While on a scheduled tour of Eastern Europe, I used a free day to hire a guide to go birding at Kiskunsag NP. I contacted Albert Laszlo (kopike@freemail.hu) through Birding pal.org and arranged for him to pick me up at my hotel near downtown Pest at 6AM.
The day was clear and cool, he was prompt, and we soon were at the location where the Saker Falcon was waking up on a high electric transmission tower. From here we proceeded to some alkaline flats near active dredging and ponds, while on the way there we found Cuckoo, Golden Oriole, White Stork, Red-backed Shrike and Goldfinch. The birds were active at the alkaline location in the early morning. Dominant were Black-headed Gulls with a couple Caspian and Mediterranean Gulls and many Common, Whiskered and White-winged Terns. Among them were 4 Collared Pratincoles, a Northern Wheatear, Eurasian Thick-knee, Lapwings and Skylarks. Raptors included Western Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, and two Imperial Eagles. Where the puszta grasslands began, 4 Great Bustards were found about 200 yards away. At 9AM the temperature was 70F, with sunny skies and no wind-Perfect!
During the late morning hours we drove to different areas and located several warblers (Sedge, Common Whitethroat, Grasshopper), the obligatory Bee-eater and Lesser Gray Shrike. A Little Owl was perched on a cross beam of a small house and a Eurasian Spoonbill was feeding in a small grassy pond nearby. Later, at a horse farm, a colony of Rooks also housed a few pairs of Red-footed Falcons that had recently set up housekeeping amongst the corvids. A Syrian Woodpecker was hammering on one tree close by and gave excellent looks.
At a small creek and marsh overlook, we found the nest of a Penduline Tit with adult carrying fluff to fill the round structure.
At our final stop at some fishponds about 3PM, we had time to study all the birds utilizing this habitat. Along with several egret species, one Little Bittern flew from one edge of the pond to another, giving good looks at the dark panels on the overall light wings. Here ducks, including the handsome Ferruginous Duck, Acrocephalus warblers and shorebirds including Black-tailed Godwit, Common and Spotted Redshank, Ruff, Wood Sandpiper and Greenshank were seen.
We left about 6PM and arrived back in Budapest about 7PM. I was completely satisfied with the tour that Albert arranged and the sites we visited. His guiding skills were spot on. The complete list of 83 species seen that day follows. Lifers for me are indicated with asterisk(*).
Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus
Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
Mute Swan Cygnus olor
Graylag Goose Anser anser
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
Garganey Anas querquedula
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina
Common Pochard Aythya ferina
Ferruginous Pochard Aythya nyroca
Gray Heron Ardea cinerea
Great Egret Ardea alba
Purple Heron Ardea purpurea
Little Bittern * Ixobrychus minutus
Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia
White Stork Ciconia ciconia
Western Marsh-Harrier Circus aeruginosus
Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus
Common Buzzard Buteo buteo
Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca
Eurasian Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus
Saker Falcon * Falco cherrug
Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus
Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus
Eurasian Coot Fulica atra
Great Bustard * Otis tarda
Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa
Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata
Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus
Common Redshank Tringa tetanus
Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia
Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola
Dunlin Calidris alpina
Ruff Philomachus pugnax
Eurasian Thick-knee Burhinus oedicnemus
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus
Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta
Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola
Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius
Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus
Caspian Gull * Larus cachinnans
Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus
Mediterranean Gull Larus melanocephalus
Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybridus
White-winged Tern Chlidonias leucopterus
Black Tern Chlidonias niger
Common Tern Sterna hirundo
Common Wood-Pigeon Columba palumbus
European Turtle-Dove Streptopelia turtur
Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus
Little Owl * Athene noctua
European Bee-eater Merops apiaster
Syrian Woodpecker * Dendrocopos syriacus
Eurasian Green Woodpecker Picus viridis Eurasian
Jackdaw Corvus monedula
Rook Corvus frugilegus
Eurasian Golden-Oriole * Oriolus oriolus
Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio
Lesser Gray Shrike * Lanius minor
Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata
European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola
Northern Wheatear * Oenanthe oenanthe
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Grasshopper Warbler * Locustella naevia
Savi's Warbler * Locustella luscinioides
Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
Eurasian Reed-Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus
Great Reed-Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus
Wood Warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla
Greater Whitethroat Sylvia communis
Great Tit Parus major
Eurasian Penduline-Tit Remiz pendulinus
Sky Lark Alauda arvensis
Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus
Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava
Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris
European Greenfinch Carduelis chloris
European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis
Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus
Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra