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Introduction.
A short trip with Sean Cole, James Hunter, Paul Lamborne, Simon West and Mike Richardson to see some of Hungary's Herps mixed in with Birds, Mammals and whatever else we could find.
Wednesday 18th April
After eventually finding someone to give us the hire car, we headed off for a 40 min drive to our hotel on the edge of the Kiskunsag National Park. We quickly checked in and used the rest of the evening to search the plains nearby for Great Bustards. They proved elusive but eventually they were located displaying but quite distantly. Brown hares and roe deer were abundant and a red fox was lurking. A quail was calling as we located the first herps of the trip, some fire bellied toads in the well. We set a few mammal traps and headed back to town for some food, a barn owl on the way back was a nice bonus, as was the green toad on the walk to the restaurant. Here we met up with some Slovenian herp students for a few beers.
Thursday 19th April
An early start and it was back to the plains where the great bustard were again elusive a distant one on a ridge. The quail was still calling as 7 Great Bustards flew right over us - awesome. The Slovenians were herping and located a Danube crested newt, as we located the great reed warbler singing in a small reed bed. Hen harrier and cuckoo also of note before heading back to the Hotel for breakfast. Post breakfast we met up with our guide for the day, to take us to see the Orsini's vipers in the Kiskunsag National Park. Our guide gave up his time to show us around, and being the head of the Orsini's viper project we were very lucky. At the entrance he showed us some European sousiliks as a sparrowhawk whizzed over. First we visited a small pond near the visitor centre which had skittish European pond turtles and very approachable fire bellied toads, a grass snake lurked and we found a variety of lizards. The vipers were excellent, incredibly rare and we were very luck to be able to visit this site. The place was also excellent for other herps a European tree frog was found and one of the rangers had located some common spadefoot toads for us. A mallow skipper, map and also a lesser clouded yellow added some butterfly action - what an amazing morning! And the afternoon would turn out to be excellent as well. We checked a small reedbed area but only found a spadefoot toad before joining up with one of the rangers to see some stone curlews. Then off to another area spotting a cracking male red footed falcon on the way. The area we reached was some pools, reedbeds and a tower hide with a few large pools. This site teemed with birds, a hoopoe, an amazing bluethroat, savi’s warbler, penduline tit, a whole host of waders, marsh sandpiper the pick. A striped form of grass snake and some pool frogs kept the herp interest and a black stork flyover as we were about to leave just topped of the visit. But we were not done we headed to a damp woodland where our guide had to leave us. We bid farewell and thanks for all his help, and explored the woodland to the sound of a booming bittern. A couple of moor frogs were quickly found and also an agile frog and another spadefoot. Middle spotted woodpecker the pick of the birds amongst several hawfinches. We bid farewell to the Slovenian students and headed to Eger in the Bukk Hills, setting some mammal traps on the outskirts of town. Some large bats were probably serotine or a mouse eared sp were swarming round the on site church but the lack of a bat detector hampered the ID somewhat.
Bluethroat © Mark Hows.
Friday 20th April
Again an early start looking round the hotel grounds for Syrian woodpecker, but only a few common species were present. We met our guide from hungarianbirdtours (who was excellent) and headed off for a pre breakfast outing. We headed into the wooded hills stopping for a lesser spotted eagle on the way. We explored an area of open woodland finding some nice lesser spotted woodpeckers and then excellent views of a white backed woodpecker. Hawfinches were a plenty and a collared flycatcher was located in the canopy and eventually showed well. We moved on a short distance overlooking a valley on the edge of some woodland and could hear a Ural owl but no sign. After a quick breakfast we checked the traps and had a wood mouse and a large yellow necked mouse and then headed to a nearby village where unexpectedly a black woodpecker was nesting, we saw both parents during a changeover so they probably had eggs. Exploring the village gave a superb views of a grey headed woodpecker and finally a Syrian woodpecker, a nice nightingale gave itself up as well. It was onto the Heves Plain where a saker falcon was sitting distantly near a nestbox, views were not amazing due to the heat haze and distance. Onto a flooded area with a few waders before an ice cream stop. It was onto Lake Tisza where loads of common, black and white winged black terns were hawking, a whiskered tern and some little gulls we also of note. After another brief stop with a green toadit was a look at an eastern imperial eagle on its nest again quite distant and hard to see! The last stop was a fish farm with a few waders and loads of mute swans. Back at the hotel it was a quick meal before we headed out for a night drive. We quickly found few noctule bats emerging from a known roost. But the highlight was a group of 6 wild boar piglets by the side of the road, the rest of the drive was rather uneventful apart from spotting a white bellied hedgehog on the edge of town on the return journey.
Ural Owl © Mark Hows.
Saturday 21st April
Another pre breakfast trip and it was back into the forest with our guide, with only a brief stop for the Lesser spotted eagle in the same area as yesterday and a red squirrel in the woods. We tried the same area as yesterday for the Ural owl but it was not calling, a white backed woodpecker showed well. Clouds were beginning to build up and we had had the best of the morning but a brief stop not far from where we heard the Ural Owl. One blast of the tape and the Ural owl flew in and started to call, an excellent view, but the best was yet to come. A second owl flew in and this started a melee for a few minutes in which both owls flew around sorting the edges of their territories. Back to the hotel for breakfast stopping for a large fire salamander and a quick look at a Noctule roost on the way and then we headed out for snake eyed skinks in the rain. The site was up a large hill and as we got to the top the heavens opened, so we would have to flip some rocks to find one, James found one and we had a photo shoot in the pouring rain. It was time to go and a brief stop at the airport for the Sousiliks who were not really co-operating due to the weather rounded off an excellent trip with great sightings and great company.