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!