had stunning views of both MARSH WARBLER and NIGHTINGALE.
After a ten minute fruitless pylon chase we arrived back in Haj. at 1800.
After the usual excellent dinner we settled to drinks and a recap. of the day and I managed at last, to talk to Pat on the phone. The reception staff were used to us by now ;and when they closed the bar, they extracted a dozen bottles of Dreher and a bottle of red wine for us to buy. Went to bed at 2300.
The day dawned cloudy, cold and somewhat windier than Thursday. We embarked at the usual hour heading for the village of Balmazujvaros, some eight miles to the north. Close to the village we walked across some fields of coarse grass ,which also contained some marshy reed fringed ponds and a breeding population of REDSHANK, BLACK TAILED GODWIT and LAPWING. Calling QUAIL seemed to be everywhere ,but we couldn’t persuade any to show themselves. Birds seen in this vicinity were LESSER GREY SHRIKE, SWALLOW, POCHARD, BLACK TERN, WHITE STORK, SPOONBILL, HOODED CROW, CURLEW, HOBBY, GREY HEADED WAGTAIL, and TEAL; all in small numbers, whilst GARGANEY, GOLDFINCH, WHISKERED TERN, and BLACK TERN, were well into the teens. We then walked two hundred yards along a bush fringed grassy track back to the coach, en route seeing LITTLE EGRET and AVOCET, although the lepidopterists missed these,being more concerned with butterflies dormant in the grass. Here we successfully identified a number of COMMON and CHAPMANS BLUE, whilst an ADONIS BLUE caused a bit of controversy. Despite the books; and Phil and I being convinced, Dorothy had seen this species before and wasn’t. We couldn’t see what the problem was as their was nothing else it could have been. Another very different blue caused something of a stir,and the whole group joined in finally identifying it as REVERDINS BLUE; of which we saw several in the ensuing five minutes. Yet another blue completely beat us however,and we came to the conclusion that it must have been an aberrant COMMON BLUE. I was by now becoming really confident identifying these blues.
Attaining the road we had a COMMON WHITETHROAT and yet another RIVER WARBLER in a bush at the roadside. Who said RIVER WARBLERS were hard to see. As we drove off, a self propelled track laying machine rattled along the adjacent railway.
Our next port of call was a famous reserve at a place called Darrasai Kialiton,about five miles to the west. It consisted of rough pasture ;and several pockets of mixed woodland, and it was desperately cold. Marjorie was in fact wearing an anorak and two fleeces. At the farm where we parked, two large dogs were enjoying a hearty meal consisting of the hind quarters of either a horse or deer. We didn’t look too closely.
Out on the grassland with our backs to a wood ;it was akin to the Siberian tundra, although the sun was threatening to come out. It finally made it at 1130,but it was still pretty cold and windy. It was here that we saw a flock of the famous Hortobagy spiral horned sheep. It was amazing the number of birds which flew across the area, we had several GREAT WHITE EGRET, JACKDAW, SHORT TOED EAGLE,WHEATEAR, RED FOOTED FALCON, BUZZARD, HONEY BUZZARD, HOODED CROW, WHITE STORK,and finally the object of our visit LONG LEGGED BUZZARD.We saw it land in the grass about half a mile away,and so we headed towards it,and eventually flushed it in to the air where we had terrific views. Seb had been making jokes about the birds name ,and when it was buzzed by a KESTREL,someone commented that the Kestrel was very careful not to get too close. Seb instantly replied ;”It’s not likely to. It might roll over on to it’s back and grab it”. After some ten minutes the bird disappeared over the woods,and we set off back to the farm suffering from incipient hypothermia. En route we disturbed a HOOPOE in the grass , and the BROWN LIZARD ,which it had got cornered. In the wood surrounding the farm we saw NIGHTINGALE and LESSER GREY SHRIKE.
We then headed west, having good views of HOBBY and GREY and PURPLE HERON en route, making for the village of Tiszacsege and the car ferry over the River Tisza . We had lunch in a csarda ,which specialised in fish food,adjacent to the ferry. It was different and quite delicious. I had by this time dropped the lunchtime beer,since the amount of wine we got with the meals made it a little heavy going. After lunch we photographed the rather primitive ferry, and had a look at a thriving HOUSE MARTIN colony, seven above the ground, under the eaves of a small workshop.
