Gyöngybagolyvédelmi Alapítvány

Ambios Ltd. (UK) and the BOF (Hungary) were recently successful with an application to the EU Leonardo Mobility Programme to host three volunteers (Matt Cook, Phillipe Metcalfe, Mike Cooke) from the UK for six weeks in Hungary. The main objectives of this international co-operation is to support participants in training and further training activities, in the acquisition and the use of knowledge, skills and qualifications to facilitate personal development, employability and participation in the European Labour Market.BOF/Ambios 6 Week Leonardo Mobility Voluntary Experience – Hungary

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Diary by Matt Cook, Philipe Metcalfe and Mike Cooke

WEEK ONE

We arrived in Budapest late Monday after a good flight from Bristol. We had a bite to eat in Budapest and spent our first night in a nice central hostel. We headed down to Nagykanisza on the train mid-morning, and then on to Orosztony on the local bus. Arriving mid-afternoon, we familiarised ourselves with our home for the next 6 weeks, along with meeting Akos our BOF leader and his ‘enthusiastic’ dog Kobor.

Day 3: At 09:00 on Wednesday we headed off to a Natura2000 protected site – Dél-Zalai Homokvidék. It was unique as it was almost a grassy sand dune environment surrounded by woodland. As soon as we stepped out of Ákos’s 4WD Suzuki Jimny, we found a wild boar tusk (Sus scrofa), a small nest, and various interesting plants including possibly Iris arenaria.

From here we headed off to Surd, Jankapuszta to hopefully catch a glimpse of Europe’s largest raptor, the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). On the way we spotted a common buzzard (Buteo buteo), a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and over 100 school-children picnicking in the woods (Strangeous occurenceous)! We viewed 2 eagles’ nests and through telescopes could clearly see an eagle in each nest going about its eagle business, possibly feeding a chick. Amazing. The first time Phil and I had seen such a thing. We also saw further buzzards and heard woodpeckers.

White-tailed eagle spotting at the edge of an orchard: On the way back we stopped to do a quick survey for a very rare blue marsh frog (Rana arvalis). Unfortunately we didn’t find one although we did find a ‘bark-hat’ for Akos, a leach, and Phil threw himself off a log. Later, we headed to Nagykanizsa Forest to look for Hepatica nobilis, Daphne mezereum, and Ruscus hypoglossum. We’d been keeping a lookout for snowflake species all day (genus – Leucojum). We saw all except the snowflake and Ákos recorded them with his GPS receiver. We also saw various violets, primrose and Anemone ranunculoides, along with a few storks’ nests, probably black stork (Ciconia nigra) but no people – which was great! Ákos also made us try a tiny bit of a subspecies of lords-and-ladies (Arum maculatum) – our lips and tongues hurt for some time! Overall a fantastic first day and it bode really well for the next 6 weeks.

Day 4: Mike and Ákos were meeting to discuss the schedule first thing today so Phil and I could lie in. However shortly before 9am Mike got a call from Ákos for us to get ready quickly as an owl needed rescuing ASAP! We reached the owl at about 10:15. Basically a road worker had found a long-eared owl (Asio otus) dazed on the floor and had gone to extraordinary lengths to report it, calling a local radio station who had contacted the National Park Service who had contacted Ákos. He had waited with the owl for us to arrive for around 2 hours! The owl thankfully had no physical injuries, and appeared healthy although somewhat sluggish perhaps having been hit by a vehicle. We thanked the guy and transported the owl back to Ákos’s outbuilding safely, hoping and expecting him to make a good recovery. In the afternoon, we put up a few nestboxes in trees around Ákos’s and our land, for songbirds, spacing them at least 20m apart and facing different aspects. We gave one to our friendly Ukrainian neighbour and her husband for International relations! Later we started to build some stork and raptor nests from branches in Ákos’s orchard, whilst Kobor made a nuisance of himself. We extracted a giant tick from Kobor, the first of many like a large yoghurt raisin!

