Richard Smith - Birdwatching Days Out: April 2011

This 3 day trip was organised by Mr. Janos Olah, Saker Tours.

Outward journey started on Friday, 15th April with a 11.15 flight departure from Gatwick Airport to arrive at Ferihegy Airport, Budapest at 15.00 hours.

Met on arrival by Mr. Olah himself and then an 164 mile drive to Komloska to arrive at the Solyomvar Hotel for my 2 night stay in the Zemplen Hills.

On route we noted

Common Buzard
Marsh Harrier, 3
Great White Egret, 1
White Stork, nesting in village prior Komloska.
Rooks, Crows and Pheasant

Arrived at Komloska and into hotel at 18.00 hours.

Out for a walk round the village at 18.10, low cloud base, rapidly fading light

Saw a few birds, nothing special, Chaffinch, Song Thrush, Collar Dove, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Jay.
I could not identify much else as light was to bad. Sunset was 19.30 hours, (no sun).

Back to hotel, superb, I was the only guest, dinner at 19.30, bed by 20.30 hours.

Day 1 started with sunrise 05.56 hours, out for a walk round the village at 06.00 hours.

Overnight frost, a clear blue sky, a super day, 17*C

Black Redstart, m and f
Tree Sparrow, many
Blackcap
White Wagtail
House Sparrow

Rapid breakfast at 06.45 and at 07.00 hours, picked up from hotel by my guide Mr. Zoltan Petrovics.

Into the Beech forest above the village

Hard work to get photos in this Beech forest, the trees must be 100 feet high, massive

Black Woodpecker

We saw

Grey-headed Woodpecker
Black Woodpecker, 3
Treecreeper
Stock Dove
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Raven, 3
Hawfinch, 4
Siskin
Marsh Tit

seen when in a clearing in forest

Imperial Eagle, 2

Imperial Eagle

Imperial Eagle

on the way back down to village saw

Square Swallowtail Butterfly

then leaving village saw

Swallowtail Butterfly

next location, close to where they make their famous wine saw

Corn Bunting
Linnet
Skylark, many
Stonechat, m
Black Stork, 2, distant

passed by site where Corncrakes breed (later in year)

stopped at a quarry to see a nesting

Eagle Owl,

it took me 10 minutes to sight it, so well camoflaged, Zoltan had to draw a map of the quarry face for me, but once I located it, obvious ! Big Ears !

into another forest, a lesson in stealth, quiet, woodpeckers do not want to be seen.

Yellowhammer
Coal Tit
Grey Wagtail
Middle Spotted Woodpecker

Butterfly include

Peacock
Wood Whites
Green veined Whites
Brimstone, 2

Then what Zoltan had been looking for

White-backed Woodpecker

White-backed Woodpecker, I was extremly lucky to get this photo, very difficult to get focus, in a very brief sighting.

out of the forest passing Castle Boldogkoi

then to another quarry 5 mins from Castle Boldogkoi for 2nd

Eagle Owl

this time very much closer but still difficult to find until shown, even bigger ears !

Back to Komloska for a last walk around the village

White wagtail
Tree Sparrow
Blackcap

White Wagtail

Blackcap, f

Tree Sparrow

Finished the day at 19.00 hours, Evening meal and in bed by 20.30.

Day 2. Perfect clear sky, temperature up to 20*C by midday.

Out for the morning wander in the village at 05.45 hours, outside the hotel

Black Redstart, m and f

Breakfast at 06.45 hours then picked up by Zoltan at 07.00 hours, got into his car, he started the engine and immediatly said 'Wryneck'. Zoltan identified every bird we saw (except eagles and distant Black Storks) by song and call, incredible, he could hear and sense bird calls when I could not hear a sound, he was always right. Out of the car rapid, followed Zoltan 20 meters to the left side of the hotel and there in a walnut tree behind the hotel was my first ever sighting of a Wryneck. It was in a Walnut tree 6 meters from the balcony of my hotel room where I had been sitting having my cigarette before breakfast. I was a bit miffed that it was not there earlier and I had found it myself, actually I never saw any bird first, I was shown everything !
The Wryneck was on the move, we did not persue it as it disapeared to distant woodland.

Back into the car and 20 minute drive found us on a dirt track in a vineyard, 2 more Wryneck. Always on the wrong side of a branch, as though hiding from us.

Wryneck

Watched these two wryneck for 20 minutes, never very close, very flighty,
In this same 20 mins we also saw

Wryneck, 2
Black Stork
Common Buzard, 3
Song Thrush
Chiffchaff

moving forward through the vineyard to the edge of the forest, then continuing up the forest track, parked car then started to walk higher into the forest, heard my first of this spring arrival, the Cuckoo

also seeing

Wood Warbler
Yellowhammer

Zoltan then pointed out Spawn of the Yellow Bellied Toad

Yellow Bellied Toad (underside)

Yellow Bellied Toad (top side)

Zoltan then led me up an incline about 30 feet above a small marshy lake, we sat down facing a tree, and at eye level there was a woodpecker nest hole, about 30 feet away from us! I was told to stay still and wait and be alert ! Absolute silence.
10 minutes passed, then I heard whispered to me 'he is coming' 'he is coming, be ready', Still absolute silence to me.
Suddenly I could here distant call of a Woodpecker probably 200 meters away, then I could see it, coming towards us fast, up the valley from below us, I lost sight at 60 meters and concentrated on focussing the camera on the nest hole. The Woodpecker must have cicled the back of the tree and then landed in a tree, high over the back of my left shoulder, I could hear it calling, very vocal, I did not dare look over my shoulder.
Suddenly, there it was at the nest hole !