Then heading south once again towards route 33, the only birds of note were SPOONBILL, LITTLE EGRET, CURLEW, PURPLE HERON, SWIFT, and even more SPOONBILL.
Turning left onto 33 we shortly turned left again heading for “the Great Fish Pond” leaving the road for a very rough, muddy track, where the bus soon bogged down. Everyone got out and the men pushed soon getting it over the bad patch. In the meantime ,some of the party saw a COMMON SNIPE, which I missed.
After a mile or so the coach dropped us at a bridge ,over which we gained the pond . Some pond , it was about three miles by two miles, of the usual configuration,with high banks and colossal areas of reed bed. As we commenced walking north along the side of the pond, we saw vast numbers of SWIFT flying around at quite a high altitude. We also saw one of the first CORMORANT of the holiday flying across. We then had rather poor views of .PENDULINE TIT, my 19th new bird of the week. Turning left onto a causeway between the main pools, we saw GREAT REED WARBLER, and FERRUGINOUS DUCK on, and around the pools. We then mounted a ten foot high viewing point giving an excellent elevated view of both the ponds and the reed bed.
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Here we had excellent views of MARSH WARBLER. REED, SEDGE and SAVIS WARBLER, as well as BEARDED TIT. We then saw GREAT CORMORANT quickly followed by PYGMY CORMORANT, my 20th new bird. After another ten minutes and several more Cormorants of both types, we descended.
Back at ground level, we once more heard the call of a LITTLE CRAKE deep in the reeds, and Sandor suggested that we give it one more try with the tape recorder. This seemed to enrage everything in the area, and we had Water Rail squealing and marsh frogs gobbling and chattering at full decibels and even a normally elusive MOUSTACHED WARBLER mounted a high reed and chattered at us from twenty feet away.
As the frogs reached an absolute crescendo, everyone started to grin and then laugh. So much for silence. Suddenly a tiny crake appeared out of the base of the reeds I had been watching, and promptly shot back in again. Only myself and Dorothy had seen it but at least we now knew whereabouts it was. After five more minutes playing, just as everyone was beginning to get despondent, the crake came out into the open and slowly walked the length of the clearing.
Everyone was absolutely delighted including Sandor. We were one of his first tour groups to actually see one. It was very tiny,almost like a Skylark sized Water Rail. Then to make our day a WATER RAIL also did a repeat march past.
Chattering happily we returned along the causeway until Sandor let out a yell and set up his ’scope on a WHITE TAILED EAGLE perched on a post two hundred yards away.,and still we weren’t finished, After we’d sated ourselves on the very obliging eagle, we had not gone far before Sandor spotted a part finished PENDULINE TITS nest suspended from a willow tree. The bird soon returned and recommenced building ,giving us all fantastic views through the ‘scopes, my 21st new bird and 4th for the day. Further down the track we found yet another nest, and had more great views . As well as the birds I mentioned at the Great Ponds there were all the usual wetland birds which abound in the area.
Extremely chuffed and satiated with birds we returned back to Haj. with a half kilometre away view of a SAKER on the pylons. We discussed a collection for the Hungarians to which Seb. and Catherine raised objections,but they slept on it and coughed up in the end. Drank more than I should have and hit the pit at 2315.
DAY 9 Saturday 23 May 1998
Awoke to a beautiful sunny morning if a little windy. The dawn patrol had nothing of note to report this morning as we set off in the bus.
This was to be our last full day,and tonight we would be saying goodbye to Istvan and Sandor,who had to take the 20 seater across to Vienna to pick up an American birding party, “doing” Europe.
We headed for highway 33, for the last time ,with the usual glance at the pylons,and the third fruitless attempt to see a Little Owl at its roost near Koselyszeg, we arrived at 33 and turned west. Birds seen up to this point on the journey were TURTLE DOVE, STARLING, SWALLOW, GOLDFINCH, TREE SPARROW, CARRION CROW, PHEASANT, BLACK HEADED GULL, CORN BUNTING, WHITE WAGTAIL , WHITE STORK, MAGPIE, MARSH HARRIER, RED BACKED SHRIKE, SKYLARK, RED FOOTED FALCON and the usual unsatisfactory view of a SAKER on a pylon about half a kilometre away.