Day 5: This morning was a (nut) search for suitable places around Orosztony for the dormouse tubes, due to be sent out, to learn more about the local population and dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) ecology generally. We spent about 3 hours looking but unfortunately didn’t locate any hazel although we did come across a beautiful yellowhammer (Emberiza citronella), field eryngo (Eryngium campestre), some dreaded Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), and a dismantled Trabant! After lunch we did a nut search amongst the hazel in our garden. There was evidence of nuts gnawed by small mammals and squirrels but probably not dormice. A bird had already started building a nest (moss) in one of the erected nest boxes and we also found a goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) feather.
In the evening we set off to a catholic church in nearby Felsörajk to hopefully see a barn owl (Tyto alba). We met Ákos’s BOF assistant; Csaba and Ákos’s tenant; Előd, and we picked up a young lad; Gergő, who is very interested in nature and owls, and is looking after an injured tawny owlet (Strix aluco).
After passing a few tasty pigeon carcasses, at the top of the tower was a man-made nestbox. Unfortunately the barn owls had temporarily fled as we ascended, but we collected some pellets for analysis later. There was an old barn owl carcass on the floor unfortunately. On the way down we checked the loft void above the church chamber for any evidence of barn owls and we found a massive amount of bat droppings over 2cm deep at some points and spread over almost the entire large loft, suggesting a large former colony.

After having a look at Gergő’s injured tawny owl, we headed to the outskirts of nearby Kilimán to a known rookery (Corvus frugilegus) for dusk, to play sound recordings of long-eared owls in the hope of eliciting a response. We received replies from a breeding pair calling to each other and one swooped right over us as a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) barked in the distance. After we’d finished it was back to Ákos’s to socialise over a few beers, wine, ouzo, International cards and Jenga, with it ending 1-1.

Day 6: My first job of the day was to yank a tick that had feasted on Phil’s back! Nice! Once in the garden for the mistnetting and birdringing, Robert showed us how to erect the 4 nets and explained the methodology of Constant Effort Surveying – checking each net at least every hour to prevent distress for the birds and lessen the risk of predation by raptors and cats, and also improving the chance of variety.
After an hour, we headed to the first mistnet. A 6-bird bonanza! A pair of blue tits (Parus caeruleus) – insert joke here, a great tit (Parus major) – insert another joke as required, a marsh tit (Parus palustris), a long-tailed tit – not really a tit! (Aegithalos caudatus), and a dunnock (Prunella modularis).
Apart from the above species we also found a blackbird (Turdus merula), a chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), a couple of robins (Erithacus rubecula) – one with a couple of nasty ticks which we removed, and most impressive of all was a greater spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major). It made a hell of a racket as Robert untangled it. They were all up close and we got some great photos. Kobor seemed particular taken with the woodpecker. Whilst travelling between the nets, Gergyho managed to catch a common lizard (Lacerta vivipara), and a slowworm (Anguis fragilis). At dusk we collapsed the nets so as not to catch any birds (or even bats) overnight and then we headed in for tea ready for an early night and early morning start.

Day 7: This morning the clocks had ‘sprung’ forward as at home and this had led to some confusion as to what time to get up. To cut a long story short, we were up 2 hours early! Robert and Chouba had opened the nets and we expected our first ‘catch’ to be good. However upon checking the first net, we spotted 3 possibly stray Alsatians making a hasty exit. Not good, as they had disturbed the birds. The weather was light rain too so not a fruitful morning – only a black Cap (Sylvia attricapilla), another chaffinch, and another dunnock. We still learnt a heck of a lot from Robert though as well as enjoying a shot of home-made Ouzo (from his trip to Greece) at 7.55am! In the afternoon was owl pellet analysis. None of us had done this before and it was fascinating if a tad gruesome at first. Robert and Ákos showed us how to identify different parts of mammal remains, and then the mammal itself from the regurgitated pellets. After a few hours we had learnt loads. After this Ákos, Mike, Phil and I went over the initial plans for the owl sanctuary that we will be building during our stay. It seemed a lot of work but will be well worth it in the end!

Week 2

Day 8: Today was the day we met the first Hungarian volunteer to join the team. We picked up Jutci, a 21 year old biology student, in Nagykanizsa in the morning not long after she’d arrived by bus. Full of gear and carrying a monstrous bag she clambered into the car and we scooted over to the shopping area to pick up food supplies and a few things for around the house then returned to Orosztony. In the afternoon we met up with Akos at his place and ran over potential sites for the aviary. After some consideration we decided on a certain patch and orientation that would benefit the owls with both protection from the weather and possible threats provided by good tree canopy cover. With the aid of some ropes and a few sticks the area was marked out ready for the build. On a sadder note we were informed by Akos that the long eared owl, rescued only a few days ago, had died after a reluctance to eat.

