Another calendar to the waste bin

We wish you a birdy and joyful new year! Andi & Szimi

Bay of Pilismarót, Danube River, N Hungary

Traditionally the last day of every year I start with birding. Despite the ugly weather I decided to go out and visit a far birding spot along the river Danube east of my home. The site is just about 60 km away from my home city. My birding fellow was Peter Szeimann this time. We departed early enough to be able to find possible wintering and night roosting flock of wild geese. Despite the mass of the dirt around the edge of the ice we didn't see any flock. Only distant voices of Bean-Geese heard. On the ice-free areas Eurasian Coot was the dominant species. Species counted: Great Crested Grebe/Búbos vöcsök 25 Little Grebe/Kis vöcsök 4 Northern Harrier/Kékes rétihéja 1 male White-tailed Eagle/Rétisas 2 Mute Swan/Bütykös hattyú 160 Whooper Swan/Énekes hattyú 1 Mallard/Tőkés réce 40 Garganey/Kendermagos réce 70 Eurasian Wigeon/Fütyülő réce 25 Tufted Duck/Kontyos réce 60 Common Pochard/Barátréce 55 Greater Scaup/Hegyi réce 12 Common Goldeneye/Kerceréce 30 Smew/Kis bukó 15 White-winged Scoter/Füstös réce 2 Black Scoter/Fekete réce 1 female Eurasian Coot/Szárcsa 900 Northern Shrike/Nagy őrgébics 1 Brambling/Fenyőpinty 40 On the way home we drove cross the Gerecse Mountain where we spotted a flock of finch at Péliföld-Szentkereszt. While we saw mainly Linnets there were at least two Twite/Sárgacsőrű kenderike and a few European Goldfinch in the flock. The flock was chased many times by an immature Northern Harrier or was alarmed by the call of nearby Fieldfares.

I Wish To All Of My Visitors A Merry Christmas! Time to relax! :) ----- Minden Látogatómnak Boldog Karácsonyt Kívánok! Próbálj meg lazítani! :)

Öreg-tó, Tata - snowy morning

This Sunday I again went out for birding to the Old Lake of my home town with my children. The weather circumstances was nice however a large part of the lake has been frozen by the low temperature. It was a moderate snowfall last night which painted the landscape white. The wildfowl concentrated to a small ice free area. The quantity was a bit less than we counted last week-end or my friend counted a few days before. Besides the geese the biggest sensation was a presence of a single feeding Bar-tailed Godwit which is anyway an uncommon visitor in the migrating period. This time of the year it was a nice surprise to see a shorebird out of the 'shorebirds period'./Ma reggel ismét kimentünk az Öreg-tóra a gyermekeimmel. Az időjárási körülmények megfelelőek voltak bár a tó nagy része a napok óta tartó alacsony hőmérséklet miatt befagyott. Éjjel gyengén szállingózott a hó, mely ahhoz elég volt, hogy fehérre fesse a tájat. A vizimadarak egy kisebb jégmentes területre szorultak. A mennyiségek ennek megfelelően kissé visszaesetek az egy héttel ezelőtti, vagy a Musicz Laci által pár napja számoltakhoz képest. A ludak mellett a mai nap legnagyobb szenzációja egy táplálkozó kis goda jelenléte volt, mely amúgy is ritka vonuló a régióban. Az év ezen szakában tehát kellemes meglepetés volt partimadarat látni 'nem partimadaras' időszakban. Some species listed/Néhány kiemelt faj: Taiga Bean-Goose/Tajga vetési lúd 9000 Greylag Goose/Nyári lúd 30 Greater White-fronted Goose/Nagy lilik 8000 Barnacle Goose/Apácalúd 1 Red-breasted Goose/Vörösnyakú lúd 2 Mallard/Tőkés réce 500 Eurasian Teal/Csörgőréce 300 Bar-tailed Godwit/Kis goda 1

Öreg-tó, Tata - foggy morning

I have had some very bad luck with terrible or at least unpleasant weather conditions disabling birding on the available time. I finally gave up looking through the window in every morning and picked up my children to see some nice birds nearby my home at the Öreg-tó (local name) or for foreigners better known as Old Lake. For sure the weather was again too misty to be able to pick up anything from the crowd of wildgeese. The lake can be reached within some hundred meters from my house which is almost entirely surrounded by the town. It is a very important wintering site for wildfowl including thousands of goose and duck and gull species. This is a Ramsar Site together with the Ferencmajor fishponds and other in-between areas. The range of vision was limited but at least I could see some species on the ground and the water. There was about 22.000 geese with about equal share between Greater White-fronted Goose and the Taiga Bean Goose. While scanning the geese under a very bad light conditions I finally spotted 2 Red-breasted Goose. Two days before a Brant, a Barnacle and 7 Red-breasted Geese was seen by my friend. After leaving the lake we made a short trip to the Gerecse Mountains where we mainly enjoyed the scenic views with very nicely colored forests. The rusty dead leaves on the ground made the already grey forest beautiful. Almost no birds have been seen during the trip. Finally we found a nice flock of Fieldfares together with some other species feeding and bathing on the main road. Yellowhammers, Linnets and Eurasian Tree-Sparrows were also seen. Surprisingly still about 20 European Starlings was among them. The best species was a Redwing in this flock.

