Showing posts with label birding trips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birding trips. Show all posts

Monday 22 May 2023

Short break to Hungary - Budapest and Hortobagyi

 The opportunity to spend some extended quality time with my son, a budding birdwatcher himself, presented itself around the turn of the year only to be thwarted by an unwelcome hospital investigation. Much ado about nothing in the end (my end that isπŸ˜‚), so we rearranged and booked a short break in Hungary

Why Hungary? Well we both wanted eastern Europe, I've always wanted to see Budapest, and it was just a good destination with birding opportunities that fitted our limited time frame of 5 days. Cheap flights, accommodation and car hire helped too of course!

We had 1 night and most of the next day in Budapest, and I was mightily impressed by the city. It's actually a city of 2 distinct halves - Buda, the older, hillier side and across the mighty Danube, Pest - the bustling modern half. 

Our hotel was just on the Pest side of the Margit Bridge and we walked across into Buda for a couple of beers and the next day a good tramp around the old city - we ended up walking just shy of 10 miles! Great vibe about the place, magnificent architecture, little traffic and really peaceful up in the castle district which is packed full of historic buildings.

Szechenyi Chain Bridge, Budapest, 26/03/23

Budapest & the Danube, looking North from the Castle district

The Hungarian parliament building that dominates many of the skyline cityscapes in Hungary is a sight to behold close up but actually not that old (1902), everyone takes a picture of it and why not, but I was more taken with the older buildings and churches in the Castle district, and we were both taken by some of the less obvious old communist style blocks still in evidence.

Hungarian parliament building, Budapest, 26/03/23

Old communist building, Budapest, 26/03/23


 Matyas Templom, Budapest, 26/03/23

Magdelene or Buda Tower (13th century), 26/03/23

Yep, great city and with hindsight another day or so to explore would have been good but our plan entailed a taxi back to the airport to pick up a hire car and onward across country to one of Hungary's top birding sites Hortabagyi. We cut it fine after loosing our bearings a bit and the taxi was already waiting back at the hotel but by late afternoon and after the usual car hire scare tactic shenanigans, we were on our way east on the E71 autobahn.

Got to our apartment in Hortobagyi village at dusk and were very happy that the host had left us 4 cans of lager in the fridge. Nice one Nandor! 

The weather gods were against us for most of the next day with constant showers and blustery cold winds, but the morning was ok and we were lucky to have the significant wetland area of Borsosi-to Lake to tramp around within half a kilometer of our apartment. Dreadfully overcast though and spitting with rain on and off. Plenty of birds about though. White Storks were apparent from the off, with several already nesting in the village, 2 House Martins, and 4 Barn Swallows were good omens but the best bird of the morning was a Sea Eagle that drifted over one of the lakes mid morning. Other highlights included close on 30 Marsh Harriers, 20ish Great White Egrets, a flock of about 30 Common Cranes over, 2 Penduline Tits, and plenty of ducks on the lake, the majority of which were Pochard
Snail species, Hortobagyi, 27/03/23


I took a picture of a large snail that was crossing one of the muddy tracks and joked that with the skies so dark it might be the only picture I took all day - I was nearly right!

The heavens opened after lunch and a drive around in the rain and a brisk northerly was the only option. We drove east out of the village with flooded fields on both sides - spotted some possible Bean Geese from the car along with 50 plus Ruff.


Ruff, Hortobagyi, 27/03/23


2nd best bird of the day was a rubbish view of a red letter bird.We turned off down a likely looking track that in the end ended in a dead end and whilst maneuvering the car around we managed to flush a ringtail Hen Harrier out of the middle of a stubble field. It was gone before I could get the camera out but it was certainly a moment!

Halasto map
Next day under much brighter skies we headed a few kilometers down the road to Halasto, birding central for Hortobagyi and had a good 3 hours before the skies darkened yet again. Halasto is a big nature reserve (over 2,000 hecatres) so we only scratched the surface but we got some good birds and the reserve itself is a mightily impressive wetland area with some massive lakes.