Day 9: After finalising the location of the aviary yesterday the first job was to select and prepare the timber supports for the whole building. We transported around 20 very large false acacia lengths to an area by Akos’s house where we stripped them of their bark and burnt a meter length at one end. Burning the ends of the timber before they’re submerged into ground gives them a little extra resistance to damp and fungi. We lit the fire for burning the supports around 5pm and a few obligatory beers and some barbeque action ensued! Of course with any plan to bbq food outside the rain joined in but come 10 o’clock we had just about finished burning all of them and a smokey but well fed and nicely relaxed team of four returned home for a much needed sleep.

Day 10: Most of the morning was taken up with proof reading a document containing English subtitles for a barn owl foundation video that was filmed in Serbia. Later that day we set out with Akos to visit a couple of sites where successful barn owl boxes were in place. The first was in a church tower in the small village of Zalaszabar. Once we had ascended the many unconvincing spire ladders we were met with a barn owl box full of fresh prey items and at least one owl had been recorded flying away when we approached it. Amongst the small mammals were voles, shrews and mice. Our second destination was a small community centre in Blatonmagyarnod. In a loft space at the far end of building there was an owl box containing fresh pellets, a few kills and two eggs! We were very careful not to damage or disrupt the eggs, that were luckily nestled far from the box hatch, and proceeded to remove a the thick layer of matted pellets and guano that had accumulated over some time. Once completed, a hasty retreat left the nesting box as best undisturbed as possible. Before heading home to Orosztony Akos took us to a marshy area not far from Kis Balaton that the National park had some interest in acquiring. It was a great area for bird life and we spotted chiff chaff, marsh tit, lesser spotted woodpecker, cormorants, great white egrets, marsh harrier, sparrow hawk and buzzard. There were also many invertebrate species, amphibians and the odd distant elusive deer.

Day 11: More aviary work was required this morning so we started to dig out the corner points where the aviary support poles where going using a couple of shovels and a fantastic old earth drilling device. It made perfect cylindrical holes in the ground but some extra exertion had to be implemented once we hit the clay layer! After lunch we drove to an area of woodland not far from Orosztony to investigate the presence of hazel trees and possible dormouse populations. Several nuts were found that matched the identifying gnaw marks of dormouse but extra verification would be needed to establish that they were in fact from dormice and not another Hungarian mouse species. Whilst walking through the forest we saw a slow worm, yellow hammer, buzzard and possibly a black woodpecker far in the distance. In a section of clearing we saw roe deer but the sighting was fleeting as always. A very pleasant afternoon in the forest was finished off nicely with a meal at the Kis Balaton restaurant where the food is cheap and delicious, life doesn’t get much better.

Day 12: We said our goodbyes to Juci this morning and returned to digging the holes and placing the uprights into position. This took most of the day. At around 3 o’clock our second lodger arrived by the name of Zolly, a computer programming student with a very capable eye for bird spotting. He helped us with the digging and an extra hand on the job was gratefully received. We caught sight of some greater spotted and green woodpecker during the day and the ever present chatter of the songbirds was a nice addition.

Day 13: Large central poles were needed for carrying the apex of the building and netting section of the aviary so all hands were sent to the orchard for tree selection. After picking out four enormous false acacia trunks we were left with the unenviable task of getting them back to Akos’s. 1 trolley, 5 men, 4 trips across 100 meters of rough undulating orchard and a scorching sun – 5000 litres of sweat. A hearty Hungarian lunch and plenty of juice to drink at the end of it all – priceless! We stripped the bark and as only four poles needed treating we heated up some bitumen and coated the ends rather than getting a fire burning. Once the ends had been treated and the main supports were all in the general shape of the structure was becoming apparent. At approximately 7pm we arrived at a friend of Akos’s, a young student called Gorgo, who had built a pole box for barn owls and needed a hand erecting it into place. Like a familiar scene from a famous American period of warfare we all battled to get the pole upright and succeeded! Later that evening a few people came over to ours and some beer and barbequed food was enjoyed around a fire late into the night. Funny conversations, feet on fire and a certain cheeky dog attempting to steal food all added to the merriment.

