Hungary 14 - 19 September 2014 (1 Viewer)

My brother and I recently travelled to Hungary to do a spot of birding and though he had a target bird in mind, Imperial Eagle I just wanted to bird in a new country. September is probably not the most productive time for bird spotting in Hungary and much of the literature concentrates on Spring and Winter visits so I was grateful for all the trip reports available not least that by Wolfbirder.

A few general notes before I get on to the serious business of the birds. Hungary is a beautiful country and the people seemed warm and friendly, they didn't even laugh when I mangled their language. Food is cheaper than in the UK and the good stuff like beer and cigs far cheaper, a pint for 60 pence - happy daze!

Car hire is about average though it seems that you need at least 500 euros on your credit card for the deposit before they hand you the keys. Traffic is fairly light which makes emergency stops on rural roads far less dangerous than it would be in Britain.

Our accommodation in the village of Noszvaj was about 60 quid for 5 nights in a self catering apartment, not quite the Dorchester but good enough for us.

Hungary has had an appalling wet summer ( I know how that feels ) but we were lucky with the weather, apart from a few showers in the 15th and heavier rain on our arrival it was shirt sleeves hot and sunny for the rest of it.

Lastly the guide we used by Steve Gosney was useful but seemed quite out of date and as I mentioned earlier information gleaned from trip reports was more useful.

I'll leave it there for now and put the birdy stuff in the next post.

James.

After our rain soaked arrival at Budapest airport it was nice to see the sun on the 15th, we took an early morning stroll around the village of Noszvaj. Black Redstarts and Tree Sparrows were fairly common and Hawfinch and Redstart were also seen. Of four woodpeckers noted Syrian and Middle Spotted were the pick of the bunch.

A trip to Eger to change money - don't use the Dick Turpins at the airport - and then on to the Bukk Hills, a beautiful stretch of country which in our case was bird free. A visit in Spring might be the ticket as it certainly looks promising. For the only time on the trip rain stopped play, a heavy shower sent us driving back to the guesthouse.

Off to the world famous Hortobagy on16th, we took a roundabout route on rural roads in order to explore. South of the motorway we stopped at a row of pylons where two Rollers were seen while at two stops on either side of Egerlovo we saw Purple Heron and 20 plus Bee-eaters. Near Oahu Fishponds we were treated to a flyby White-tailed Eagle and then it was on to the reserve itself.

Having paid a paltry fee of 600 forints for the permits we headed off up the railway track towards the ponds. The reeds were full of pinging Bearded Tits and we saw several warblers including Wood. Having negotiated the wobbly steps of the first, rather rickety observation tower we settled down to one of the best hour and a half birding that I've had in Europe. Great White Egrets gleamed like beacons in the sunshine matched in numbers by Grey Heron. 10 plus Squacco Herons and a couple of Little Egrets were matched by the 60 or so Spoonbills and Pygmy Cormorants far outnumbered their larger cousins. Both Black and Whiskered Terns hawked over the marshes joined by a few Little Gulls, several Caspian Gulls were found amongst the commoner Yellow-legged. Periodically a Marsh Harrier would glide past, a graceful contrast to two White-tailed Eagles, their ponderous flapping flight inducing much panic as they flapped over the ponds. Duck numbers were low and the only wader was a solitary Lapwing mobbing one of the eagles ( can one bird mob?)

Leaving Old Rickety we stopped for a chat, well four actually as Bluethroat, Redstart, Whinchat and Stonechat were seen in rapid succession. The next tower wasn't, it was a pile of rotting wood next to the path but from the third we did see another eagle. None of the other ponds had much to offer so we headed back to the car seeing a Black Woodpecker near the ringing station

We took a trip over to Nagyivan hoping to see bustards but didn't, Red Footed Falcons and Cranes did oblige though. The road to the village is terrible, NASA could use the cratered surface to test Mars rovers. After a very good day we headed back to Noszvaj.

On the 17th it was sloppy seconds day at Hortobagy but not before we tried the Saker site on the 33 road to the west of Poroszio. The Sakers duly obliged, two gave distant though acceptable views. A passing Lesser Spotted Eagle, Hen Harrier, lots of Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk and Corn Bunting completed the rolecall of avian goodies and a Hungarian Airforce Saab Gripen gave me a plane tick.

We moved on to a viewing platform at the Nagyivan junction from where we saw a Black Stork and more Red Foots. On to Hortobagy where it was a case of yesterday's leftovers warmed over but still good, a later halt at Oahu Fishponds gave us views of 10 plus Ferruginous Ducks.

The 18th saw us heading northwest to Aggleteki, another scenic stunner lacking in birds where we added Long-tailed Tit and Greenfinch to our list. We tried scanning the ridges east of Komjati for Imperial Eagle but dipped, an Osprey and Goshawk being our compensation.

Last day on the 19th but before flying home had the chance for a bit more spotting. We tried the White-backed Woody site mentioned by Wolfbirder in his report and drove for about 4 km before turning around. The cratered and muddy puddle filled trail resembles a WW1 battlefield and should not be attempted if you're driving a Ferrari or if you want to see woodpeckers, we dipped. Disappointment did not linger, a pair of adult Imperial Eagles soared majestically overhead disdainfully ignoring the attentions of the local Ravens.

Our last stop was at a reserve mentioned in the Gosney guide close to the village of Ocsa. This it turns out is a dedicated ringing station not open to the public but a kind hearted volunteer was good enough to give two idiots a tour. It's a good area, the ringers trapped 7 Moustached Warblers and a Thrush Nightingales before we arrived and we were grateful for their good natured tolerance.

Off to the airport and we left with a host of good memories and a will to return, I left with 400 hundred cheap ciggies - all in all none too shoddy!

James.

Nice one James, sorry about the woodies.

You got everything I got plus more. Shame about Bukk Hills, the terrain looks superb for WB Woody. Probably there somewhere! Hope I helped not hindered, and that it still lived up to expectation for ya.

I am going to Bialowieska in Poland in May flying a cheap one to Warsaw with Wizz Air. Hope to get 3 Woodies plus Nutcracker and Hazel Grouse I hope, plus eagles. 3 days to wander around & get bitten by mosquito's! But I do want to return to Hungary, its really nice and easy.

Hi Wolfbirder, you're report was the most up to date source of info available to us and proved to be very useful. We may have dipped on the woodies but in all honesty it would have taken a large slice of luck to see them at this time of year. Did get the Imperials at the end of the valley so not a total loss.

I've been to the Tatras in southern Poland twice in May and it was very nice indeed, hope that you enjoy your visit and don't forget the DEET.

James.