Another New To Hungary - Upland Sandpiper Bartramia longicauda

What a fantastic week! Yesterday noontime we received another hot-line news about another MEGA species found in the Hortobágy region. An Upland Sandpiper Bartramia longicauda was identified on the puszta near Nagyiván, the southern part of the Hortobágy National Park. Today very early morning I traveled there together with some local birding friend of mine. We arrived in almost completely dark and walked to the scene. After having some decent lights we found the bird walking in the grassy areas. Later a Northern Harrier flushed it off but landed again just a few ten meters away. It was continuously feeding and allowed some very clear view. It was also visible flying over the rough road and landed on a ploughland. I could make only a few record shot which I share here. Thanks to the finders for this superb shorebird! This species became 120th shorebird species I have ever seen in the world. My World Lifers: 2002 My Hungarian totals: 334 ("A" category only) My Western Palearctic totals: 448 ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

First Hume's Warbler Phylloscopus humei in Hungary

On 12/11/2007 a rare bird alert received by many bird-watchers in Hungary about the first ever record of Hume's Warbler on south eastern part of the country. The bird was was found by one of our keen birders while spending his time at work - at least I was told. When opened the window he heard a strange call coming from the brushes. Soon after the bird identified as an Yellow-browed Warbler. Later discussions with others resulted the correction of the ID and the news re-distributed again. Today I drove the area and with a couple of other bird-watchers we immediately found the bird right after sunrise. It was calling continuously and moving fast between the branches. Unfortunately the light conditions did not allow me to take any shot. Definitely a flash and a smaller lens is needed for the future. ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

The Brent Goose case

As I had no chance yesterday to check for the Brent Goose I did it today. I visited the Ferencmajor fishponds and the adjacent corn wasteland this afternoon. The weather was mixed with heavy shower but sunshine as well. I found the Brent Goose among a large goose flock icluding 1000 birds (mainly Greater White-fronted Goose, a few Taiga Bean-Goose and several Greylag Goose). I had some nice view of the Brent Goose which is an adult bird. While it was hard to decide whether it belongs to the race 'hrota' I finally summed the features fitting for the race 'bernicla'. I had the Collins Bird Guide with me which clearly describes the differences between adult 'hrota' and 'bernicla'. The carbon black breast wasn't so sharply separated from the dusky grey color of the belly but was not as dark as the field guide illustrates. The light flank seemed dirty white but was not extensive and restricted only to the flanks. The book shows the whitish part to be extended to the belly for 'hrota'. Another feature could be the coloration of the vent. I tried to recognise its color but it always looked dark when the bird was walikng which is a feature for 'bernicla'. However when the bird was flying I could see no dark area on the vent. Except the vent color the bird seemed to be the race 'bernicla' rather than the 'hrota'. More closer look is needed to have the final statement. I had chance to take a few fuzzy shots as I had no light and I was too far away. In the same flock I found a neck ringed Greylag Goose. The red plastic ring contained the following characters: IX53.Tegnap reggel végül nem volt lehetőségem kimenni a Ferencmajorba, hogy jobban szemügyre vegyem az örvös ludat. Ma délután a Ferencmajorben és a tó mögötti kukorica-tarlón néztem körül. Az idő eléggé változatos volt, hisz a szakadó esőtől a napsütésig minden volt. Az örvös ludat egy nagyobb, ezres vadlúd csapatban találtam meg (tömegében leginkább nagy lilikkel, néhány tucat nyári lúddal és néhány tudra lúddal). Néhány alkalommal jól láttam az öreg örvös ludat. Miközben elég nehéz volt egyértelműen megmondani, hogy vajon a 'hrota' alfajhoz tartozik-e a madár, a bélyegek összegzése után a 'bernicla' alfaj mellett voksoltam. A Collins Bird Guide volt velem, mely egyértelműen leírja a két alfaj közötti különbséget. A szénfekete mell nem vált el annyira élesen a has sötétszürke színétől, ugyanakkor nem volt olyan sötét, mint ahogy a könyvben látható. A világos oldal piszkosfehérnek tűnt, de nem volt kiterjedt. A könyvben a fehér sávozás, folt lehúzódik a hasra is, ahol annak világos színével szinte egybeolvad. A másik bélyeg lehet a lágyék környékének színe, melyet én mindig sötétnek láttam a gyalogló madáron, ami inkább a 'bernicla' jellemzője. Közelebbről kell megvizsgálni ezt a madarat ahhoz, hogy biztosan el lehessen dönteni mely alfajról van szó. Mindössze néhány homályos képet sikerült alkotni, mivel túl messze voltam rossz fényviszonyokban. Ugyanebben a csapatban találtam egy nyakgyűrűs nyári ludat is. A piros műanyag gyűrűn IX53-as kód volt olvasható. Other birds: Pygmy Cormorant/Kis kárókatona 2 Greater White-fronted Goose/Nagy lilik 920 Tundra Bean-Goose/Tundra lúd 50 Greylag Goose/Nyári lúd 80 Brent Goose/Örvös lúd 1 Mallard/Tőkés réce 10 Gadwall/Kendermagos réce 40 Eurasian Teal/Csörgő réce 40 Northern Shoveler/Kanalasréce 6 Common Pochard/Barátréce 450 Tufted Duck/Kontyos réce 1 Common Goldeneye/Kerceréce 2

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Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

'Hrota' Brent Goose?