As soon as we hit 33 the birding, as usual improved with LESSER GREY SHRIKE, WHITETHROAT , STONECHAT, MARSH HARRIER, GREAT WHITE EGRET and RED FOOTED FALCON, in the first half mile,together with a magnificent view of a female MONTAGUES HARRIER ,which flew alongside the bus about fifteen feet away for a few seconds. On the outskirts of Hortobagy I noticed a military tank on a plinth for the first time. Of course everyone else had seen it several times before. I think it’s because I focus about 100 yards away normally looking for birds,at least that’s my story-.
We then turned right up the road and over the railway as if returning to the Great Fish Pond,but turned left instead of right and parked in a railway station yard, where we disembarked. To my surprise there was a metre gauge light railway , plus a primitive engine shed,and a crude diesel loco,not too disimilar to a Simplex, hooked up to a truck, and a personnel carrying vehicle.
We headed up the track in the sunshine. On the right was a narrow canal backed by the vast reedbeds of the Great Fish Pond and to the left were a series of small muddy settling type pools alive with very vocal frogs; backed by a high bank covered with a line of bushes and small trees. Beyond this was another enormous fish pond with the usual colossal areas of reed, which were harvested commercially. The sky was full of SAND MARTINS and SWALLOWS, whilst the usual Egrets and Herons flew back and forth. We saw a couple of very close CUCKOOS, which occupied the scopes,unfortunately missing a brief sight of a LITTLE BITTERN, which shot into the reed bed. Only three of us saw it,and the others were a little annoyed to say the least. At this we moved over to the line of trees where REED BUNTING, GREAT REED WARBLER, and SQUACCO HERON made themselves obvious. Sandor spotted an ICTERINE WARBLER in a bush, and we spent some time there ensuring that everyone saw it. Whilst there, Jack spotted three CASPIAN TERNS flying over which cheered everyone up. We then returned to the canal bank just as the”train”, arrived disgorging some workers and their tools.
Butterflies seen here were not very exciting,but kept us on our toes i.e. LARGE SKIPPER,CHESTNUT HEATH and COMMON BLUE.
We then saw SPOTTED FLYCATCHER,BITTERN,BEARDED TIT and another ICTERINE WARBLER,and this time everyone got good ‘scope views in spite of being disturbed by the train which came past us heading north.
As we followed the train we became somewhat strung out, and the back markers led by Phil had good views of W.S.BLUETHROAT, which the rest of us missed. Meanwhile we disturbed three SQUACCO HERON which we kept following up the canal,giving us magnificent views. In the meantime on the pond, in the reeds and flying over, we had super views of POCHARD, GREAT CRESTED GREBE, LESSER WHITETHROAT, RED BACKED SHRIKE, CORMORANT, PURPLE HERON, SAVIS WARBLER, FERRUGINOUS DUCK, MALLARD, LITTLE and GREAT WHITE EGRET, PYGMY CORMORANT, GREY LAG GOOSE,and as everyone caught up, another LITTLE BITTERN. Once again,not everybody saw it,and I was accused of being greedy since I saw them both. Despite Sandors best efforts with the tape recorder the bird refused to show itself, much to the disgust of those who had not seen it.
Whilst we were here someone noticed hundreds of SWIFTS wheeling about very high overhead. A white butterfly then caused a minor stir, when it settled,but despite our best effforts with the book,could not make it anything more than a SMALL WHITE. We the examined an obliging Ermine Moth of some kind which posed for us.
Returning down the canal a PENDULINE TITS nest was discovered , and we all had excellent views of the adult birds through the ‘scopes.By this time some very nasty looking storm clouds had appeared and the wind had risen.. Two BITTERNS,gave us a magnificent fly past about twenty feet away ,as we walked southwards again.
On our way back, we had good ‘scope views of W.S.BLUETHROAT, SAVIS WARBLER and MARSH WARBLER, and better still,we totally missed the heavy showers which had made the roads awash. Boarded the bus to a lot of muttering about a greedy bugger who saw both Little Bitterns while others didn’t see any. I hadn’t the heart to tell them that it wasn’t a new bird for me anyway.
