July 2003 was the moment for 4 young birders from The Netherlands to do some interesting birding in the eastern part of Europe. July is of course not the best time to go birding because most birds are relatively non-active in summer. But, as all the participants attain some sort of school during the rest of the year, a trip this long in spring was no option. The group departed on Saturday the 28th of June and returned on Sunday the 27th of July 2003.

Participants

Bienze Marienus Wielstra

Ben is a 20-year-old straight A biology student at Leiden University. He knows lots about birds and on this trip he was also the man behind the identification of most reptiles and amphibians. His main task was sleeping in the back of the car and discovering nice reptiles when everyone was looking in the air.

Robertus Stephanus Anthonius van Bemmelen

Rob is a 20-year-old biology student at the University of Amsterdam and writer of the Masters of Mystery, a mystery bird competition in the well-known magazine Dutch Birding. His knowledge is not confined to birds, but knows lots about butterflies and dragonflies as well. Many new butterflies to everyone's list are owed to Rob.

Wesley George Overman

Wesbo is also 20-years old. He has just finished his study in forestry in Gouda. His main task was, apart from now and then driving the car, reading the maps. He is interested in everything that has to do with nature and is constantly alert.

Kasper Pjotr Hendriks

Kapser is a 20-year-old Marine Technology student at the Technical University Delft. Kapser's task was driving the car. His interest is mainly birds.

Barred Warbler - see day 6 - July 3rd

Transportation

We chose the old fashion car. Travelling by car is the best way to get to the most remote places in a reasonable time. The car used is a 1989 Ford Sierra station and it drove us without any car trouble, not even a flat tire. About 9000 kilometres have been driven. Lots of them on terrible roads, as you will read further on.

Most of the places visited are very hard to get to without a car and distances are considerable. Public transportation is absent or very little, mainly in Poland and Hungary. So, we cannot advise anyone to go by train and bus.

Maps

Most maps were bought in advance at a shop called Zandvliet in Leiden, The Netherlands. This shop has numerous road maps for almost every country in Europe and also lots of countries outside Europe. We bought the following maps:

Poland: Euro-regionalkarte, Polen 4, Südost (1 : 300.000) and Euro-regionalkarte, Polen 2, Nordost (1 : 300.000);

Hungary: ADAC, Ungarn Länderkarte (1 : 350.000);

Croatia: ANWB Wegenkaart Kroatië (1 : 300.000).

In Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia we bought some more maps, mainly of the national parks over there.

The countries visited

The trip consisted of a voyage from The Netherlands through Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany and back to The Netherlands. In all countries it was possible to pay by credit card at the petrol stations.

Germany

No birding was done in Germany accept from the car. As one knows, highways are very good in Germany and doing a steady 150 kilometres an hour is no problem, especially in the eastern part.

Poland

As soon as one drives into Poland, beware that the roads are far from proper and the average speed may even reduce to 50 kilometres an hour! Highways are absent, except from the cities Warsaw and Krakow. Many shops can be found along the main roads, as well as petrol and gas stations. Beware though, that from the main roads there are hardly any of these and you will need up to half a tank to get to the next one. Campsites are terribly hard to find in Poland. Hotels and motels are also few, mainly near Warsaw and Krakow. All is quite cheap compared to western European countries. Restaurants are good and the Polish food must be recommended. Beware that hardly any Polish people speak German or English and communication is tough, especially out of the cities. Banks with machines to cash money are only found in the larger cities.

For the birding in Poland we had lots of help from Felix Felger from Krakow. He is a freelance guide in Poland and knows extremely much about bird life in Poland, and about butterflies and mammals as well. He has lots of good contacts throughout the country to help finding some very tough species. He travelled together with us in our car from Sunday the 29th of June as we met in Warsaw until Tuesday the 8th of July as we waved him goodbye in Nowy Targ (southern Poland). We advise every birder with the slightest idea of visiting Poland to contact Felix and to consider travelling with him.

Slovakia

During our travel from Poland to Hungary we drove through Slovakia. The roads in Slovakia are very decent and one can travel quite fast through Slovakia. Especially the petrol in Slovakia is very cheap, so we made sure to fill up the tank before leaving the country. Some birds were observed. Afterwards, it might have been worth to do some birding in Slovakia, but at the time we didn't find the need to do so, because all species should be found in Poland and Hungary.

Hungary

Roads in Hungary are mainly good, especially the main ones. Campsites are only few, but near Hortobagy, the most interesting place to go birding, there are few. Also, near the Hortobagy, one can find lots of small hotels and zimmer frei. People speak some words German or English. The weather in Hungary was very good at the time we visited the Hortobagy, although in the afternoon one might have to keep a siesta because of the high temperature. Cashing money is possible in larger villages that can be found along the main road.

Croatia

To get to the most interesting part of Croatia, the coast, one first has to travel through the northern part and pass cities such as Osijek. Stuff in this part of Croatia is very cheap. Lots of tracks relating to the past war can be observed and give a sad vision of the country. After driving through Bosnia and Herzegovina and arriving in Croatia again, the country seems totally different. Along the coast the country shows hardly any signs of the war anymore. Many tourists are on the campsites near the beaches, mainly Germans and Dutch. The prices are high and are comparable to western Europe. People along the cost almost always speak German and otherwise English. Campsites are numerous along the coast, but not to be found in the northern part near Hungary. Hotels are everywhere, though. Exceptional is the lacking of a campsite on the very touristic island Vis. Except from hotels, rooms can be found there.

For travelling to the islands of Croatia, we used the ships of Jadrolinija. Their schedules can be found on their homepage: www.jadrolinija.hr.

Also, people travelling to Croatia and Slovenia should visit the beautiful new website of GreenEye, www.greeneye.hu. Lajos Nemeth, part of this tour operation, provided us with lots of valuable information.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

For the journey from the northern part of Croatia (Dakovo) to the southern part of Croatia (the coast near Metkovic) one can choose to drive in a huge turn to stay inside Croatia or to drive in a straight line to the south through Bosnia and Herzegovina. We chose for the last option. Driving through Bosnia was no fun at all. The roads are mainly terrible, especially because of the large and smelly trucks. An average speed of 50 kilometres an hour is to be taken notice of. Also, road maps are dated and not to be used from the main roads. It is important to note that there are still a lot of landmines everywhere, especially away from the main roads.

Slovenia

While driving towards Austria from Croatia, our route led through Slovenia. The roads were perfect in this country. More is not to be told, since we drove through Slovenia within two hours and do not know anything more about the country.

Austria

Austria is much like Germany. Roads are good. But, prices are high and many roads aren't for free! We stayed in the heart of Tirol for a couple of days. The campsite as well as the youth hostel was very expensive.

The target species for this vacation are listed below.

Yelkouan Shearwater, Little Crake, Thrush Nightingale, Imperial Eagle, Great Snipe, Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Pallas's Gull, Eastern Orphean Warbler, Long-legged Buzzard, White-winged Tern, Moustached Warbler, Red-footed Falcon, Great Grey Owl, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Eleonora's Falcon, Ural Owl, Collared Flycatcher, Saker, Tengmalm's Owl, Sombre Tit, Lanner, Pygmy Owl, Rock Nuthatch, Ptarmigan, Syrian Woodpecker, Lesser Grey Shrike, Capercaillie, White-backed Woodpecker, Snowfinch, Hazel Grouse, Three-toed Woodpecker, Citril Finch, Rock Partridge, Alpine Accentor, Ortolan Bunting.

The mentioned species are in this list if it constituted a new species to one or more of the participants. Most owls were not seen, as wasn't Capercaillie. This has got everything to do with us travelling in July, probably the worst month for these species. Unexpected species that made the pain easier included Steppe Eagle (Hungary) and Spanish Sparrow (Croatia), for example. Also, some species seemed impossible in summer but were observed after all (Rock Partridge, Little Crake, Great Snipe, Sombre Tit). Ortolan Bunting was especially important because three of us missed it somehow in Spain in the summer of 2002, although we have all seen it in The Netherlands before. Lanner was never seen, but its appearance in the southern part of Croatia was never certain. So, not seeing it was no unexpected thing. Pallas's Gull is a rare but regular visitor to the Hortobagy in Hungary, but only from August onwards. Seeing one was therefore already hardly possible, as we knew in advance.