Today a birding friend, Tamás Zalai (Husi), called me in relation of our Brent Goose observation. Based on the image taken on the day the birds was found and published in birding.hu, he feels this bird should be the race Branta bernicla hrota. To be honest I have week knowledge of the Brent Goose races but he is right in one of the key feature of 'hrota' as having a very light belly. Although the image was taken by mobile phone it shows true colors as there is some other birds on the image to compare the coloration and contrast. If this is proven to be a 'hrota' race this would be the first record for Hungary if accepted by our committee. I will go out tomorrow to try for a better shot for further analysis. Nevertheless this race is a potential split so twitchers are eagerly waiting for the result :) / Ma azzal hívott fel Zalai Tamás, hogy a birding.hu-ra feltett örvös lúd fotó szerinte az örvös lúd "hrota" alfajához tartozik. Hogy őszinte legyek az örvös lúd alfajokról meglehetősen hiányosak az ismereteim, de abban igaza van, hogy extrém világos a hasa és az oldala a madárnak. Bár a fotó mobiltelefonnal készült a képen valós színek látszanak, lévén az összehasonlítási alapra a többi fajjal. Ha bebizonyosodik, hogy ez a "hrota" alfaj, akkor ez lenne az első magyarországi adata, feltéve, ha a bizottság is elfogadja azt. Holnap reggel kimegyek és megpróbálok egy jobb fotót csinálni róla a további vizsgálódás érdekében. Mellesleg ez az alfaj potenciális split, azaz külön fajjá válása javasolt, úgyhogy a twitcherek már türelmetlenül várják az eredményt. :)

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Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

Brent Goose at Ferencmajor fishponds

Yesterday two local birdwatchers spotted a Brent Goose in the city where I live. As I was not home I tried to find it today. I went out with my children but the weather and the lights was not really on our side. It was also raining almost the whole morning. First we went out to the Öreg-tó (in English 'Old Lake') in Tata where we saw a mixed flock of Tundra and Taiga Bean-Goose with approx 1100 birds. Among them I found a single Red-breasted Goose (first record in this winter season). As drizzling turned into a nice shower we left the area without finding the Brent. Still we saw 32 Dunlins on the mudflat. Then we drove to the Ferencmajor fishponds where the Brent was relocated yesterday during daytime. The lake where geese are gathering was full of waterfowl. Approximately there were 800 geese most of them were Greater White-fronted and Greylag Goose and a few Taiga Bean Goose. Finally among Greylags I found the Brent Goose swimming. Soon after spotting the bird a small flock flew to the adjacent field including the Brent. I was following the flock and was succeed to find it again from a much shorter distance. Unfortunately here the weather turned really bad and we had no chance to count other birds properly. Among a few thousands ducks we saw 6 Pygmy Cormorants as well./Tegnap helyi madarászok találtak egy örvös ludat az Öreg-tavon. Mivel nem voltam itthon, ezért ma próbáltam megtalálni a madarat. Gyerekeimmel mentünk ki, de az időjárás és a fényviszonyok ezúttal nem a mi oldalunkon álltak. Egész reggel és délelőtt esett az eső. Az Öreg-tavon egy 1100-as vegyes tundra és tajga lúd csapat volt, köztük egy vörösnyakú lúddal (ez az első idei téli szezon-beli adata). Később a szemerkélő eső kisebb zivatarba csapott át, így eljöttünk a tóról anélkül, hogy megtaláltuk volna az örvös ludat. Az iszappadokon volt még 32 havasi partfutó is. Ezután a Ferencmajori-halastavakhoz mentünk, ahol tegnap napközben is visszatalálták az örvös ludat. A 4-es tó, ahol a ludak gyülekeztek tele volt vizimadárral. Kb. 800 ludat számoltam többségük nagy lilik és nyári lúd volt, de akadt köztük kevés tajga lúd is. Végül egy kisebb nyári lúd csapatban megtaláltam az örvös ludat. Nem sokkal utána egy csapat felrepült, köztük az örvössel és átrepültek a közeli táplálkozó-területre, ahol ismét megtaláltuk és lényegesen közelebbről figyelhettük. Sajnos az idő egyre rosszabbra fordult így már nem volt lehetőség a többi vizimadarat jobban átnézni. Az érdekesebb fajok közül a 6 kis kárókatona érdemel említést az egy-két ezer egyéb réceféle mellett.

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Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

Bird lists and Google Maps

A huge number of birdwatchers create different lists of the birds was ever recorded in their lifetime. There are world (lifer) lists, regional or country lists, year lists or bird species gruop (e.g. birds of prey, birds-of-paradise etc.) list as well. Most of the list is created in Excel files with thickmarks while others handle it online. With Google Earth or Google Maps there is a new way to visualize our records. For those who would love to play (and have time for it!) with their records in the long grey winter days there are some way to add placemarks to maps utilizing Google solutions. It is especially useful if someone regularly shares trip sigtings with others. In Google Earth every placemark can be saved individually and can be sent by e-mail to the 'client' with the detail of bird recorded. In Google Maps you can generate a link of the certain map and you can also share it by sending via e-mail. If you keep your list in EXCEL file the link can be easily added to the species. Creating trip reports with routing is very easy including placemarks of sightings, a remarkable scenic landscape, notes, warnings, hotels, petrol stations etc. I also use them for planning any kind of trip where I can virtually travel along the routes before I actually would depart from home. Here are some expamples how I managed my records.

Placemark bubbles can contain any details of the record (date of birds seen, name of the place, number of birds seen or a story behind, etc.).