Day 14: With slightly fuzzy heads and an aversion to sunlight we made our way to Akos’s to continue working on the owl sanctuary. We fitted horizontal supports along the poles of the building section on both sides in preparation for the cross beams and roof rafters. It was another glorious spring day in Hungary and with the temperature nice and high and an early finish we were all able to enjoy the late afternoon sun and do a spot a bird watching.

WEEK FOUR

Day 22: Over this Easter weekend, Ákos, Mike and Ambios had kindly agreed that Phil and I could have a long weekend off. Phil had headed off to Slovenia (with a bit of Croatia thrown in) for 3 days, and I had headed back to Budapest to meet my girlfriend, Lisa. We had an amazing time exploring Budapest in glorious sunshine, saw some great sites, had some great food, took plenty of photos, and generally basked in the culture of this underrated beautiful city. Today we were going our separate ways again and said goodbye at about 3pm with me heading for the train back to Nagykanisza and Lisa heading back to Nottingham. I had a largely uneventful train journey back soaking up the views of Lake Balaton, until a very drunk but very friendly Hungarian guy boarded about an hour and a ½ into the journey and decided to sit next to me. Even though I only knew about 4 words in Hungarian, he insisted on talking to me non-stop for the next hour and a ½! Much to the frustration of the other passengers! He even asked for my number (I made one up) and nearly missing his stop, jumped off the train whilst it was moving! Overall all went to plan getting back to Nagykanisza and I even made it across town for the bus in time. However it turned out because it was a bank holiday it wasn’t running so thankfully Phil and Mike came and picked me up and we were all back at the lodge around 11pm after our weekends apart.

Day 23: Ákos was away this week preparing for his PhD defence back in Budapest. We had a few tasks to complete, the first being to construct trapdoors for nestboxes in the 2 churches. The trapdoors are to be dropped (in a few weeks) via rope from below, once the barn owls are in the nestboxes, so that the owls can be radio-tagged.
We picked Gerrgho up and headed to Pecsa to pick up some rope and bits. We arrived at the church in Felsörajk around 11am and set about constructing the trapdoor to the nestbox. We had to leave the tower temporarily before the bells went off at midday but by 12.30 we had done and it worked fine. Phil, Gergő and Mike in the Felsörajk church tower ready to install the first trapdoor. After this, Gerrgho showed us a marshy area in Felsörajk where we saw a marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus) circling closely, 3 water snakes (Natrix natrix), different frogs and interesting insects such as a tiny spider with enormous disproportionate front legs! After lunch, we were to help Gergő finish putting the base on his pole nestbox in his garden. This became somewhat more complicated than we expected however and a job Gergő thought would take ½ an hour or so, ended up taking over 3 hours and we still didn’t get it quite finished! We left at sunset to return at the weekend! Later that night, although it was a bit cold, I popped out with the bat detector for half an hour and although it was pretty quiet as expected, I did hear my first bats of 2009 (common pipistrelles – Pipistrellus pipistrellus).

Day 24: This morning we arose about 7.30 and headed off to Nagykanisza to do our Tesco shopping. After that we were waiting on a call from Ákos to attend Zalaszabar church to install the second trapdoor. Bizarrely we lost mobile phone signals when we needed them and eventually got the call, belatedly, to scramble around 2pm. At the church tower, Phil waited outside to see if any barn owls departed and Mike climbed up quietly to check if there were any eggs. Two barn owls departed as Mike ascended and there was quite a clutch of 6 or 7 so we called Ákos for advice. He said as long as we were as quick as possible (it looked easier than yesterday and we had a little experience now) and no longer than half an hour max, then it should be OK as it was a warm day. Obviously we were to be very careful of the eggs. After 20 minutes or so we got a pretty good trapdoor in operation and left the tower thanking the priest for his cooperation. On the way home we checked out some lovely views of Kis-Balaton and the evening was spent relaxing.