Cost

In total, this vacation cost not more than euro 750 per person for almost 4 weeks. This includes food, a revision of the car in advance, petrol, accommodation, guidance in Poland for 8 days and all the other stuff.

Identification Guides

A list of the used literature during the journey can be found below. Furthermore, some remarks must be made about these identification guides.

The butterfly guide (Lewington, R & Tolman, T) offers beautiful colour plates and a lot of information in the text captions about distribution and food plants. It should be, according to the name [The New Butterfly Guide] be suitable for identification. It turned out, and not for the first time, to be difficult to use for this purpose as there is hardly any text on identification, neither in the main text nor in the colour plates. This results in a conflicting situation: is this difference I see in the drawing a good identification feature or just a mistake of the drawing? In addition, the distribution maps turned out to be of outstanding low quality. One can extract better info out of the distribution caption in the text. The amphibians and reptile book is a good guide, but the colour plates can never cover the whole range of variation in a species such as the Italian Wall Lizard Podarcis sicula. Also, it doesn't have captions on the identifications of tadpoles. The rest of the text, however, is very, very good.

Although the dragonfly guide (Bos, F & Wasscher, M) doesn't cover this part of Europe, all species could be identified without much trouble. Even Sysiothemis nigra and Lindenia tetraphylla, which are both only covered by one small piece of text without accompanying photographs, were identified without trouble.

Especially the Collins Bird Guide can not be praised enough. Excellent drawings! We advise never to do a birding trip in Europe without this guide.

The mammal guide was good, too. Note, however, that we didn't use it very much. In the cases where we should have used it (dead shrews and flying bats), we didn't use it always.

Arnold, N & Ovenden, D (1999).Collins Field Guide: Reptiles and Amphibians of Britain and Europe. HarperCollins, London. ISBN 0002199645

Barrett, P & MacDonald, D (1993). Collins Field Guide: Mammals of Britain and Europe. HarperCollins, London. ISBN 0002197790

Grant, P J, Mullarney, K, Svensson, L, Zetterström, D (1999). Collins Bird Guide.   The most complete guide to the birds of Britain and Europe. HarperCollins,   London. ISBN 0002197286

Thanks

Of course this trip would not have yielded so many birds without the help of lots of people that provided us lots of information. Most of them responded to one of our replies for information through the Euro Bird Net and the Euro Bird Net NL. We therefore would very much like to thank the following people.

Poland: Felix Felger;

Hungary: Michel Veldt, Szabolcs Kokay, Zsolt Végvari, Ab Steenvoorden, Bertus de

Lange, Prof. Dr. Peter Finke, Sander Bot;

Croatia: Nino Mihokovic, Lajos Németh, Mario Romuli;

Austria: Co van der Wardt, Jan Hein van Steenis, Hans Mom, Gertjan Mom, Martijn de Jonge, Ies Goedbloed, Sjaak Schilperoort.

The text regarding the introduction and days 1 to 17 has been written by Kasper Hendriks. Rob van Bemmelen wrote about days 18 to 30 and added the observations of butterflies and dragonflies to the part of days 1 to 17. Also, he provided the checklists at the end of this report.

Daily itinerary

Following is a day-to-day description of our trip. At the beginning of every day some interesting data are given: the most interesting bird species of that day (birds at a glance) and the amount of kilometres driven that day. The report is written chronological and includes descriptions of most places we visited. Species of bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian have their English name written in bold. The mammals, reptiles and amphibian English names are also followed by their scientific names in italics. Only the scientific names of butterflies and dragonflies are given, because we didn't know English names of every species and in these insects, scientific names are more well-known. They are, off course, in italics.  

An exact description of the places where most species have been found in Poland is not given. It would not be very decent towards our guide over there to give everyone his special information for free. So, if one wants to know more about the birds over there and where to find them, contact Felix Felger (felix4@poczta.onet.pl). For the other visited countries we did try to give clear descriptions to find places with interesting species as one might expect.

Last but not least we would like to make you aware of the fact that this report can also be found on the web at the address http://vogelreisverslagen.reallyrules.com/. We have uploaded lots of photographs to this site to contribute to the text, all shot on this trip. They include photographs of birds, some mammals, lots of butterflies, dragonflies and lots of reptiles and amphibians. Also, some pictures of the surroundings can be found. Noteworthy are definitely the photographs of the rare Steppe Eagle seen in Hungary.

If, after the reading of this report, you have any questions about the travelling, birds or whatsoever, feel free to contact us.Rob van Bemmelen: ixobrychus@hotmail.com Kasper Hendriks: kphendriks@hotmail.com

Day 1: Saturday, June the 28th, 2003: home - Koto

Birds at a glance: Common Crane, Montagu's Harrier - 1265 kilometres of driving

At 5 am we assembled in Leiden, The Netherlands, with the idea to drive as far as possible towards our destination for Sunday afternoon, Warsaw. Near Arnhem, a very nice Black Woodpecker crossed the road. From the border with Germany, we were able to follow the road E30 that goes from the border till Warsaw. All went very quickly as one is used to in Germany. Near Hanover we spotted our first Red Kites and Black Kites. Near Frankfurt (the Frankfurt at the Polish border) we saw a couple of Ravens whilst an hour of waiting at the border in pure heat.

As we drove into Poland, we immediately noticed the roads. They were terrible - compared to western standards. And the further we drove into Poland and through the countryside, the worse the roads became. Ruts of more than 10 centimetres deep, caused by heavy trucks, aren't anything unusual. Bikers drive along the roads and are overtaken by heavy trucks while they are being overtaken by smelly cars themselves. So, keep in mind that travelling through western Poland is not possible at an average speed of more than 50 to 60 kilometres per hour, mainly because of the fact that this part of the country does not has such a thing as highways and the roads cross numerous small villages with traffic lights. A good tip for future travellers is to cash money as soon as possible after the Polish border. We didn't and had to wait until Warsaw. Luckily we had enough food with us.

Birds we saw along the road include Common Cranes in the vast fields and Crested Larks at the MacDonald's restaurant in Posnan. Near Kronin, still along the road E30, we observed a male Montagu's Harrier and our first Red-backed Shrike.

Day 2: Sunday, June the 29th, 2003: Kampinoski NP - Biebrza NP

Birds at a glance: Little Tern, Trush Nightingale, Aquatic Warbler, Eagle Owl - 460 kilometres of driving

We woke up very early. Some of us at 5 am. This was because of the fact that sun rises quite a bit earlier in Poland than in The Netherlands. We started the day with some good birding near the tent and found at least 7 Red-backed Shrikes, many Corn Buntings, lots of White Storks, 2 Hooded Crows and 4 Golden Orioles. Two Issoria lathonia were found there, too.

At 8 am we drove further for the last bit of travelling towards Warsaw. At 3 pm we would meet our guide for that week in Poland, Felix Felger, at the central station over there. But, we had some time left and decided to have a look in a national park just west of Warsaw: Kampinoski Park Narodowy. Near Roztoka, in the middle of the park along the road 579, we found a small brook next to a campsite. Near the brook we observed 3 Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, Black Woodpecker, Red-backed Shrike, Black Redstart, a family of Willow Tit, lots of Golden Orioles and a Grass Snake Natrix natrix. Nice butterfly species were abundant, especially the 3 individuals of Lycaena alciphron were very beautifull. Other species found here were 1 Boloria dia, 1 Argynnis paphia, lots of Melitaea athalia, Coenonympha arcania, and C tullia. Dragonflies found here include 1 Calopteryx virgo, lots of C splendens, Coenagrion puella, Platycnemis pennipes, 2 Somatochlora metallica, 2 Libellula depressa and L quadrimaculata.