Of course any magnification is possible. You can zoom in and out till the map allows it.

Alternatively you can add images and videos as well. (note: Google Maps recommends to use Picasaweb to add images to a placemark however I was not succeed to make the image visible. I used one of the other image uploader possibility instead of Picasaweb which just works fine.)

This is a slice of my life list kept in EXCEL sheet. The last column is dedicated for the clickable links of the Google Maps which direct me to the certain map if I click on them. If you want to learn more of the EXCEL sheet I use, don't hesitate to post a message here.

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Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

Taxonomy changes in birds

Today I got the latest update of the recently published The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition by the late James F. Clements. I am not as serious bird 'hunter' for my list as my other friends but love to see new things and the birds are in the leading position. In 2006 I spent a nice holiday in Cuba with my wife and saw the local race of Common Black-Hawk which is now considered as a separate species named Cuban Hawk-Eagle Buteogallus gundlachii. If you are a list keeper it is very useful to record not only the species but the subspecies as well. Taxonomy changes can result surprise while you are sitting in your chair at home. It is sad to see some of the species recently confirmed/believed to be extict such as Guam Flycatcher Myiagra freycineti (Guam, S Mariana Islands), Kauai Oo Moho braccatus (Kauai, Hawaiian Island) and Bishop’s Oo Moho bishopi (Maui, Hawaiian Island). It is a little bit strange for my eyes to read that due to the recent phylogenetic analyses a close sister-group relationship identified between flamingos Phoenicopteriformes and grebes Podicipediformes. This is now recommended by the British Ornithologists' Union (published in Ibis) to name this group as Mirandornithes and place them between Ciconiiformes and Falconiformes, with the flamingos listed before the grebes. There is again a huge change in the Gull family indicating that our knowledge is not yet fully complete regarding this group of birds. Studies provided some new result in the relationship of different species that's why BOU recommends a new sequence list for the birds ever recorded in Europe: Ivory Gull Pagophila eburnea Sabine’s Gull Xema sabini Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla Slender-billed Gull Chroicocephalus genei Bonaparte’s Gull Chroicocephalus philadelphia Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus Little Gull Hydrocoloeus minutus Ross’s Gull Rhodostethia rosea Laughing Gull Larus atricilla Franklin’s Gull Larus pipixcan Mediterranean Gull Larus melanocephalus Audouin’s Gull Larus audouinii Pallas’s Gull Larus ichthyaetus Mew Gull Larus canus Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus Herring Gull Larus argentatus Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans American Herring Gull Larus smithsonianus Iceland Gull Larus glaucoides Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus The member of former Larus genus decreased drastically as a result of grouping the species showing strong relationship with each other. Naming e.g the new genus Chroicocephalus with three species in Europe (Slender-billed Gull, Bonaparte’s Gull and Black-headed Gull) is among the main changes. So today I won a species but maybe next time I will loose one due to lumping. You never know but all in all this is a game. :) I have seen 2001 species so far... ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

Bernese Alps, Switzerland

On the way back home we crossed Switzerland. We have never ever visited this beautiful country with its gorgeous peaks. It was mainly for the enjoyment in the scenic landscape as we saw only a few bird species: Alpine Chough 90 White-winged Snowfinch 1

Morning in the Bernese Alps A view to Grimsel Pass from Furka Rhône Glacier, Furka Pass, Bélvédère, 2436 m, Bernese Alps Bélvédère Alpine Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus

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Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

Ile de Ré, Atlantic coast, La Rochelle, w France

Today we had some free time as conference participants went out for excursions. Unfortunately we could not joint them due to some booking problem in our hotel but later we decided we make our own short trip to the Ile de Ré, a small island linked to the mainland by a long bridge. The weather was not so pleasant but still acceptable for birding. It was not enough to take decent shots on birds. Tide was just coming while we were at the coast. Species seen: Little Egret 10 Eurasian Oystercatcher 6 Common Ringed Plover 1 Ruddy Turnstone 60 Sanderling 15 Black-headed Gull 40 Lesser Black-backed Gull 2 Mediterranean Gull 4 European Herring Gull 10 Short-eared Owl 1 (flying over the sea) Common Kestrel 1 Common Wood-Pigeon 7 Meadow Pipit 2 European Magpie 2 Eurasian Starling 10 European Robin 2

Sanderling Calidris alba

Sanderling Calidris alba

Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres

European Herring Gull Larus argentatus

______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

The pulse of a fantastic wine region - St-Émilion (Bordeaux, France)

I can't stand not to talk a few words about the pearl of Bordeaux wine region laying just east of the capital of this county. We spent one night in St-Émilion where one of the greatest red wines produced in the world. Fall cannot be a better season to visit the region when the harvest is well under way, everybody is quite busy and the vineyards are full of people working hard to have another fantastic vintage on the dining table of their fans. We had a nice opportunity to touch the edge of the "golden plate" as economically a well planned trip needed to be fully absorbed in those tasty 'juices'. There are some images to be able to get an impression of the territory of St-Émilion.

The base of the big Reds. No idea if this is a Merlot or a Cabernet Sauvignon however.

The harvesters are not lazy. They just had a breakfast. The vineyard between the ancient castle-like buildings make this village spectacular. The village from the hill. The church... ... and the main square. We found the Hotel Oystercatcher in a narrow alley. Beautiful misty morning with the adjacent vineyards. While I am not the biggest fan of brandies those cognacs amazed me by their age. Some of them are older than I am. And last but not least the bottles why every tourists and business man is coming for to St.-Émilion. If you have a chance do the same.