Black Woodpecker, m

Black Woodpecker, m and f

Black Woodpecker, m

30 SECONDS and it was over, they had exchanged places in the nest, the female now out and disappeared !

I was speechless. Zoltan explained it would be an hour before the female returned. I said I would like to wait to see again, he left me sitting there to go of in the forest saying he would return for me in an hour.

I moved back about 8 feet higher up the incline to try and get the small branch out of the photo shot and to give me a more distant viewing position and settled down, still, in perfect silence and waited all the time listening and concentrating on the view in front of me, time passed. The male Black Woodpecker did have peek out of the nest at one point.

Black Woodpecker, m

I did hear a slight rustling at one point and thought that was Zoltans return, I never looked to see, then later I heard the whisper 'be ready', 'he is coming'.

Seconds later, I heard the femail, not as vocal, a differant approach, landing in the woodpecker pose at the side of the nest hole

Black Woodpecker, f

Black Woodpecker, f and m

Black Woodpecker, f

special one for M.S. (he likes a portrait shot ! )

Walking on in the forest Zoltan showed me

Triturus alpestris, (I have got to look this one up for English Translation)
ALPINE NEWT

Camberwell Beauty

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

I have to check this one out, Duke of Burgundy Fritillary maybe ?

We left this forest, returning through the vineyard area seeing a

Woodlark

Midday,10 minute drive to another location, stopped for to eat in a splendid area by a small reed lake. Watched flying over us

Lesser Spotted Eagle

Black Stork

Lesser Spotted Eagle

Black Stork

A short drive and then into to another forest area to see

Grey-headed Woodpecker

Nuthatch

Grey-headed Woodpecker

Walking back from the Grey-headed Woodpecker sight, Zoltan was alerted by 'Marsh Tits alarm calls'.

'BIG OWL', he then went forward down hill through very dense forest, me following 10 paces behind, silent,

when he stopped I stopped, he would signal me when to go forward, pointing to the right to indicate the direction of an invisable bird, some distance down hill he then circled right, then we started to go uphill, all the time he was stopping, listening, then go a few paces forward. Ya, ho, ya hoo, grough was the way he described the call, he suddenly stopped and urgently beckoned me forward, I saw a BIG OWL as it flew slowly through the trees away from us. Zoltan again went forward some, same stealth and silence, then I was urgently beckoned forward again.

Then I saw the BIG OWL it was an URAL OWL. It was sitting on a low branch about 5 feet of the ground level. I went down on one knee for a perfect full view, it stayed perched for about 30 seconds then silently, slowly, flew of through the forest away from us.

Zoltan explained, this was at least a 5 year old owl, a lot of white, Hungary had had a very long cold winter and a lot of Ural Owls had died of starvation, only the clever older birds survive.

We moved back to the forest track to make our way back to the car seeing

Yellowhammer, 1

Sparrowhawk, 1

04.30 hours, we drove to Zoltans village,

White Stork, dozens

nesting on every other telegraph pole

outside the front of his house, by the garden gate was a

Syrian Woodpecker

The Syrian Woodpecker was quite frantic as there was a tractor and trailer parked very close, our car and David the driver of the car that had come to pick me up for my departure to Hortobagy at 17.00 hours. We got out of the way into the back garden where I was treated to coffee.

It was very sad to say goodbye as I had had two smashing days in the company of Zoltan.

17.00 hours, David took me towards my next destination, Hortobagy, 100 miles south.

Arrived Hotel Balmaz, Balmazujvaros 19.00 hours, good hotel, top class restaurant.

Day 3, David picked me up 07.00 hours, half hour drive to the 'drinking pond hide', for a 11 hour photo session of woodland birds.

Birds seen and photographed were

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

Nuthatch

Pied Flycatcher

Tree Sparrow

Chiffchaff

Willow Warbler

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Marsh Tit

Chaffinch

Greenfinch

Hawfinch

Yellowhammer

Jay

Song Thrush

Robin

17 Species Total, Woodpeckers and Hawfinch visiting all the time all day !

David picked me up at 18.00 hours, back to the hotel, good meal, good sleep.

Mr. Janos Olah himself picked me up at 07.00 hours next morning to take me back the 145 mile drive to Budapest Ferihegy Airport for my 15.15 flight back to Gatwick.

Total travel between airport and the two locations I visited was 408 miles journey by road all organized by Saker Tours.

My thanks goes out to Mr. Janos Olah for his efficiency in the organisation of this trip, to Mr. Zoltan Petrovics, my guide in Zemplen, and all people concerned with Saker Tours who gave me such a wonderfull experiance and the knowledge I gained on this visit to Hungary. I have booked up for the same again and will be back in Zemplen on 11th May, it was that good.