The rest of the park did not seem very interesting, though the landscape was beautiful. In a forest mainly consisting of spruce we found Wood Warbler, Crested Tit, Goldcrest and Coal Tit.

We drove north towards the river Wista. Then we drove east along the road 575 and found a nice spot near de river in between the roads 7 and 85. This spot can be reached by driving along the 575 eastwards and passing underneath the road 7. Directly after the viaduct, one can turn left and that small road ends near the river Wista. Birds we saw along and over the river include Little Tern (10), Black-headed Gull, Pontic Gull (2 adult and about 5 immature birds), Black Tern, Marsh Warbler, Redshank and Little Ringed Plover. In the short time we could be there, the following butterflies were found: at least 2 Cupido argiades, Lycaena alciphron, one male L dispar rutila, one Apatura iris, one Melanargia galathea and some Issoria lathonia. Dragonflies here were Calopteryx splendens, Ischnura elegans and Orthetrum cancellatum. We ran out of time and headed for the central station.

At the central station of Warsaw we met Felix Felger at a few minutes past 3 pm. After a short talk we headed towards our first real target area: the Biebrza marshes. On our way, we saw some of the birds seen before.

We entered the Biebrza National Park from the south and drove the only main road through the area north from Strekowa Gora. Along this road, a quick stop in a nice vast area yielded a beautiful Thrush Nightingale. Also, we saw a very distant Aquila, which afterwards might have been our only Greater Spotted Eagle of the journey, for we later on heard about a bird being present there for some time. The next very special observation we did, was of a Pine Marten Martes martes standing and jumping on the road right in front of us for half a minute. Further along the road, as it crosses a small river (small in summer), we stopped and checked for Beaver Castor fiber and White-backed Woodpecker. We saw neither. Some Garden Warblers showed very nice, though.

Again we drove on northwards and stopped at a watching tower on the left side of the road. Here, we encountered our first ever Elks Alces alces! At least 15 of these magnificent animals stood in the vast fields in front of the tower. Small groups of Common Cranes flew past whilst calling very loud - a beautiful addition to the already mighty scenery. In the bushes in front of the tower not less than 5 Aquatic Warblers sang their song, accompanied by at least 1 Sedge Warbler. None of these birds had the slightest intention of showing itself to us, unfortunately. A Red-bellied Toad Bombina bombina called from near the car.

As the night fell in, we decided to drive towards our place to stay for the night. That would be at a very good friend of Felix: Chris, the king of the marshes. Chris owns a small campsite near Budy. The place was amazing for birds. After we had put up our tents, we were overwhelmed by all the goodies. A Woodcock was displaying above the campsite till midnight and a Nightjar was calling from a distance. Also calling from a distance was a very unexpected Eagle Owl. A Tawny Owl was calling at the same time and a noisy couple of Common Cranes flew past.

Day 3: Monday, June the 30th, 2003: Biebrza NP - Bialystok

Birds at a glance: Great Snipe, White-tailed Eagle, Black Stork, Lesser Spotted Eagle - 208 kilometres of driving

We rose at about 5 am and started the day with a walk near the campsite and the accompanying forest. Behind the campsite, not less than 15 or so Hoopoes flew around. Also, Common Cranes passed by now and then and Golden Orioles were singing everywhere.

After our walk, we drove south to the famous Great Snipe lekking place, south of Budy. The spot is reached by a muddy track that starts from a parking place and first leads through some forest and later on through vast reed lands. Along the track, we searched the fields and saw some impressive Elks Alces alces here and there, some of which were very close. Also along the track, we observed a group of about 15 Long-tailed Tits, some of which showed a largely white head. Though, we didn't identify them as belonging to the northern subspecies caudatus because of the lacking of broad white edges to the tertials and the absence of much white on the flanks.  Felix told us these birds are observed regularly in the area, and might belong to some intermediate form. Furthermore, we found tracks of Wolves Canis lupus and Beavers Castor fiber in the mud.

Near the Great Snipe lekking spot, we didn't find any Great Snipes, which is nothing unexpected given the season. But, as we arrived at the higher watching tower, which can be found further along the track, two of us were lucky enough to observe a Great Snipe flying very fast past the watching tower. As the bird turned, they observed the white on the outer tail feathers, barred wings and bulky appearance.

We stayed in the tower till the end of the morning and hoped for goodies such as Lesser Spotted Eagle and Black Stork, which normally can be found rising above the forest east of the tower as the temperature rises. Unfortunately, the clouds brought us cold and rain and we hardly saw anything. Luckily, a couple of White-tailed Eagles showed up at a considerable distance and 5 Great Egrets were present. Rob, however, went down to search for butterflies. This turned out to be a good choice, as one Nymphalis xanthomelas was found! Another goodie, but less rare, found in the surroundings of the tower, was Melitaea diamina. Other species here were Lycaena virgaureae, Argynnis aglaja, Melitaea athalia and Heteropterus morpheus.

We decided to walk further into the area, which brought us in a mixture of agricultural land and reed lands with some scattered trees. The birds we spotted here include Penduline Tit, 2 adult Black Storks, about 5 singing Common Rosefinches, 1 calling Aquatic Warbler, 2 Sedge Warblers, 2 Great Grey Shrikes and lots of Fieldfares. The footprint of a Wolf Canis lupus was quite impressive. Suddenly a large butterfly flew towards us and landed. It turned out to be our second Nymphalis xanthomelas! Later on, another large Nymphalis, either N xanthomelas or Nymphalis polychloros was seen. According to Felix, it was probably a N polychloros, but this individual wasn't seen well. Other butterflies found here were Polyommatus amandus, Brenthis ino and some more Heteropterus morpheus.

Walking back to the car through the forest, a small open area at the northern side of the track was encountered, a few hundred metres before reaching the car. Here, lots of butterflies were present, of which Maculinea arion was the best. The two Apatura iris were very nice, too.

After having seen enough of this area, we drove back to the campsite and packed our stuff to head for the next birding place. We drove to the north and stopped in Goniadz to fill up the petrel level of the car. In the centre and around the village, Serin turned out to be numerous. In the west of this village, one can reach spots to look out over vast reed beds, all part of the Biebrza National Park. Here, we heard a nice Great Reed Warbler and some Penduline Tits. Next, we drove west from the village onwards and thereby drove strait through the reed beds. We stopped at a watching tower along the road. Once again, we heard an Aquatic Warbler sing and we found ourselves becoming more and more frustrated by the fact that we just could not see the bird. A Black Tern passed by. Normally, this spot is very good for large numbers of both Black Tern and White-winged Black Tern. Unfortunately, the low water levels had made the birds choose better places.

At the end of the afternoon, we visited an area that can be reached through Kapice, a small village north east of the road 65. Felix arranged a place for the car to be put so we could leave it save with all our stuff in it. Our main goal at this spot was to see the magnificent Lesser Spotted Eagle, a new species for all of us.

The beginning of the walk brought us through a field with some spread trees. Here, we observed lots and lots of Golden Orioles, some of which gave some splendid views. The birds were feeding their young and tended to be very noisy. Not much further along the path, our first encounter with a Lesser Spotted Eagle became a fact. And a nice bird it was, probably a 3rd cy. First we saw it fly at quite a distance and then it sat down in a spruce, also at quite a distance.