______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

A touch of the Pyrennes

With an early morning departure from Arles we had to reach the famous wine region of Bordeaux. I decided to take a nice detour and we entered the Pyrennes, the beautiful mountain where we have never been. Secretly I was hoping to find accidentally a Bonelli's Eagle but finally missed it. Turning west from the coastline the weather changed dramatically from sunny to rainy. The clouds had such a dark greyblue color what I have seldomly seen in Hungary. This resulted an exciting experience later to drive in heavy snowfall with summer tyres. Some nice bird species seen on the way: Eurasian Griffon 9 The Pyrennes, near Gesse Red Kite 1 in Pamiers European Honey-Buzzard 1 near Perpignan Common Swift 10 The Pyrennes, Formigueres Eurasian Crag-Martin 80 The Pyrennes, Mount Louis ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

Camargue National Park, southern France

After having an unpleasant night in an unfomfortable bed in Arles we woke up early to have some nice lights in the morning. We were birding along the roads on the western part of Camargue National Park. There were nothing really special but nice birds around. For a Hungarian guy dozens of Cattle Egrets and hundreds of feeding Greater Flamingos don't belong to the commonest spectacle. It was also nice to see the visible migration of Barn Swallows obviously being in a hurry to the south. An uncommonly late Common Swift was also good to see. The various habitat types makes this complex interesting and diverse. As we crossed the area on the northern part we returned to the eastern coastline. There were much less bird species in smaller numbers on the salt pans and lagoons. Cetti's Warblers were still or again singing in almost all the bushy habitats. Interesting species for my eyes: Cattle Egret 400 Greater Flamingo 500 Common Shelduck 60 Peregrine Falcon 1 juv. Snowy Plover 25 Dunlin 15 Sandwich Tern 90 Caspian Tern 1 Common Swift 1 Barn Swallow 600 Cetti's Warbler 30+ Zitting Cisticola 1 Rock Sparrow & House Sparrow mixed flock 400 ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

Camargue National Park, southern France

Yesterday I departed with Andi (my wife) to France to participate a conference on shorebirds. The few days prior to the conference was dedicated to explore the unknown areas in southern France where I had never been to. A few lifer was expected to see which I made some research for before my departure. Luckily Sébastien Durand, a French birder, helped me to locate the best places for the targeted Little Bustard. Finally all the lifers I saw was on the same place at the Airfield of Eyguiéres, just north east of Arles. We arrived in the morning time to the airfield. Immediately I found several Red-legged partridge walking in the grassy field. The first lifer. Shortly after I walked on the road just south of the airfield trying to spot feeding Little Bustards. It was almost too late to look over the field as the heat vibration was too extensive. We returned back in the afternoon and tried to find the bustards on other side of the area. While scoping the field a Southern Grey Shrike was found hunting on the northern part of the area. This is another lifer for today. After giving up waiting we jumped into the car and departed when I spotted a small flock of birds flying over the airfield. There were 25 Little Bustards flying in one compact flock. Unfortunately I could not follow them so no idea where they flew. On the other side of the airfield I walked again on the road to look for them for a possible closer view. Soon after 3 birds were flying towards me and landed nearby in the grassland. I tried to spot them without success. As closed the spot where they landed I tried to keep hided but the birds noticed me and flushed away when I aproached them by 50 meters. I could see them in detail. All the tree birds were molting. When I left the spot a hunter arrived. It is better not to think about his targets. Anyway the Little Bustard was my 2000th species I have ever seen! Later in the afternoon we spent our time in the Camargue National Park. We were driving on the eastern part of the large lagoon system down to Salin-de-Giraud. Apart from the strong wind the weather was quite pleasant. Other interesting birds seen: Greater Flamingo 270 (Camargue NP) Red-legged Partridge 11 (Airfield, Eyguiéres) Little Bustrad 28 (Airfield, Eyguiéres) Bar-tailed Godwit 2 (Camargue NP) Dunlin 90 (Camargue NP) Little Stint 30 (Camargue NP) Mediterranean Gull 1 (Istres) Sandwich Tern 3 (Camargue NP) Southern Grey Shrike 1 (Airfield, Eyguiéres) ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

Ferencmajor fishponds, Naszály, NW Hungary

Today I had only a few minutes to go out with my children to check the shorebirds on one of the drained ponds./Ma csak egy rövid időre tudtam kimenni a gyerekeimmel, hogy megnézzem a partimadarakat az egyik csapolt tavon. Results/Eredmények: Northern Lawing/Bíbic 1 Little Ringed Plover/Kis lile 2 Eurasian Curlew/Nagy póling 3 Bar-tailed Godwit/Kis goda 2 Common Snipe/Sárszalonka 2 Ruff and Reeve/Pajzsoscankó 20 Common Greenshank/Szürke cankó 2 Spotted Redshank/Füstös cankó 7 Wood Sandpiper/Réti cankó 2 Little Stint/Apró partfutó 20 Dunlin/Havasi partfutó 13 ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