Halasto, Hortabagyi, 28/03/23

Halasto, Hortabagyi, 28/03/23

Halasto, Hortabagyi, 28/03/23

The place was thronging with wildlife with some fantastic wetland birds on show, many more duck / geese species - Shoveler, Gadwall, Teal, a splendid group of 6 migrating Garganey and two big flocks of White-fronted Geese.

White-fronted Geese, Halasto, 28/03/23

The numerous Great White Egrets and Grey Herons were joined by smaller wading birds, mainly Ruff but also Black Tailed Godwit, Curlew and Lapwing. All too distant for pics but did grab a passing Pygmy Cormorant - not the sexiest of birds for sure but before I saw one fly down the Danube a couple of days ago, a bird that was embarrassingly absent from my Europe list!

Pygmy Cormorant, Halasto, 28/03/23

Lesser Spotted Eagle, Halasto, 28/03/23
Standing on one of the raised platforms with a splendid view of the reserve we had a bit of birding purple patch. Whilst trying to grab a picture of a newly arrived Sedge Warbler a pair of Penduline Tits came into the frame to be joined a moment later by a nice looking male Bearded Tit. And then we spotted 2 big raptors in the distance, definitely an eagles, and they were heading our way. One of them only flew right over our heads! Too early for Greater Spotted Eagle according to one of the rangers we spoke to later, so Lesser Spotted, another Europe tick for me. Get in! 😎

Lesser Spotted Eagle, Halasto, 28/03/23

Bearded Tit, Halasto, 28/03/23

Penduline Tit, Halasto, 28/03/23

Roe Deer, Halasto, 28/03/23

Amazingly we saw not another soul all the time we were there, had the place to ourselves and the lack of disturbance of any kind maybe accounted for several close encounters with deer, some of which we could hear crashing and splashing through the reeds. Looked different to me but think they were just Roe Deer. We properly spooked this one!


Roe Deer, Halasto, 28/03/23

Shortly after the Spotted Eagles went over the skies darkened again and with no shelter we had to beat it back to the visitor centre before a heavy snow shower called time on our visit. Another eagle overhead in the gloom turned out to be a lone Sea Eagle and a Bluethroat on the single gauge railway line that runs through the reserve was a fitting end to a fantastic few hours birding.

Sea Eagle, Halasto, 28/03/23

Bluethroat, Halasto, 28/03/23

We went to find something to eat, Jack fancied some traditional Hungarian fare but we ended up with chicken and chips at an isolated bar in the middle of nowhere. On the way back I stopped to take a weather pic - its so flat here (all part of the Carpathian Basin) you can see for miles!

Plains nr Hortabagyi, 28/03/2023


The gathering clouds in the above pic were laden with more snow which duly fell a bit later, thick and heavy for an hour or so, and then abating to leave a pleasant evening for a stroll around the edges of the village. 

A couple of woodpeckers looked good for Syrian to me but didn't have the camera to hand and they were gone by the time I went back. Several Black Redstarts, a yaffling Green Woodpecker and several flocks of Spoonbill at dusk were the highlights.

Spoonbills, Hortabagyi village, 28/03/2023


Next day was set off back to the airport, shame, could have done with at least another couple of days here to explore the rest of this part of the world. On the way back we stopped on the bridge at Lake Tisza. Added Sand Martin and Linnet to the birdlist but not much else there apart from more Marsh Harriers including this smart looking male.

Marsh Harrier, Lake Tisza, 29/03/2023

It was a great trip, not even marred by missing the baggage retrieval on the 2nd leg of our return flight from Stanstead to Edinburgh (less said about that the better!), and I'd certainly go back for more -having now seen Budapest I'd probably fly into Debrecan next time though, its much closer to Hortabagyi. Here's a few other pics from the trip - 

Opera House, Budapest, 26/03/2023

Restored historic building (riding school), Budapest, 26/03/2023

Hortabagyi, 28/03/2023

Hortobagyi village, 28/03/2023

Stonechat, Halasto, 28/03/2023


Thursday 8 June 2017

Mull in May pt2, all the birds ..Eagles, Divers and the rest.