We walked further along a track that leads into a gathering of large fields with mainly grass. Meanwhile, we enjoyed the presence of tens of White Storks and Common Cranes here and there in the fields. As the track led through a dense part of bushes, we found some Red-backed Shrikes and Garden Warblers. Again some further along the track, about 4 or 5 kilometres from the car as we speak, the track again led through a vast open area with some scattered trees in a land mainly consisting of grass and some reed. It was here that we found a beautiful adult Lesser Spotted Eagle, first sitting on the ground and in a tree later on. We walked back along the track and near the car we saw not less than 4 Great Grey Shrikes and heard a Corncrake. Also, a Common Rosefinch was singing. At the end of the walk, our list of butterflies contained, amongst others, Coenonympha tullia and Heteropterus morpheus

We sat down in the car and drove towards our next place to stay for the night and to do some birding. As the night had fallen in we arrived in Bialystok. The campsite Felix intended to visit turned out to be closed for some strange reason. Some searching and asking around brought us at a campsite along the road 19 north of Bialystok. It can be found by driving this road north towards Wasilkow. A few kilometres from Bialystok, there's a slope downwards and after that a turn to the right into a village, which might have been Wasilkow. Inside this turn, the campsite is on the left. The price for one night with 5 people at the campsite was only 100 zlotys. Strange enough, we were the only ones on the campsite.

We put up the tents and headed to the little famous Bialystok fishponds on the south of Bialystok. We hoped to hear Little Crake in the dark. The fishponds consist of a group of small artificial lakes, crossed by a track that may only be entered by foot. As we walked along he track, Felix stayed with the car to keep an eye on our belongings. Leaving a car here in the night with valuable stuff in it is strongly discommended. Along the track we heard 2 Great Reed Warblers and some Reed Warblers singing in the night. Unfortunately no Little Crakes yet.

Although it was round midnight by now, our day was not over yet. For a couple of years, more and more Blyth´s Reed Warblers are found singing in and near Bialystok. Our guide Felix had contacted some people to find out the latest places. We searched for two hours or so, but round 2 am we gave up. The fact that we had exact places could not counterbalance the fact that we visited these places to late in the season.

Back at the campsite we heard Corncrake calling from a distance. Also, a Marsh Warbler sang its song.

Day 4: Tuesday, July the 1st, 2003: Bialystok - near Bialowieza

Birds at a glance: Syrian Woodpecker, Little Crake, Ortolan Bunting - 100 kilometres of driving

As we woke up quite late we drove to the faculty of biology of the Bialystok University. Here, a male Greater Spotted Woodpecker bred together with a female Syrian Woodpecker, the latter still being a new species to our lists. Within a few minutes we heard the calls of the female Syrian Woodpecker and one of her young. We could observe the hybrid young for some time and Wesley was able to take some photographs. The bird showed characteristics of both Greater Spotted as well as Syrian Woodpecker, though the call was very similar to Syrian Woodpecker. We were able to speak to some people from the university. One of them had caught the bird the day before and had measured it.

Other birds around the faculty include Lesser Whitethroat and Redstart.

At the end of the morning we headed for the Bialystok fishponds again. Now, by light, we observed much more. We simply walked the only track that leads into the ponds until we encountered a forest that looked of lesser interest for the moment. In the ponds along the track, we observed very nice species. Tens of Whiskered Terns flew all around. It's possible to observe all 5 species of European grebes in the ponds; we saw 4. But, we had some extremely good views of the beautiful Red-necked Grebe in summer plumage. Moreover, we saw about 15 of them! Also, we saw about 8 Blacked-necked Grebes and lots of Great Crested Grebes and Little Grebes. Nice was the observation of a Penduline Tit and we heard a couple of Common Rosefinches. Marsh Harriers flew around everywhere. Ducks we saw include Pintail, Shoveler and one couple of Wigeon. The most interesting bird is about the last we observed, a couple of kilometres along the track. While scanning the last pond on the right for ducks, a Little Crake suddenly started to call from the reed! This meant a new species for 3 of us, and a very unexpected one, too! Everyone at home had told us that finding this nice little bird in summer is almost impossible. As the bird kept calling, we could get closer and closer. At some moment, the bird must have been at a distance of less than two metres away from us! It was frustrating, but the bird was not to be seen.

Before we left the area, we had the luck of finding a nice Tree Frog Hyla arborea on the track. A Red-bellied Toad Bombina bomina was calling from one of the ponds. The area proved to be good for dragonflies, too. We found 11 species, of which Aeshna isosceles and Libellula fulva were the best. Felix, who had stayed near the car to guard our stuff, had observed a Little Bittern flying above the first pond near the car.

After this fantastic visit we drove to the campsite to pack our stuff with the idea to head for the famous Bialowieza, with its even more famous national park. While packing, we observed a couple of nice birds on and around the campsite. A pair of Red-backed Shrikes, some singing Common Rosefinches and Serins and about 20 Black Terns flying over the water down the hill next to the campsite. In a large thermal air stream a group of 10 to 15 White Storks flew by, followed by a very welcome Lesser Spotted Eagle. The butterfly Lycaena virgaureae and the dragonflies Calopteryx splendens, Coenagrion pulchellum and Erythromma najas were found at the campsite.

As we headed for Bialowieza, we stopped at a few places to look for Roller, a bird that can be found since a couple of years in this part of Poland. Unfortunately, the checking of the telephone poles did not result in an encounter with it. We did see lots of Whinchats, though. We also heard a Quail and almost at the same site found the much wanted Ortolan Bunting: 2 singing males along the road. This species tends to be not so easy to be found in summer, as we found out last year in Spain. Along this road, there is a small area with shrubs and grass at the north side of the road. At this spot, we found either Melitaea aurelia or M britomartis. Both butterfly species are rare in Poland and this spot would be a new location for them, according to Felix. Other species here were Aporia crateagi, Lycaena virgaureae, Polyommatus amandus and one Apatura sp. Two dragonfly species were found: Libellula fulva and Sympetrum flaveolum.

Near Bialowieza, one can find a large artificial lake called Zbiornik Siemianowka. We visited some places around it, because Citrine Wagtail bred there in spring. Unfortunately, we had no luck finding it there. We saw a very nice adult White-tailed Eagle resting on the ground near the lake. Also, we observed tens of Whiskered Terns flying along the rail road that passes through the lake. We had the luck of finding at least one adult White-winged Tern, but at a considerable distance. This bird had a very bad breeding year in Europe in 2003, mainly caused by the low water levels. Other birds we observed here are Corncrake (2 heard), Common Snipe, Savi's Warbler, Penduline Tit and Montagu's Harrier (adult male). The place was also very good for wagtails. We observed 10s of Blue-headed and White Wagtails, lots with young. The dragonfly Lestes dryas turned out to be quite numerous here.

Later on we drove to the southern side of the lake, near the border with Byelorussia. Felix took us to a watching tower at the edge of the forest area, from which one can see over the lake and its surrounding marshes. The spot was very nice and seemed very good to stay for a night in the wild. First, of course, we did some birding. Our first River Warbler of the vacation was heard and a Quail was calling from near the tower. A Grass Snake Natrix natrix was near the water and young Green Toads Bufo viridis were walking around under the trees. As the night fell, a Corncrake started calling, followed by 2 of his mates. Felix took us into the field from which one bird was calling in an attempt to get some views of it. By imitating the bird he managed to get it at a distance of less than two metres, but as we turned on our flashlight to see it, it had taken of already.

Day 5: Wednesday, July the 2nd, 2003: Bialowieza

Birds at a glance: Lesser Spotted Eagle - 208 kilometres of driving

We woke up in a storm with rain and lightning. Most of our stuff was wet, but we packed it anyhow. The weather did not seem to get any better soon, so we just drove towards Bialowieza, a relatively small distance. We put up the tents on the campsite near Bialowieza and luckily the weather got better and better. The target species for this area included White-backed Woodpecker and the Great Grey Owl that had been in the area since spring 2003.

We started with a drive in the surroundings. East of Pogorzelce we found 2 Grass Snakes Natrix natrix, one of which had been run over. Along the road near Teramiski we observed a Lesser Spotted Eagle and a Great Grey Shrike. Also some Red-backed Shrikes and Common Rosefinches were seen. Butterflies encountered were Polyommatus semiargus, Polyommatus amandus, Argynnis paphia, Brenthis ino and Heteropterus morpheus.