Ferencmajor fishponds, Naszály, NW Hungary

Today I went out to the fishponds with my birding friend, Peter Csonka. We had a wonderful time out there in such a lovely weather. The amount of birds is very nice according to the history of the area this time of the year./Ma Csonka Petivel egy nagy kört tettünk a Ferencmajorban. Gyönyörű időben nagyszerű napunk volt. A madarak mennyisége a területre nézve felülmúlta a várakozásokat. Full counting results/Teljes adatsor: Little Grebe/Kis vöcsök 63 Great Crested Grebe/Búbos vöcsök 36 Great Cormorant/Kárókatona 25 Pygmy Cormorant/Kis kárókatona min. 6 Great Bittern/Bölömbika 2 Grey Heron/Szürke gém 82 Little Egret/Kis kócsag 1 Great Egret/Nagy kócsag 32 Black Stork/Fekete gólya 5 Mute Swan/Bütykös hattyú 31 Greylag Goose/Nyári lúd 250 Northern Pintail/Nyílfarkú réce 7 Mallard/Tőkésréce 1583 Eurasian Teal/Csörgőréce 700 Northern Shoveler/Kanalasréce 4 Common Pochard/Barátréce 25 Ferruginosus Pochard/Cigányréce 6 Tufted Duck/Kontyos réce 3 Gadwall/Kendermagos réce 7 Eurasian Wigeon/Fütyülő réce 15 Red-crested Pochard/Üstökösréce 11 White-tailed Eagle/Rétisas 1 subad. Common Gallinule/Vízityúk 2 Eurasian Coot/Szárcsa 450 Northern Lapwing/Bíbic 1 Little Ringed Plover/Kis lile 2 Bar-tailed Godwit/Kis goda 2 Ruff and Reeve/Pajzsoscankó 8 Wood Sandpiper/Réti cankó 1 Common Greenshank/Szürke cankó 1 Little Stint/Apró partfutó 9 Dunlin/Havasi partfutó 2 Yellow-legged Gull/Sárgalábú sirály 19 Black-headed Gull/Dankasirály 68 House Martin/Molnárfecske 1000 Common Wood-Pigeon/Örvös galamb 1 ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

Ferencmajor fishponds, Naszály, NW Hungary

I was a bit bored by the continuous computer work so forced to find time to go out. I was expecting to see many shorebirds but the I was disappointed at the lakes. There was only one drained pond which was almost completely empty. The lake #4 was holding a large number of ducks and a few geese./A folyamatos irodai munka már kicsit unalmas volt, így kerestem egy kis szabadidőt, hogy kijussak a terepre. Azt reméltem, hogy sok partimadarat láthatok, de ehhez képest az egyetlen csapolt tó szinte teljesen üres volt. A 4-es tavon nagy számú récét és néhány ludat láttam. Today best of/Mai legjobbak: Pygmy Cormorant/Kis kárókatona 4 Black Stork/Fekete gólya 20 Eurasian Wigeon/Fütyülő réce 15 Gadwall/Kendermagos réce 30 Eurasian Hobby/Kabasólyom 3 Bar-tailed Godwit/Kis goda 2 Common Sandpiper/Billegetőcankó 1 ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

Ferencmajor fishponds, Naszály, NW Hungary

I tried to gou out a bit earlier today to have decent lights for birding. The situation was quite similar comapred to yesterday's visit. Fishermen worked heavily at the lake which caused a little disturbance at the place they acted. Blissfully the lake is large enough to provide peaceful feeding areas for the shorebirds. Unhappily a heavy shower forced me leave the area before I wanted./Ma kicsit hamarabb próbáltam kijutni a lecsapolt tóhoz, ahol nagyjából a tegnapi körülmények vártak. A halászok nagy lendülettel dolgoztak a tavon, kismértékű zavarást okozva a környezetükben. Szerencsére a tó elég nagy ahhoz, hogy a távolabbi helyeken találjanak maguknak táplálékot a partimadarak. Sajnos egy heves zivatar még idő előtt elzavart a területről. The most interesting records/A legjobbak: Little Egret/Kis kócsag 5 Black Stork/Fekete gólya 1 ad. Little Ringed Plover/Kis lile 2 Common Greenshank/Szürke cankó 2 Spotted Redshank/Füstös cankó 18 Common Sandpiper/Billegetőcankó 2 Wood Sandpiper/Réti cankó 1 Green Sandpiper/Erdei cankó 2 Ruff and Reeve/Pajzsoscankó 6 Bar-tailed Godwit/Kis goda 2 Red Knot/Sarki partfutó 1 juv. Dunlin/Havasi partfutó 18 Curlew Sandpiper/Sarlós partfutó 35 Little Stint/Apró partfutó 45 Caspian Tern/Lócsér 4 Common Tern/Küszvágó csér 5 ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