Ok folks, following on from my location, land and seascapes post from our week on Mull, here's the wildlife bit. I think in general we were pretty pleased with a haul of 109 bird sp. in 7 days, if I remember I'll include a list at the end; we got all of our 'must see' birds - Golden & White Tailed Sea Eagle, Hen Harrier, Corncrake, Wood Warbler & Redstart and given that many relatively common birds such as Moorhen, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Green Woodpecker, Jackdaw & Jay and most of the duck species in the breeding season, I reckon the lads did ok! We had a couple of good Otter sightings - one splendid view of one catching and eating fish in the rain at Fishnish, but precious few butterflies and although there were many common wild flowers, our 'flora' expert had to drop out, so we probably missed a lot whilst scanning the skies!

White Tailed Sea Eagle, Loch Spelve, 13/05/2017
Alright, let's start at the top, top of the food chain that is, and if you want guaranteed Golden & Sea Eagles then Mull is THE place. One of us had either one or the other every day we were there and for me, getting to grips with these mighty aerial hunters was the most satisfying aspect of the whole week.







Sea Eagle harried by Hooded Crows, Loch Tuath, 17/05/2017
To be brutally honest though I wasn't pleased with my photographic efforts .. the one time we were treated to a close encounter with a pair of  'Goldies' the light was totally against me and most of our Sea Eagle's were beyond the range of my lens. That said, I think the following collection conveys a sense of the eagle presence on the island ...


White Tailed Sea Eagle, Loch Spelve, 13/05/2017
Golden Eagle, Knock Bridge, 13/05/2017
 
Golden Eagle, Knock Bridge, 13/05/2017
Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017
 Driving back from a trip out to Tobermory we screeched to a halt after seeing a couple of big hovering raptors, too big for Buzzards we thought and we were right, it was only a pair of Golden Eagles hunting by the roadside and seemingly oblivious to our presence as they came ever closer ....


Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017
My best ever Golden Eagle experience in the UK by a long way, these were full grown experienced adult birds, not particularly bothered by us and we were just gobstruck by the way they just floated around, came right over the top of us, eyes on some land borne prey that we had no knowledge of.

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017
Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017
 The light was poor and I remember wishing for a shaft of sunlight or a patch of blue sky, but that didn't detract from the moment, we were in the presence of master hunters, on their patch and they chose the moment, so no complaints and hey, like I'd argue the toss with this thing coming at me!









And just when we thought the show was over, back round they came, even closer and lower .. there must have been something highly interesting to them on one of the hillsides .....

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017


Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017


Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017

Golden Eagle, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017
Slightly disappointed not to get a decent shot of both of them together but hey I can have no complaints - what a show they gave us! Going almost unnoticed at the time the unmistakable and eerie call of Red Throated Divers on the adjacent loch ... obviously unnerved by the eagles, they were miles off by the time I managed to get a record shot off.

Red Throated Divers, Mishnish Lochs, 17/05/2017
Black Throated Diver, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017
They turned out to be the only R.T Divers of the trip and this poor shot of a passing Black Throated Diver was equally lonesome.

Totally different story as far as Great Northern Divers, the 'daddy' of UK divers, with numerous records and all looking resplendent in full summer plumage. They don't breed on the island but many non breeders stay all year round.

Great Northern Divers, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017

Great Northern Diver, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017

Great Northern Diver, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017
Otter
Otter, Fishnish (courtesy of James Roddie)
At Fishnish, a well known Otter watchpoint, we did indeed see a big dog Otter swimming around and catching fish after fish in the rain. Sadly no pic so here's someone else's from the same location.
When the skies cleared and I was patiently scanning across the Sound of Mull looking for something of interest, I spied what at first sight looked like an immature gull species but the flight was all wrong...too much glide, wings too broad. It was distant but I'd already made up my mind and shouted out to all in the hide - "Hen Harrier coming in low over the water!" Luckily I was right otherwise I'd have looked a proper charlie and had I not rushed out to alert Mark I might have got some closer pics but hey ho, on this occasion the moment outweighed the need for a great photograph.