We searched almost the rest of the day for the Great Grey Owl at various spots, but never found it. The bird had been constantly located in spring, when many birders visited the area. But, in summer only a small amount of birders visit the place and the bird had not been seen for a week when we arrived. At one spot in one of the forests we searched, we heard River Warbler and saw very nice and tame Haw Finches. Lots of woodpeckers had to be checked but we didn't manage to find a White-backed Woodpecker, yet. The female Neozphyrus quercus, a butterfly not rare in The Netherlands, we saw here turned out to be the first for this forest!

Day 6: Thursday, July the 3rd, 2003: Bialowieza NP near Krakow

Birds at a glance: White-backed Woodpecker, Collared Flycatcher - 612 kilometres of driving

On Wednesday, we had met an English couple that had an appointment to visit the Bialowieza National Park this morning with a guide. The park can only be visited together with a guide, which is quite expensive. We made the appointment to join them, so we could split the cost as well.

We met them in the Bialowieza village in the morning round 5 am. Here we heard a River Warbler and saw one Argynnis aglaja, a butterfly. Together we drove to the National Park, which entrance looks a lot like the Jurassic Park's one. Together with Felix we walked round the park for a while. In the park, which consists mainly of very rare primal forest, we saw some immense old trees. Quite impressive. Then we observed a quick Middle-spotted Woodpecker high in one of the trees. Also a Black Woodpecker could be added to our list. Here and there Collared Flycatchers were calling from high in the trees. Unfortunately, we did not see any bird properly. We did see some nice Spotted Flycatchers, though. The best bird we saw was suddenly along the track and only a few metres from the ground: a couple of White-backed Woodpeckers! This much wanted target species definitely made our day. We were lucky enough to have good views of the female that seemed very tame. So, pictures could be teken as well. A very welcome addition to this beautiful woodpecker was the family of Grey-headed Woodpecker that we could observe near the entrance. Other birds we saw in the park include Goldcrest, Firecrest and Wood Warbler.

The tour ended at 8 am and as we walked out of the park we saw Great Grey Shrike, Red-backed Shrike, Whinchat and the butterfly Polyommatus amandus along the track that leads from the park to the village.

Next we drove back to the campsite and packed our stuff. We drove to the south with the idea to end in Krakow that evening so we could search for Ural Owl the next day. On our way to the south we stopped in a village along the main road. From a monastery in the village we had some panoramic views over the river Wista. Here we observed 1 Little Tern and a female Redstart. A caterpillar of the rare Hyles gallii, a moth, was found. Some Sand Lizards Lacerta agilis were also seen here. In the village lots of Serins sang from the trees. In the enormous heat we sat back in the car to drive to the south again. After some hours we drove into the rain, which brought some coolness.

In the village Trzebinia-Siersza, which can be found west of Krakow, the butterflies Aricia eumedon, Plebeius argus and Melanargia galathea were found.

At the end of the afternoon, further along the drive, between Katowice and Krakow, we had a very nice experience with a much wanted species. Paul, a friend of Felix, was busy ringing Barred Warblers behind his garden. Thanks to the contact between Felix and Paul, we had the opportunity to visit Paul while he was catching the birds. We were lucky enough to observe not less than 5 birds, including 1 in hand! Unfortunately, the beautiful males did not show up that afternoon. But, the fantastic views of the other birds compensated that.

That night we stayed in the beautiful city Krakow.

Day 7: Friday, July the 4th, 2003: near Krakow - Gorczanski NP

Birds at a glance: Ural Owl - 153 kilometres of driving

In the morning we left from Krakow to search for Ural Owl as long as necessary. We visited a couple of forests east of Krakow. In the first forest, we found a new location for the butterfly Maculinea teleius. At least five individuals were seen, all males. In the second forest, a Ophiogomphus cecilia, a very nice dragonfly was found by total surprise. The morning brought no Ural Owl, as did the afternoon. It was in the evening, at the third forest we visited, that we finally found it, after finding another Ophiogomphus cecilia and the butterfly Nymphalis antiopa. As we walked along a track in one of the forests, a Ural Owl suddenly flew across it! After a whole day of searching we were quickly woken up again. Not every one had seen the bird, so we tried to get better views of it. Unfortunately, we could not find the bird anymore. We decided to walk on in the hope to find a bird further into the forest.

After half an hour, we walked into a juvenile bird. We scared it at first and it flew from us, but as it sat down, we had some amazing views of it. Also, a nice Lesser-spotted Woodpecker showed up. Still, we wanted to have better views of an adult Ural Owl and we decided to stay for the night and try in the morning, for the night fell in very quick. As we walked to the hide where we would stay for the night, Felix found another adult Ural Owl! This time we were all able to have stunning views of this majestic bird that was sitting in a tree just in front of us while thundering clouds approached.

We were very relieved that we had seen this fantastic target species after a whole day searching. In the night we drove to our next place to visit for the next day: Gorczanski National Park. The drive was very unpleasant as we drove through the mountains with lots of rain and dense fog. As we arrived at the entrance of the national park, we put up one tent in the wild using the car's headlights. Two of us slept in the car. In a stream near the entrance we found some very nice Fire Salamanders Salamandra salamandra.

Day 8: Saturday, July the 5th, 2003: Gorczanski NP

Birds at a glance - Hazel Grouse, Three-toed Woodpecker, Red-breasted Flycatcher

As we woke up at about 7 am, we put most of our belongings in the car, including the wet tent. Near the entrance of the Gorczanski National Park Felix contacted a local farmer and arranged a place for the car to be left safely for the forthcoming night. Only with our necessary stuff we started the walk into the park. The tracks let through a mountainous landscape with dense forest.

Just near the entrance we observed Dippers along the stream that leads next to the tracks. A few hundred metres uphill, a small pond was found at the left side of the path. It was there that Wesley saw a very quick Dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius. In the pool, one male Alpine Newt Triturus alpestris was seen, five dragonfly exuviae of a Anax sp were collected and one living nymph was caught. Along the path, lots of Grey Wagtails were present. Further uphill, a family of Red-breasted Flycatchers was heard and shortly seen. We walked into the park for some kilometres and round 11 am we arrived at an open area with a mountain refuge and the butterflies Lycaena tityrus and Erebia euryale. Here we left our stuff and went to search for target species such as Three-toed Woodpecker and Hazel Grouse, while Felix stayed at the refuge to guard our belongings.

Almost immediately after we left the refuge, we found a Hazel Grouse in the low berry shrub near the refuge. Unfortunately not everyone had good views of the bird as it flew down the hill very quick.

We then split into two groups. Wesley and Ben went together and walked into one direction and Rob and Kasper walked into another direction. After hours of searching, Wesley and Ben were lucky enough to find a couple of Three-toed Woodpecker that gave stunning views from a tree. Wesley tried to call up the other two, but because of the terrible connexion with the telephone network up high in the mountains he did never manage to contact the other guys. As Rob and Kasper came back to the refuge after hours of searching with only some Crossbills and Siskins, they found the others with very happy faces. Felix also had seen a White-backed Woodpecker just in a tree in front of the refuge. Although it had started to rain for an hour and everyone was soaked and cold, we all went to the Three-toed Woodpecker spot with the idea that finding these birds again would not be such a problem. But, that turned out to be a huge problem! Looking for more than an hour at the spot and looking at some other places did not help; the birds could not be found again. Only a Ring Ouzel showed up. As the rain started again, we all went back to the refuge and tried to warm and dry ourselves near a bonfire inside the refuge.

After an hour, Rob and Kasper went to look once again, hoping for some more luck this time. Through the rain they searched for some hours but never found the Three-toed Woodpeckers.

In the evening we all went into the forest once more in an attempt to find Pygmy Owl, a species that bred in the area near the refuge and was quite easy to be found in spring. But, finding these little fellows in summer is very, very tough. Felix whistled like Pygmy while walking along a track behind the refuge. The whistling attracts the birds in spring. It did not work now, unfortunately. After an hour, part of the group went back to the refuge to make a bonfire and to warm up a bit, for the nights in the mountains are quite cold. Rob and Kasper again searched some more for the Three-toed Woodies, but again without any luck. They only saw a Honey Buzzard passing over their heads. As everyone was back at the refuge, we observed a loud Woodcock flying in circles over the mountain.