Ferencmajor fishponds, Naszály, NW Hungary

As usual in every fall different ponds are emptied to get fishes out for the market. This makes us, bird-watchers, a nice opportunity to find something special for the area. Today some cool birds were found by one of our birding members. I went out with Szandra for a short time in the late evening./Mint az minden évben szokásos, idén is folyamatosan csapolják a tavakat az őszi lehalászások okán. Ez jó lehetőséget ad arra, hogy találjunk valami jó fajt a területre nézve. Egyik madarásztársunk ma eléggé jó fajokat talált napközben az egyik tavon. Ezekből szemezgettünk késő este a Szandrával. Records/Adatok: Eurasian Spoonbill/Kanalasgém 31 (Two birds ringed was seen. One of them was successfully read while the other was walking into a dike before being able to read the code. The read code is X2 on a light green plastic ring on both leg. This bird was first found on 12 July at Réti fishponds, Tata. The other bird wore a red plastic ring on the right leg. Based on the previous observation on 12 July it is supposed that the bird could be with the code of Y6./Két színes gyűrűs madarat láttam. Egyiket sikerült leolvasni, míg a másik sajnos egy árokba gyalogolt, mielőtt leolvashattam volna a kódot. A mindkét lábon levő világoszöld műanyag gyűrűn leolvasott kód X2 volt. Ezt a madarat előszőr július 12-én találtam a Réti-tavakon, Tatán. A másik madáron egy piros műanyag gyűrű volt a jobb lábon. A korábbi megfigyelés alapján feltételezhető, hogy a július 12-én leolvasott másik jelölt madárról volt szó, Y6-os kóddal.) Little Egret/Kis kócsag 4 Bar-tailed Godwit/Kis goda 2 Common Greenshank/Szürke cankó 8 Spotted Redshank/Füstös cankó 15 Green Sandpiper/Erdei cankó 4 Common Sandpiper/Billegetőcankó 2 Red Knot/Sarki partfutó 1 Curlew Sandpiper/Sarlós partfutó 35 Dunlin/Havasi partfutó 25 Little Stint/Apró partfutó 70 ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

Ferencmajor fishponds, Naszály, Hungary

I had only a short time to check the drained pond. Was sligtly more productive than yesterday./Ma csak egy rövid időre tudtam kimenni és megnézni a lecsapolt tavat. Valamivel produktívabb volt, mint tegnap. Interesting records and the shorebirds/Érdekesebbek és a partimadarak Black Stork/Fekete gólya 20 (One bird was ringed with white plastic ring on the right leg with a black code: XO11. The metal ring was on the left leg above the knee/Egyik madáron fehér műanyag gyűrű volt a jobb lábon fekete XO11 karakterrel. A fémgyűrű a bal lábon volt.) Eurasian Spoonbill/Kanalasgém (Any of them was ringed/Egyik sem volt gyűrűs) 22 Ferruginosus Duck/Cigányréce 1 female/tojó Little Ringed Plover/Kis lile 5 Eurasian Curlew/Nagy póling 1 Bar-tailed Godwit/Kis goda 1 ad. Spotted Redshank/Füstös cankó 35 Common Sandpiper/Billegetőcankó 8 Green Sandpiper/Erdei cankó 5 Ruff and Reewe/Pajzsoscankó 15 Dunlin/Havasi partfutó 2 Curlew Sandpiper/Sarlós partfutó 1 ad. ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

31.08.2007 - Ferencmajor fishponds, Naszály, Hungary

The largest pond has been drained for fishing. The fresh mudflat suggested to be a good feeding area for stop-over shorebirds. The reality was different. Only a few birds were seen. In the next couple of weeks other lakes are going to be drew./A legnagyobb 2-es tó csapolás alatt áll. A friss iszapfelület jó táplálkozóterületet sejtet a megálló partimadarak számára. A vlóság azonban mást mutat. Mindössze néhány madár volt a területen. Az elkövetkező napokban további tavak kerülenk csapolásra. Today results/Mai eredmények: Black Stork/Fekete gólya 7 Eurasian Spoonbill/Kanalasgém 7 (None of them was ringed!/Egyik sem volt gyűrűs!) Eurasian Curlew/Nagy póling 2 Common Greenshank/Szürke cankó 5 Spotted Redshank/Füstös cankó 30 Common Sandpiper/Billegetőcankó 8 Green Sandpiper/Erdei cankó 4 Dunlin/Havasi partfutó 4 Curlew Sandpiper/Sarlós partfutó 1 Temminck's Stint/Temminck-partfutó 4 Ruff and Reeve/Pajzsoscankó 3 ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

24.08.2007 - Ferencmajor fishponds, Naszály, Hungary

The last full day of the bird ringing camp was an impresive day from birding point of view. I was hesitating wether to stay whole day on the hide to watch birds under flaming sun but finally it was worth to be insistent./A tábor utolsó teljes napja nagyon látványos volt madártani szempontból. Reggel még azon tétováztam, vajon kitegyem-e magam egész napra a tűző napsütésre de végül úgy tűnik megérte kitartónak lenni. Today summary/Mai összefoglaló: Black Stork/Fehér gólya 17 White Stork/Fehér gólya 36 (several migrating flocks crossed the ponds/több kisebb csapat szelte át a tavakat) Osprey/Halászsas 1 juv. European Honey-Buzzard/Darázsölyv 2 White-tailed Eagle/Rétisas 1 ad. + 1 juv. Short-toed Eagle/Kígyászölyv 1 juv. Western Marsh-Harrier/Barna rétihéja 11 (migrating birds mainly/főleg vonuló madarak) Eurasian Sparrowhawk/Karvaly 3 Eurasian Buzzard/Egerészölyv 8 Lesser Spotted Eagle/Békászósas 1 juv. Eurasia Kestrel/Vörös vércse 2 Eurasian Hobby/Kabasólyom 1 Common Snipe/Sárszalonka 2 Eurasian Curlew/Nagy póling 3 Common Redshank/Piroslábú cankó 1 Gree Sandpiper/Erdei cankó 3 Common Sandpiper/Billegetőcankó 6 Dunlin/Havasi partfutó 5 Curlew Sandpiper/Sarlós partfutó 2 Temminck's Stint/Temminck-partfutó 6 ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