Hen Harrier crossing from the mainland over the Sound of Mull, Fishnish, 16/05/2017
Corncrake, Iona. (courtesy of Neil Duggan)
 On Iona, a small and beautiful island off the extreme southwest of Mull, we heard the rasping call of a Corncrake in somebody's back garden! Granted they had a pond and many Iris beds but wow, what a garden bird. No chance of a pic without disturbance so once again here's somebody else's lucky shot at the same location

A single, late staying Pink Footed Goose in amongst breeding Greylags was a good record for the trip and we also recorded our only Great Skua, Manx Shearwaters and Rooks on Iona.






Pink Footed Goose, Iona, 18/05/2017

Ringed Plover, Iona, 18/05/2017
Back on Mull, here's a passage migrant - its a Whimbrel on its way up to the Arctic Circle or maybe Shetland or Orkney, the nearest breeding grounds for this smaller relative of the more familiar Curlew.
Whimbrel, Laggan Bay, 16/05/2017
 Lots of Curlew breeding on Mull as you'd expect, likewise healthy populations of Lapwing, Common Sandpiper and Oystercatcher ....


Lapwing, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017
 Rather smaller numbers of Common Snipe & Redshank plus passage Sanderling, Dunlin & Turnstone and we picked up all of these.
Turnstone, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017
Passage Dunlin, Dervaig, 15/05/2017
Common Gull, Calgary Bay, 15/05/2017
We got all the auk species including Black Guillemot, we had Gannets aplenty, Kittiwake and Fulmar but we struggled with Terns - almost all were Common Terns with only a few 'probable' Arctics and no decent pics of any seabirds I'm afraid except this squawking Common Gull at Calgary Bay.




Willow Warbler, 'Dalmacre', 14/05/2017
According to the info we had, the most numerous bird on Mull is the Chaffinch and this may well be true, we had plenty, but just strolling about and driving around the island we found Willow Warblers to be the most prevalent and obvious - they were singing it big just about everywhere, even in poorly wooded areas. This was one of a pair in our back garden ...
Willow Warbler, 'Dalmacre', 14/05/2017


Willow Warbler, 'Dalmacre', 14/05/2017
Song Thrush, Knock, 13/05/2017
Lots of Meadow Pipits of course and pleasing to see Rock Pipits in good numbers too, no Yellow Wagtails (rare here) but Grey Wagtails common, Mikey had a Dipper, Stonechats and Whinchats were common as were Lesser Redpolls, Linnets and we had one small flock of Twite. Song Thrushes were surprisingly obvious too, more of them than Blackbirds & Mistle Thrushes put together!

Stonechat, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017

Grey Wagtail with fledgling, Knock bridge, 13/05/2017

Rock Pipit, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017

Linnet, Iona, 18/05/2017

Grey Wagtail, Ulva, 19/05/2017
 Northern Wheatears are one of my favorite birds and they're a common breeding bird on Mull so here's a couple of nice ones plus a few wild flower pics, the rest of the birdies and a few odds n sods.

Northern Wheatear, Iona, 18/05/2017

Northern Wheatear, Calgary Bay, 15/05/2017
Thrift, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017

Primroses, Oban, 12/05/2017

Milkwort, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017
Greylag Goose, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017

Greylag Geese, Loch Tuath, 14/05/2017
Cuckoo, back of the house, 18/05/2017
Wood Warbler, Ulva, 19/05/2017
 It was nice enough to be sat right underneath a singing Wood Warbler but after an hour these pretty average pics was my only reward!
Wood Warbler, Ulva, 19/05/2017

Redstart, out of the van window, Loch Tuath, 19/05/2017
Raven, Knock bridge, 13/05/2017
Common Buzzard, Grass Point, 16/05/2017
 Ravens and a Common Buzzard as 'sillhouettes', not great pics but nice shapes!
Raven, Knock bridge, 13/05/2017
 
What's that coming over the hill?...Mikey at Grass Point