The night in the refuse was very cold, because we had not packed good stuff like socks and warm trousers. We slept in our sleeping bags on the wooden floor of the refuge. That was no problem, of course, but a cold wind and rain made sleeping a bit harsh. Water leaked through the roof and the wind blew through the chinks.

Birds at a glance: Baltic Gull, Imperial Eagle, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Collared Flycatcher - 141 kilometres of driving

As we rose in the morning, it was still very cloudy and showers kept falling now and then. The plan was to leave as soon as Rob and Kasper had seen the Three-toed Woodpeckers. But, after they had searched for some more hours in the rain and the weather did not seem to get any better, we decided to descend to the car and to drive south to our last stay in Poland.

The place we headed for is called Sromowce and is on the border with Slovakia. Sromowce is along the river Dunajec, which forms the exact border. The place can be reached by driving south towards Nowy Targ and then eastwards along the road 969. An exact route will need a good map, though.

Along the Dunajec, just west of Sromowce, we observed lots of Pontic Gulls. A Sparrowhawk and 3 Hobbies were hunting above the mountain slopes near the Dunajec. A Black Stork circled on the other site of the river, above Slovakia. A very interesting gull stood in the middle of the river: an adult Baltic Gull. This is a species that is very scarce in this region in summer. The idea was to rent a room in the youth hostel just east of Sromowce, but all rooms were occupied. Felix found us a very nice room in the middle of the village. The price was just about - 3.50 per person per night. Near the rooms we observed some Serins, a Sparrowhawk and tens of House Martins.

In the afternoon we had a warm meal at a local restaurant with a nice view on the Slovakian mountains on the other side of the Dunajec. At the restaurant, a Redstart was searching for food. A Black Stork was flying past the river and suddenly 2 large eagles were flying above the mountains on the Slovakian side of the river, and they did not look like the quite common Lesser Spotted Eagle! We left our food - which, by the way, was very good - and ran to the car to get our telescopes. The eagles turned out to be 2 fantastic Imperial Eagles, probably adult birds! For some minutes we were able to have quite good views of the birds, despite the distance.

After having finished our meals we drove westwards along the river Dunajec. Birds standing on the islands in the river include Common Tern and Pontic Gull. After a couple of minutes we arrived at a large artificial lake with a large dam. We drove past the dam to the other side of the lake. Here, we observed 2 Lesser Spotted Eagles, one of which flew round with a caught snake in its claws. Along the lake's coast, lots of Pontic Gulls were present. They breed on an island in the middle of the lake. Also, some 10s of Black-headed Gulls were present, as well as 10s of Great Crested Grebes. A couple of Hooded Crow was seen and lots of Fieldfares were in the fields. From a distance, we could hear a Collared Flycatcher call from a forest.

Near the lake, Felix knew a place to see hunting Eagle Owl in the dusk. As we arrived at the place, a beautiful Lesser Spotted Eagle was resting on the ground next to the car. We had some looks at the usually good spots for the owl, but the harsh wind probably made the owl stay away for that evening.

As we drove back to Sromowce, we stopped at a bus stop just west of Sromowce. Here, a large puddle on the roadside seemed good for amphibians. And indeed, here we found the beautiful Yellow-bellied Toad Bombina variegata. 3 animals were on the road and could be photographed; at least 3 others were calling from the ditch next to the road. In the fields north of the road a Quail was calling.

After we arrived in Sromowce, Felix proposed to go and search for Corncrake just east of the village. Here, a very aggressive male was present since spring. We parked the car and walked into the field where we heard the bird calling, accompanied by many glow-worms. Felix had a special technique to attract the male to within 2 metres, but as we put the flashlight on the bird it took of. Though, as it did, we were very well able to observe the bird flying for some seconds and observe the reddish wings and large legs.

We decided to stay for one more day and try for Wallcreeper, Three-toed Woodpecker and Capercaillie. Sleeping in a bed was a real comfort after the night in the mountain refuge.

Day 10: Monday, July the 7th, 2003: Pieninski NP - Babiogorski NP

Birds at a glance: Nutcracker, Collared Flycatcher - 171 kilometres of driving

In the morning we visited a place just east of the Sromowce village and walked along a track that leads into the Pieninski National Park for some hundred metres. The track leads through a gorge and this place should be good for finding Wallcreeper. But, our visit was in early July and the Wallcreepers usually attend the place from August onwards through the fall. So, we didn't see any Wallcreepers. We did observe 2 Nutcrackers, a Black Woodpecker and a Wood Warbler. Also at this spot, a singing Greenish Warbler had a territory in spring 2003. Now it was not to be found, though. On the fields between the park and Sromowce (the same spot as the one we saw the Corncrake the evening before) we heard 2 Corncrakes and a Quail.

At the end of the morning we drove to the Babiogorski National Park, which is about an hour driving from Sromowce. We drove through Nowy Targ and further west along the road 957. Along this road, Felix knows places for lekking Capercaillies in spring. Since it is almost impossible to find these birds in summer, we drove on towards the national park. As we arrived, the weather had turned from bright and warm into extremely humid. We were walking through the clouds, it seemed. Nevertheless we started the walk into the park. The entrance of the park cost 11 zloty per person. We walked along a track that leads towards a modest mountain restaurant. The track has a length of 7 kilometres and should be good for Three-toed Woodpecker, Caipercaillie and Hazel Grouse. The later species has a strong preference for a shrubby low vegetation in the forest and this forest is full of it. During our several hour walk to the restaurant and back we partly walked in the rain and didn't see one of the mentioned target species. Birds we did see include Ring Ouzel (2), Bullfinch (with one very tame bird within 1 metre!), a male Collared Flycatcher, Jay and about 5 Crossbills. In the restaurant we eat native Polish pancakes and had something warm to drink.

As we arrived at the car we drove back to our rooms and after a shower we went for something to eat in the same restaurant as the day before. This was our last evening with our guide and new friend Felix and we had a good drink to celebrate our trip together with him. After a good Polish dinner we went back to our rooms and went to sleep. Plan for the next morning was to bring Felix to Nowy Targ and to drive south through Slovakia to Hungary for the next stage in our bird trip.

Day 11: Tuesday, July the 8th, 2003: south of Nowy Targ - Hortobagy NP

Birds at a glance: Lesser Spotted Eagle, Red-footed Falcon - 483 kilometres of driving

This morning we took our time the get some extra and needed sleep. We started not very early, therefore. At 10 am we left the residence in Sromowce. First we drove to Nowy Targ to drop our guide and new friend Felix near the bus station. From there he would travel to his hometown Krakow. Our destination for today was Hortobagy, Hungary, so we hit the highway towards Slovakia. The directions to follow from Nowy Targ to the correct Hungarian border globally are as follows: Nowy Targ - Poprad - Presov - Kosice - Miskolc. To access some of the Slovakian highways, one is compelled to buy a vignette, which costs about - 3.50, payable in euros at the petrol stations. Furthermore, beware that it is not possible to cash money at the Slovakian/Hungarian border! There is only a possibility to change money into Hungarian money, although the signs on the door show Mastercard etc. logos.

Although we did not spent lots of time for birding in Slovakia, we did see some nice species that are worth mentioning. Along the road 67, between Spisska Bela and Kesmarok, we saw an adult Lesser Spotted Eagle, as well as one Aricia eumedon, a butterfly. Further along the road, we saw a Black Stork. Near the border with Hungary, one can find a petrel station. We found some Iphiclides podalirius, a big butterfly, and heard Quail over there. Also, about 3 kilometres before the border, there is a small village called Sena. Just north of it, there are some slopes west of the road. It is said that one can find Suslik Citellus citellus on these slopes. We did not find any, though. Maybe the grass was too tall or it might just have been a bad year for this funny little rodent.