23.08.2007 - Ferencmajor fishponds, Naszály, Hungary

Today we were birding in the afternoon and checked two ponds holding the majority of birds. The pond #4 is under filling-up and some part of the the grown vegetation is already under water./Ma délután két olyan tavat néztünk meg, melyek a madarak többségét adják a területen. A 4-es tó feltöltés alatt van, s a nyáron felnövő vegetáció egy részét már el is árasztotta a víz. Highlights: Black Stork/Fekete gólya 1 Greylag Goose/Nyári lúd 350 White-tailed Eagle/Rétisas 1 juv. Eurasian Hobby/Kabasólyom 1 Common Greenshank/Szürke cankó 3 Green Sandpiper/Erdei cankó 4 Mediterranean Gull/Szerecsensirály 12 Mew Gull/Viharsirály 4 Lesser Black-backed Gull/Heringsirály 1 juv.

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Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

22.08.2007 - Ferencmajor fishponds, Naszály, Hungary

We woke up early with a hope to have a nice birding day based on the weather forecast. They were wrong! The morning rain blocked us to look around. In the afternoon there was some nice birds recorded./Az időjárás előrejelzés alapján, abban a reményben keltünk korán, hogy egy jót madarászhatunk. Tévedtek! A reggeli esők megakadályoztak abban, hogy körbejárjuk a jobb élőhelyeket. Délután azért láttunk néhány érdekesebb fajt. Eurasian Spoonbill/Kanalasgém 41 (They arrived in the evening and obviously looked for a roosting place. A part of them left the area just before dusk./Este érkeztek a tóra nyugat felől és nyílvánvalóan éjszakázóhelyet kerestek. Egy nagyobb csapatuk még sötétedés előtt elhagyta a tavakat.) White-tailed Eagle/Rétisas 1 juv. Montagu's Harrier/Hamvas rétihéja 1 ad (female/tojó) Eurasian Hobby/Kabasólyom 1 Little Ringed Plover/Kis lile 4 Common Ringed Plover/Parti lile 1 juv. Common Snipe/Sárszalonka 3 Common Sandpiper/Billegetőcankó 4 Wood Sandpiper/Réti cankó 3 Green Sandpiper/Erdei cankó 2 Dunlin/Havasi partfutó 3 Curlew Sandpiper/Sarlós partfutó 1 Little Stint/Apró partfutó 8 Mediterranean Gull/Szerecsensirály 2 juv. ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!

19.08.2007 - Ferencmajor fishponds, Naszály, Hungary

It was an incredible day from both ringing and birding point of view. In the morning amazing and unusual number of birds trapped in quite nice species diversity. Total number of birds ringed is about 400 by the end of the day. Among the many interesting bird we can underline Barred and Wood Warblers, Wrynecks while the most numerous species was the Blackcap and Sedge Warbler./Mind a gyűrűzés, mind pedig a megfigyelések szempontjából nagyszerű nap volt a mai. Reggel szokatlan mennyiségű madarat fogtunk nagyon szép fajgazdagságban. A gyűrűzött madarak összmennyisége 400 körül van a nap végén. Az érdekesebb gyűrűzött fajok között vannak a karvalyposzáták, sisegő füzikék illetve a nyaktekercsek, míg a legtöbbet a barátkából és a foltos nádiposzátából gyűrűztünk. Today interesting sightings: Black Stork/Fekete gólya 2 White Stork/Fehér gólya 1 Ferruginosus Duck/Cigányréce 3 Eurasian Honey-Buzzard/Darázsölyv 1 (all seen by others except BS/a fekete gólya kivételével valamennyit msáok látták) Eurasian Hobby/Kabasólyom 1 Thrush Nightingale/Nagy fülemüle 1 Radde's Warbler/Vastagcsőrű füzike 1 (ad.) (The bird was alerted at about 4:45 pm by Péter Csonka. The bird has slowly been moving on the ground or close to it very nearby our ringing camp. As the ID was not 100% in the beginning more of us tried to find it. I also arrived very soon and tried to play its call from the car. This wasn't really helpful. Then as others approached to it suddenly moved towards us providing some excellent views to be able to see its features for positive ID. Unfortunately there was no chance to take a few shot as it was too fast moving. The prominent eyebrowe extended behind the eye, the dark brown (soil brown) upperparts, the yellowish legs, the well visible and obvious yellowish undertail-covers, short bill and its behavior made us sure to identify it as a Radde's Warbler./A madarat Csonka Peti jelezte 16:45 körül. A madár lassan mozgott a talajon, vagy az aljnövényzetben, a gyűrűző táborunk mellett. Mivel eleinte a határozás nem volt 100%-os, ezért többen bekapcsolódtak a visszakeresésébe. Miután megérkeztem megpróbáltuk hanggal elcsalni, melyre nem reagált. Néhányan megközelítették a helyet, ahol utoljára látták és akkor kirepült felénk, ahol kitűnően láthattuk ahhoz, hogy pozitívan határozhassuk. Sajnos fotózási kísérletem nem járt sikerrel. A feltűnő szemsáv, mely a szem mögé ért, a földbarna felsőtest, a sárgás lábak és a feltűnő és jól látható sárgás alsó farokfedők biztossá tettek bennünket abban, hogy vastagcsőrű füzikét láttunk.) ______ Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings and comments on my blog or its content. That is very welcomed!/Kérlek ne tétovázz véleményt írni a blogomról, vagy annak tartalmáról. Szeretettel várom!