False Acacias and Syrian Woodpeckers

There was a lot of noise yesterday, outside the window, pecking, calling... I looked out to see what the racket was. There was a pair of Syrians in the garden this time., a bright male with his red nape-patch and a female, both very lively. I scrutinised them carefully and could see that they were classic Syrians, not a hint of any Great Spoted-like plumage features. They were in a False Acacia (robinia) tree, pecking the bark and stretching up to pick at the hanging, dry seed pods. Interesting that, as that tree is not native to Europe, and I am not sure that there are records of Syrian Woodpecker eating its seeds. Then again, I did not actually see the birds eating the seeds, just saw them pecking at the pods. The biggest tree in the garden is another False Acacia, and that is now heavily marked with their peck marks, little patches of bark removed. This is often a sign of a tree that will be used as a nesting-site tree... hopefully next spring I will have this pair breeding here, in my own garden!!!

A sudden burst of activity

I stood on the back balcony yesterday evening. The walnuts and hazenuts are ripe, green in their shells, but probably not that good for eating. The trees are, in fact, rather lush. It's been very hot this summer but there has been several heavy rainstorms, sometimes almost "tropical-like'" downpours. As I stood there a male Black Redstart was singing strongly from the neighbours rooftop and another flicked back and forth below. A group of Blue Tits arrived and made a racket in the bushes and, almost inevitably, a Syrian Woodpecker "chipped" a few times nearby. Then small bird caught my eye as it dashed into the blue tit's bush and then out and on over the fence. I got a glimpse of white on the outer tail as it flicked it up and down... a red-breasted flycatcher! Now THAT is a VERY GOOD bird here, first in my garden, in fact the first I have seen within a few hours of Budapest, ever. Obviously not a local, but a bird on its way somewhere... south.

That photo on the right hand side

No one got back to me to answer the question "who did this?" regarding that shaved tree stump photo on the right. Well, maybe no one reads this blog anymore? Maybe those that do (if any) did not know the answer? Pity, as a free holiday in Hungary around the best birding sites was the prize... I forgot to mention that earlier :-) and too late now to claim it... Anway, the answer is... it is a typically shaved dead, rotting tree stump worked by a White-backed Woodpecker. More on this here, if you are interested in the signs woodpeckers leave: http://woodpeckersofeurope.info/?q=signs

Woodpeckers and football again!

My oldest son played in a football game here in Budapest yesterday (that's soccer my American friends!). You might recall that last season (spring this year) I wrote in a blog that I heard and saw woodpeckers while watching one of his matches. Well, yesterday whilst standing in the shade watching him score 2 goals in a 7-4 win, I heard 3 species during the 90 minutes: Green, Syrian and Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Not bad for a non-birding event in a capital city!

Hungary in late winter for geese

I have been asked by some birding friends to set up a short tour in Hungary in late winter, with geese as the main targets. So, I have set aside February 14 – 17, 2008 for this. That's 4 days - 3 nights: visiting Lake Tata, Transdanubian fishpond systems & the Kiskunsag National Park. We will look for flocks of Greater White-fronted Goose, some of the endangered Lesser White-fronted Goose, both Tundra and Taiga Bean Geese and probably a few Red-breated Geese, too. In addition there are also some special resident birds like Great Bustard, Saker Falcon, White-tailed and Eastern Imperial Eagles, eight species of woodpecker including Syrian, Grey-headed and Black, and other winter visitors such as Rough-legged Buzzard and Great Grey Shrike. In some years Wallcreeper winters in stone quarries hereabouts and if this is the case we will visit the best site. If you would like to join us, then drop me a line and I will send you more details.

The local Syrian Woody

A Syrian Woodpecker has called every morning for the last 3 days at about 6am. It's sharp, squeaky, call has woken me up like an alarm clock. Describing bird calls is hard... but here goes... it sounds like "kip" sometimes "dschik" sometimes "dschuck". But it is definitely a Syrian, the same bird, I know it personally. My wife is not impressed.

Birdfinders tour photos

In May this year I guided a group for Birdfinders (UK tour company) in Hungary. They have now put photos and tour report from that trip up on their website: http://www.birdfinders.co.uk/news/hungary2007pics.htm
There are some great pics there, e.g. Ural Owl and the woodpeckers, and the whole thing gives a taste of how we do things here and what we see. Take a look.