From the border onwards, follow the road with number 3 to Miskolc. This road is good to drive, though still a 2-way road. Miskolc is the first city where you can cash money and buy food. You will find the large supermarkets along the main road, as it leads you through the centre of the city. Best is to make sure you get enough money, since the closest place near Hortobagy NP is Debrecen, 30 kilometres from it and no good to visit at all!

After Miskolc, we drove south along the road 3, and at Nyekladhaza we turned eastwards along the road 35 towards Tiszaujvaros and Debrecen. Directly after crossing the newly build highway M3 we turned to the right (south) towards Tiszacsege. After 19 kilometres, one arrives at a crossroad. Follow the road to the east in the direction of Balmazajvaros. Along this road, which is one of the best spots in Hortobagy, we already found some very cool species. Red-footed Falcon was the best. We saw at least 8 birds hunting and resting on the wires along this road, most near Balmazuvaros. Other nice birds were about 20 Great White Egrets, 15+ Marsh Harriers and small groups of Common Cranes.

But, as time forced us to find a suitable campsite, we moved on and stopped at a place along the mentioned road, for the map showed a campsite over there. You can find the place because of a small sign of a museum, as Michel Veldt told us. And indeed, the sign is very small. Michel Veldt wrote about this spot because of the Long-legged Buzzard that once bred there. We didn't find it by then, but we encountered the owner of the museum, who is a birder as well. He told us the Long-legged Buzzard was not at the mentioned spot this year. We should look along the road between Tiszacsege and Balmazujvaros near the 3km sign and the towers over there. Even better was his remark about a Steppe Eagle behind his house. He had just come back from Debrecen and was told that a sub-adult bird was seen for the last week or so!

We drove further to the next camping. According to our map, that was just east of the Hortobagy-village. And indeed, we found it. We decided to stay for a couple of nights. The price was very reasonable: about - 12.00 a day in total.

That evening, we observed our first Black-crowned Night-heron and heard some Golden Orioles.

Some remarks for the visitors to Hortobagy National Park: the one thing you should do immediately after your arrival is buying a map of the area and an admission card. With the latter, you are allowed to enter some special areas, which are otherwise prohibited. We paid 800 florins for a card for about a week. Apart from camping near the Hortobagy-village, you might as well stay at the small hotel at the same spot as the campsite.

Day 12: Wednesday, July the 9th, 2003: Hortobagy NP

Birds at a glance: Steppe Eagle, Imperial Eagle, Saker, Roller - 238 kilometres of driving

The first thing we did this morning was search for a place to get ourselves a decent map of the area. We arrived at the so-called bird clinic in the centre of the Hortobagy-village. Some very dedicated people recover injured birds over here, ranging from Steppe Eagles to Storks. Also, there was a small exhibition of the birds from the area showing some nice species, including the very rare Levant Sparrowhawk (male) that was once brought into the clinic. The bird had flown against a window of a flat at the nearby city Debrecen.

We bought a very good map (about euro 4.00) and went for the Steppe Eagle. The place can be reached as follows. From Hortobagy, drive east along the road 33 and follow the directions to Balmazujvaros. From there, drive in the direction of Tiszacsege (west) and leave the town by crossing a railroad. Being on the road to Tiszacsege in the northern part of the Hortobagy NP, look for the kilometre-signs along it. Between signs 9 and 10, just in front of a small forest, you can turn to the north onto a small asphalt-road. There is a sign that shows that the road is prohibited, though, and we heard about people being removed by the park rangers. Still, we drove the road towards the white-coloured farms that are visible. Just in front of them, we stopped and searched the surroundings.

The weather turned out to be very good: lots of sun and no clouds or whatsoever. Almost immediately, we found 2 Lesser Spotted Eagles, Crested Larks, Tawny Pipits, Lesser Grey Shrikes, Red-backed Shrikes, Wheatear, a male Red-footed Falcon, Golden Orioles, and the much wanted Saker. Unfortunately, the latter was only seen very quick and at a considerable distance. Suddenly, our full attention was drawn by a large Aquila rising from the forest just a few hundred metres east of the farms. Indeed, there it was! It was about 10 am when a beautiful Steppe Eagle showed itself just marvellous. As soon as the bird disappeared behind the farms, we got into the car and passed the farms. Remember, we where on forbidden ground! But, all farmers we encountered were very nice and waved friendly. After passing the farms, we arrived at a vast farmland, very much like a steppe-area. We found the Steppe Eagle on the ground. As we stayed in the car, we could observe and photograph the bird for about 10 minutes. We could see the gape behind the bill was reaching behind the eye, a good id-feature to separate the species from Tawny Eagle when perched. Then it suddenly flew up and circled above our heads for many minutes more, allowing us to take some more photographs. The bird still showed quite a light bar on the lower wing, giving us the idea of it being a 3rd or 4th summer bird. Then it took off to the east, not to come back very soon.

Still being in a small shock by this magnificent and umexpected rarity, and still being amused by two Lesser Spotted Eagles at the same spot, our attention was again much needed as a new aquila suddenly flew above the small forest on the west side of the road. The bird soared slowly in our direction. Wesley took his camera and made some photographs, but the light-conditions were not optimal for photography. As the bird flew above our heads, it turned out to be an Imperial Eagle, probably subad.

Butterflies found here include Pontia edusa, Plebeius argus, Lycaena dispar, Coenonympha pamphilus, C glycerion, and a Pyrgus sp.

So, that was a very, very, very good start in this fantastic national park.

Next, we drove back to the main road (between Balmazujvaros and Tiszacsege) and drove west. Along this road, we observed several Hoopoes, including 2 birds at the observation tower near kilometre-sign 3. These birds turned out to be at this spot every day. At the mentioned tower, we especially had our attention on the many buzzards, because the day before we were told that the area near the tower should be good for summering Long-legged Buzzard; a species that was very high on Rob's wish list for this vacation as it was a new species for him. Unfortunately, we didn't find one there and the heat didn't help either. Because of it, we could not get any good views of birds at a distance of more than 2 metres or so.

We drove further along to Tiszacsege (where one can find a nice supermarket) and from there to the south in the direction of Egyek. Near kilometre-sign 8 we found 2 Lesser Grey Shrikes and everywhere lots of Marsh Harriers and Tree Sparrows. Then we drove through Egyek and south towards Félhalom. The road between these two small towns turned out to be good for some species characteristic for the area. Again we saw Lesser Grey Shrike and now we also found a small colony of Bee-eaters just 50 metres east of the road in a small quarry-like gap. At least one family of these magnificent birds was still feeding young near the nest holes. Butterflies found here were lots of Colias erate, Melitaea phoebe and 2 Pyrgus armoricanus.

Following the road south we arrived at the main road 33 again. We drove it in the eastern direction and suddenly arrived at a very nice breeding colony of Red-footed Falcons. The place is easily found near kilometre-signs 52/53 and can further be recognised by a sign on the south side of the road showing KAPARO SCARDA 600M. Here, you will see a white-coloured farm north of the road with a small forest just behind it. In the forest lots and lots of Red-footed Falcons breed. We saw at least 50 birds at once, including adult males, adult females and 1st summer males. Other birds there include Tree Sparrow, Kestrel, Blue-headed Wagtail and a Lesser Grey Shrike. On the south site of the road we observed a foraging Roller feeding its young.

Again driving east along the road 33, we turned north near kilometre 62/63 in the direction of Ohat. This road leads through the so-called Egyek-Pusztakocs area, a group of fishponds not as popular as the well-known Halasto fishponds.  As the road crosses a small river, we parked the car to search the surroundings. We checked the nearby ponds and the river and found two Squacco Herons, a Little Egret, 5 Great Egrets, a Ferruginous Duck, a Pygmy Cormorant, some calling Penduline Tits, a Reed Bunting and a strange sound from the reed beds near the road which later turned out to be a contact call of the Savi´s Warbler. Also, we heard the calls of the Red-bellied Toad Bombina bombina near a small wooden house just 50 metres north of the road and just east of the river that is crossed by the road. Also, the first Orthetrum albistylum, a dragonfly, was seen here as well as another Pyrgus armoricanus.

