Hungary for Birds.

Where else can you wake up to the sound of dozens of Golden Orioles giving there flutey calls, 100 Bee-eaters rap-rapping. You can in Hungary. Every house seems to have a resident Black Redstart.
I stayed with relations, in a small farming village south east of Budapest, called Apc.
Every morning was a joy to go birding. Red Backed Shrikes, sat like sentinels on dried out trees.
the weather is hot here in the afternoon, 36 degrees C, and not much cooler at night too.
Steppe buzzards, are the main raptor. One afternoon I saw a Golden Eagle, come gliding down the famous Apc hill. This hill is half covered in trees, and the other half is bare. Is where I was given a great freight as a Eagle Owl decided to wait till I got close too it to leap up out of long grass. It was huge. Every afternoon around the Hill, came hundreds of Ravens, checking for fallen prey.
By the small river, Great Reed Warblers croaked like frogs. White Storks, made there nests on chimney pots, supposedly giving the occupant's good luck they say.
I all a great 7 days birding. But I am glad to be back where it is a bit cooler, and getting back some lost sleep hours.

Typically Spurned...

After last weeks disappointing West coast trip, I can’t ignore the East coast. So I am back at Spurn Point, TA4011, and it’s full of rarities. At the very end of the reserve, where the sea meets the Humber, is an absolute haven for migrant birds. As I get my equipment from the car, a female and male Black Redstart, have a little game with the frustrated photographers, ‘Now you see me, now you don’t’. But what a stunning bird the male is, for me this bird is just as striking in colour as a Kingfisher, all though it only shows three colours.(check out the photo). Spurn Point is a very dense jungle, where you are at disadvantage to see birds. All the vegetation is used to good effect by there birds as cover and resting point. You could hide farsands of birds here without seeing any of them. From every bush comes a bird call, as you near it, it all goes quiet when you are close. Today we have a Very rare Dusky warbler, a few feet away, A Pallas’ Warbler in that bush to our right, a woodcock flying behind us, And with the southerly wind, comes more birds by the minute.
Elsewhere on the reserve, Rare buntings have turned up, In a ploughed field, 3 Lapland buntings play hide and seek. In the next field a very rare for the east coast, Hooded Crow turns up. Bramblings are common too. A Shorelark was lonesome on the beach. The only non productive area was the sea, only 5 Brent geese seen flying south.
A truly typically fantastic day at Spurn in October with loads of common and rare birds too SEE everywhere you walked. Except I only got to see the black redstarts. How frustrating is that! On the way home, I managed to ‘dip out’ on another Pallas’ Warbler at Holmpton.
178 – Black Redstart.