Headed back to the csarda at Hortobagy for lunch,where I presented our Hungarians with a little personal gift, for all their help. Outside, I bought some pen pictures to take home, and photographed an obliging WHITE STORK on its nest.
Back on board we headed back towards Haj., but actually took the Naduvar road off highway 33. Sandor insisted on one last look around the LITTLE OWL roost, but this time success. There it was , feeding in a small ploughed field,about twenty feet from the bus,so we all enjoyed good views in the end.. We turned left onto highway 24 near Kaba,and left again up a minor road towards a large industrial complex,which turned out to be a sugar beet refinery. First we had to wait at a railway crossing flashing red,and an eight coach train hauled by blue BoBo electric 1143 passed at about 70mph.
Crossing the railway we stopped immediately to look at a small pool which contained two BLACK WINGED STILT, our first for the holiday but certainly not our last.
We drew up near the top of a short hill opposite the factory,in amongst a series of pits which smelt dreadful. On a filthy shallow pool opposite the coach were single WHITE STORK, WOOD SANDPIPER and LAPWING.
Walking further into the complex revealed a series of fairly small,muddy settling beds,which contained an astonishing variety of birds. First of all were abut thirty pairs of both BLACK HEADED GULL, BLACK WINGED STILT and AVOCET, breeding down in the pits, plus small numbers of RED BACKED SHRIKE, MALLARD, GREAT REED WARBLER, COOT, REDSHANK, GREY HEADED WAGTAIL, and CUCKOO, plus two RUFF, complete with a ruff, four BLACK NECKED GREBE in summer plumage, and single MARSH WARBLER, LITTLE RINGED PLOVER, BLACK TAILED GODWIT, SHOVELLER, and at last two BLUETHROAT of the white spotted race which stayed still long enough for excellent ‘scope views. As we finally cleared the stench from our nostrils and set off down the road ,we all reflected on what an excellent climax the settling beds had provided,with good views of everything.
In fact in retrospect throughout the holiday we had enjoyed excellent ‘scope views of most birds,due to the persistance and consideration of our guides.
We still had one more to come however. At the pylons Sandor spotted a SAKER , about half a mile away on a pylon. With the Hungarian equivalent of “sod it” Istvan drove the bus up a rutted track to within fifty yards of said pylon where we at last enjoyed good ‘scope’ views of a female SAKER and partly fledged chick. As we prepared to depart , a WHITE SPOTTED BLUETHROAT obligingly sat up on a reed for two or three minutes a few yards away as a final curtain call.
Back at the hotel in Haj. we said our final goodbyes to our Hungarians and prepared for the following days departure.
Since I had some time to spare, I got in to my bathers and went to “take the waters “,in the hotels mineral pool. At least,I had it to myself,no fat Germans,it was very warm and a dirty brown colour,and tasted of nothing in particular,but it certainly made me ill, for I had violent diaorrhea after dinner which severely curtailed my boozing on the final night. I was over it however by 2330 and went to bed and slept like a log.
DAY 10 SUNDAY 24 MAY 1998
We had a forty seater coach and a more historically inclined driver for our return to Budapest. We saw few birds from the bus on our journey along highway 25. Entering the city on the same road alongside the airport I recorded electric
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locos 1158 and 1194 on trains, and at a large suburban station maroon diesel 2115,standing in the station. Budapest looked a little down at heel and dirty after the cleanliness and charm of the country districts,however so does London. We had a 15 minute stop in Hero’s Square, very impressive although alive with tourists and gypsies selling “tat”. An ornate statue of the angel Gabriel sent Gabrielle scuttling for a camera to take a picture of her near namesake. The coach then took us to the Castle on the Buda side of the Danube,where we said goodbye to Ed and Elaine, who were stopping on for a few days. Although once more alive with tourists, the castle and attached cathedral were most impressive.
Whilst on the battlements Seb.attempted to commit suicide by climbing up on top to take photographs of the view. Catherine suggested that if he fell, he wouldn’t hurt himself but merely break the paving slabs two hundred feet below.
We took off on time on board B 767 “City of Milan”. I sat with Dorothy the whole way back,sharing a window seat,although it was totally overcast and nothing to see. Landing on time 1605 at Heathrow, we said our goodbyes. Since my bus had been rescheduled, I was still there at 2030. Arrived home tired but happy at 2330
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