After feeding ourselves, we drove to the famous Halasto fishponds. They can be easily reached by turning north from the mentioned main road 33 near kilometre 66. Just following the signs towards Hortobagy-halasto brings you there. You will cross a small railroad and afterwards directly turn left along a smelly fish factory. Behind the factory, one can park the car and follow the track by feet into the ponds. Note that one is obliged to carry the already mentioned admission card, which can be obtained at a museum in the Hortobagy-village, just near a bridge in the west.

The fishponds are very good fun. You can follow the track into them for about 7 kilometres and at the end you can also make an extra circle around one fishpond. All ponds are numbered. Beware: when you decide to walk into the ponds for a long time, you are to take lots of water with you for the heat and the absence of shadow in the afternoon will make you sweat a lot!

Following the track into the ponds, we constantly ran into birds such as Purple Heron, both egrets, Squacco Heron, Night Heron and quite some Little Bitterns. Also, we saw at least 6 Grass Snakes Natrix natrix in the small channel that is along the track and also along the railroads that leads far into the pond area. This channel is also the best place to see Orthetrum albistylum. Some Orthetrum brunneum were found there, too. Furthermore, we saw and heard tens of Savi's Warblers all around, as well as Sedge Warblers and Reed Warblers. The fishponds are also the place for seeing Pygmy Cormorant. We saw 6 on this day. Cormorants are also found. We were astonished by the number of Sand Martins. Above and around pond II we saw thousands and thousands flying and searching for a place in the reed to stay for the night. Also hundreds of House Martins and tens of Barn Swallows flew over the ponds.

This day, we did not walk further along the track then to pond II, because the day started to end and we figured out we could just be in time at the Saker spot we obtained from Michel Veldt. We drove there, but the drive took more time then we thought and it was quite dark as we arrived. Still, we found 4 birds near a nesting box in a large electricity pole. The place is reached as follows. Drive along the main road 33 west to Tiszafured and further west through Poroszlo and then after about 2 or 3 kilometres west of the latter town, the main road crosses large electricity cables above the road. Stop here and look at the 3rd pole to the north. This is where the nesting box is found.

Near this spot, Michel Veldt also observed Imperial Eagle, Lesser Spotted Eagle and Great Bustard at this same spot in the summer of 2000. Unfortunately, we were to late for any eagles. We did here a Quail, though.

Through the dark we drove back to the campsite and made ourselves something to eat.

Day 13: Thursday, July the 10th, 2003: Hortobagy NP

Birds at a glance: Pygmy Cormorant, Syrian Woodpecker, Steppe Eagle, Saker - 121 kilometres of driving

Little Grebe: 4 in pond Kondas
Great Crested Grebe: every pond
Cormorant: 100s
Pygmy Cormorant : about 50, mainly ponds II, III, IV and V
Little Bittern: about 10, including some seen resting in reed near pond VII
Night Heron: in total about 200, between ponds VI and VII at least 50 in trees
Squacco Heron: 10s to be found everywhere
Little Egret: 10s, mainly ponds V and Kondas
Great Egret: 100s, mainly last ponds
Purple Heron: 10s, everywhere
Grey Heron: 10s, mainly last ponds
White Stork: some near and behind ponds V and Kondas
Spoonbill: 10s, mainly ponds V and Kondas
Mute Swan: 4, pond III
Greylag Goose: 10s, every pond
Gadwall: 10s
Shoveler: every pond
Teal: 1, pond Kondas
Pochard: about 10
Ferruginous Duck: 3 flying by, pond II-III; 1 male, pond II - 1 probable 2nd cy on the ground, pond VI
Marsh Harrier: everywhere, about 40 in total
Hen Harrier: 1 male over parking place in the afternoon
Common Crane: about 50, behind pond Kondas
Avocet: about 50, pond
Black-winged Stilt: at least 5, pond VI
Grey Plover: 1, pond VI
Lapwing: 10s
Wood Sandpiper: 10s, pond VI
Green Sandpiper: about 10, pond VI
Common Sandpiper: only pond VI
Redshank: pond VI
Spotted Redshank: some 10s, ponds VI and Kondas
Black-tailed Godwit: 10s
Curlew: 100s, mainly ponds VI, V and Kondas
Ruff: about 150, pond VI
Yellow-legged Gull: about 20 adults and some imm., ponds V, VI and Kondas
Common Tern: everywhere
Black Tern: 10s, mainly pond Kondas
Whiskered Tern: about 25, mainly ponds V and Kondas
Kingfisher: 1 along track near pond II
Hoopoe: 2 near watching tower between ponds I and II
Great Spotted Woodpecker: 1, pond I
Sand Martin: 1000s, mainly pond II
Blue-headed Wagtail: 10s, mainly last ponds
Thrush Nightingale: adult and juv., pond I
Bluethroat: birds still singing and about 5 juv., between ponds  VI and VII
Whinchat: 1 family, east of pond VI
Sedge Warbler: very common, lots with young
Savi's Warbler: amazingly common, in total about 50
Reed Warbler: very common, lots with young
Marsh Warbler: only few, including 1 singing, pond III
Great Reed Warbler: especially around pond VI, in total about 15-20
Bearded Reedling: everywhere
Penduline Tit: everywhere, including male in nest along main track
Red-backed Shrike: 3 pairs in trees along main track
Hooded Crow: ponds VI and Kondas
Golden Oriole: some singing and showing very well near parking place
Tree Sparrow: common
House Sparrow: even more common
Reed Bunting: some, all ponds
Corn Bunting: 1 family, east of pond VI

Besides all those birds, some dragonflies were seen too. Like yesterday, lots of Orthetrum albistylum were seen. Other species we found were Ischnura elegans, Erythromma najas, Anax penelope, A imperator and 2 Sympetrum meridionale. Also some butterflies were seen: one Papilio machaon, Lycaena dispar, Plebeius argus and Issoria lathonia.

After this long time in the fishponds, we went to the campsite for lots of drinks and eating and a cold shower. We decided to go to the Steppe Eagle site this evening to see if the bird would show up before dark to go and rest in the forest again.

From the campsite, we drove the way as described before to the site. While driving out of Balmazujvaros, we crossed the mentioned rail road. Just near this crossing, some trees are along the road and the rail road. Over there, we observed our first Hungarian Syrian Woodpecker, a female. The bird stayed in the trees for some minutes and gave some splendid views. Then if flew to the other site of the road and disappeared.

We drove along to the Steppe Eagle site while enjoying some beautiful Red-footed Falcons, which over our few day stay in the national park always turned out to be along the road between Balmazujvaros and the Steppe Eagle site on the telephone cables.

At the Steppe Eagle site we immediately drove past the farms this time and some further along the road behind the farms than last time. This road turned out to be amazingly good for raptors. Indeed, we again observed the Steppe Eagle. The bird was on the ground once more. As it took off after some time, we searched the place the bird had been on the ground and found the remaining of a Grass Snake Natrix natrix, which apparently had just been eaten by the eagle. Also, the 2 Lesser Spotted Eagles were present, both of them probably being adults. As we drove further along the road, we found not less then 5 Sakers driving the 10s of Common Buzzards and the Hares Lepus capensis in the fields insane. Also, 3 Bee-eaters flew past. A butterfly that we found at this spot and didn't mentioned yet, is Melitaea phoebe.

The last place to visit that evening would be the watching tower near kilometre-sign 3 along the road between Balmazujvaros and Tiszacsege. We still had not found a sign of Long-legged Buzzard, and this time would not be any better. But, we did see a Roller, a Hoopoe, 6 Common Cranes and a male Lesser Grey Shrike.