Warblers and White Storks

It's back to the warm, sunny weather again. Blackcaps are singing in the gardens round hear and I have heard the odd Chiffchaff. Plenty of woodpecker activity again, some hacking out holes. The first White Storks are back in Hungary, and I expect a flood of them in the next week or so.

Winter Fights Back ?

A few days ago spring was well and truly here. I even saw two Peacock butterflies in our yard.
Then a cold wind arrived and things have gone a bit quiet. We've gone from summer to winter in 2 days... though it's still March. I think the first butterflies and frogs and toads that popped out last week got a bit of a shock. But think ahead... any of you that fancy a trip to Hungary to see plenty of amphibians, reptiles and butterflies in the summer, take a look at this:
http://www.probirder.com/otherwildlife.html

White-backed

I managed to get into the Bukk Hills for a few hours. I checked an area with big beeches where White-backed Woodpeckers (one of my very favourite species) had a nest last year. A few trees had been knocked over by high winds in the winter, but the site is still good. Plenty of dead wood. A female was drumming (just in case you did not know, females drum, too) and after a bit of searching, I got decent views.

The global range of White-backed Woodpecker lies within the Palearctic from Fenno-Scandia and central Europe eastwards through boreal Asia, to Kamchatka, China and Japan. Though generally regarded as an “eastern” species White-backed Woodpeckers probably inhabited all of Europe including Britain in the past, possibly up to the Middle Ages, when there was still much old forest covering the landscape. Today it is Europe’s rarest woodpecker, being often very local in the boreal and temperate zones of central and Eastern Europe, Fenno-Scandia and Russia.

Elsewhere it has a rather scattered distribution with small relic populations of the lilfordi race in the Pyrenees, the Balkans and the Apennines in Italy. Over most of its European range White-backed Woodpecker is uncommon, if not rare, though in some areas such as the Carpathians and the lowland forests of Belarus it is widely distributed. A major contraction in range, particularly in the west of Europe, occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries. Yet despite its overall rarity in Europe the species can be locally the most common woodpecker.

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

It's all action now on the woodpecker front. I had a quick walk round the oak and beech woods above Budapest and several species are drumming, calling and hacking out holes. The Middle Spotted Woodpeckers are calling like mad. Yesterday I witnessed a couple of males having a fairly serious argument. Now that spring is here, their all red crowns are bright red and they used them well, fluffing them up like a punk-rocker's hairstyle (showing my age here folks). Mostly bravado, and chasing around tree trunks, but there was a bit of bill pointing and jousting, fake stabbing. No doubt a female was nearby watching it all. Maybe thats' why the males were so aggressive. Showing off. It's time to get mating and nesting.

Great Bustards

More signs of spring... the Great Bustards are starting to think about lekking. I went out into the Kiskunsag region yesterday, about an hour south-east from Budapest. A flock of 20 of these large birds were lounging around in some crops. A male stood up flapped his huge wings, walked around a bit and then puffed his chest out, then pushed his tail up. Suddenly he changed from a largely brownish-orange bird into a snow-ball. Someone once described displaying cock Great Bustards as "foam-baths" But it was a bit half-hearted, he soon gave up, none of his companions seemed bothered. Maybe another few weeks are needed before things take off on the displaying, lekking, courting and breeding front.

A syrian in the garden

I opened the balcony door to let some fresh air in. It shouldn't be so warm in here, it's still only March. Almost at once a few faint "chips" drifted in. One of our local Syrian Woodpeckers was about. I peeped out and there she was, a female, on a shrub at first, low down, then she hopped onto a walnut tree (on of their very favourite trees). A classic Syrian: almost totally black outer tail feathers, just a few white dots there, a pinkish ventral area, fine ending to the bill, and white cheeks. No red at all on the crown... a female. She made a few more "squeaky doll" calls and was off. A noticed a few half-finished holes in the adjacent garden. Now that would be nice, if a pair set up home hereabouts.

"Flocks" of Woodpeckers

I took a UK birder, Andrew, up into the Buda Hills this morning. My brief was to take him to places "where we might see some non-UK woodpeckers". No pressure, nothing, just a "relaxing day's birding". But he did want to see Grey-headed Woodpecker. By 9am we were watching a female Lesser Spotted drumming. A little deeper into the woods and by 10am we had heard a couple of Green Woodpeckers "yaffling" and seen two male Great Spotteds in dispute, flying around, calling, bill pointing. We must have heard about 6 other Great Spotteds drumming, too. It was as if an army band was in there. Then a Middle Spotted Woodpecker made its cat-like, almost painful call and we soon found it. The first of five. After a bit of calling (yours truly this time) a Black Woodpecker, a female, finally responded. A male soon joined her and we watched them feeding on a fallen log. Of course, our "target" was not playing the game, it's often like that. As in life, the one you want most, won't play. So off we went to another Grey-headed spot, seeing another Black on the way, hacking a tree to pieces. But nothing new there. So another site, 2 miles down the hill. I made a few calls. Something responded, not near, but near enough, so we walked towards it. There were new Black Woodpecker holes here, and lots of old ones. Finally, in she flew, silenty, but she was curious. The female Grey-headed sat cross-wise on a bough and Andrew got his "lifer". He was pretty cool about it. Then she flew over out heads and sat atop a broken pine tree. They are always better after a bit of hard work.














What now? It was only midday. "What about Syrian?". I had a little think. Then down into the city and a park. All kinds of noise here. Cars, a bus, workers, dog-walkers, kids... a typical urban Syrian site. I heard a brief call. A Syrian. Then a Great Spotted. They live together hear. Finally, a woody flew by, but it was the Great Spotted. We walked to some chestnut trees. And there it was, a male Syrian. A brief view, but a good view. Andrew said he never expected "flocks" of woodpeckers. It was 12.30.