Day 25: Today we were back into the Natura2000 site (sandy grassland) of Dél-Zalai Homokvidék that we visited on our first full day. Our task was to GPS map any areas of illegal sand extraction, rubbish dumps, and other animals or plants of interest, take photos, and take notes. We GPS’d a lot of sand excavation spots, and also spotted many very beautiful green lizards (Lacerta viridis) as well as many common lizards (Lacerta vivipara). One green lizard actually dropped its tail when we tried to release it from a carrier bag! We took photos and notes of the iris’s we previously saw and also spotted several red deer (Cervus elaphus) throughout the day, as well as several common buzzards, a swallowtail butterfly (Papilionidae) with its body devoured, a tree burnt by lightning, and a digging frog (Pelobates fuscus) in a well. Once we’d finished surveying we headed home, stopping in Gelse to buy a large bottle of beer each! I spotted a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in our orchard that evening and also popped out with the bat detector after dusk, hearing an improvement of 8 or 9 pipistrelles and a myotis species on this warmer night.

Day 26: Today was to be working on the owl sanctuary up at Ákos’s as well as a couple of jobs at the Ambios pad. Mike and Phil worked on the sanctuary and as it wasn’t really a three-man job I volunteered to make the fence and gate around the Ambios residence secure, as some sheep were to be arriving in the near future. A stone chat kept me company in a nearby tree, and the weather was very English today with showers starting, then some sunshine, a thunderstorm, and wind. Although unlike England it didn’t actually properly chuck it down! I was working on the gate and fence until early evening, as were Mike and Phil on the aviary, making some good progress getting the rafters in place.

Day 27: Today was another day working on the owl sanctuary. We had a little lie in and once up there Mike began the arduous task of digging a hole for yet another post, this time for the internal mini-aviary. Meanwhile Phil started cutting out the rafters and I aligned some string to ensure the 5 rafters on each side would line up. We nailed some temporary planks to the crossbeams to make moving around up there easier and safer. In the afternoon, we continued cutting and positioning the rafters (and got 7 out of 10 done) whilst Mike worked down below on the holes all the while being ‘lovingly’ harassed by Kobor. At around 17:00 we decided to call it a day and get a couple of cold beers in from the bar opposite Ákos’s. After tea we watched a couple of quality episodes of ‘Flight of the Conchords’ on Phil’s laptop and then the remake of ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ – pretty awful. As we headed to bed Mike heard loud, distinct birdsong outside and it turned out to be a nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) that had taken up residence very near our house. Mike also however had the misfortune to find a massive stunned hornet next to his bed!

Day 28: This morning we needed to be at Gerrgho’s house in Felsörajk for 10am to (hopefully!) finish his pole nestbox and also deliver some frozen mice for the tawny owlet. Unfortunately things didn’t go to plan again and we forgot the mice (D’oh!), the screwdriver went flat, and we needed more screws. So we vowed to return later. We headed off to OBI (the Hungarian B&Q) and Tesco’s in Nagykanisza, as we needed some bits from both, and were back in Orosztony for about 2:30pm. At about 3pm Phil and I headed up to the sanctuary to finish securing the last 3 rafters and digging the last 2 holes. At about 4.30pm Mike joined us as we finished, we got 30 mice from the freezer, and set off to Gerrgho’s in Felsörajk. As we arrived, Mike realised that somehow between the 3 of us, we had managed to forget the mice! It didn’t really need all 3 of us to help Gerrgho so I nipped back to Orosztony to get them, in the hope Kobor hadn’t got there first! Mike and Phil helped Gerrgho and 10 minutes after I successfully returned with the mice at the third attempt, the pole nestbox was complete, at last! As a celebration, we had a glass of his fizzy peach pop stuff and his Mum very kindly bought us out some homemade goodies in a basket, and some home-grown potatoes and onions.

Week 5

Day 29: After a very welcome lie in Matt and myself decided to take a short trip to a thermal lake in the town of Heviz. Situated just north of the southern tip of Lake Balaton, Heviz benefits from warm upwelling’s that occur due to subterranean volcanic activity and provides locals and tourists with the opportunity to bathe in mineral rich warm water (33 degrees centigrade). We arrived around midday and bought a three hour pass to the spa. The weather was typically Hungarian (beautiful and sunny) and we found a nice spot to go for a dip and to lounge around in the sun. At half three’ish we left the spa and went for a look around the town. There wasn’t much in the way of attractions other than souvenir shops and countless market stalls selling women’s swimwear?! Not quite what Matt and I were looking for but none the less the town had some interesting architecture and a church that defies categorisation. Later that evening we swung by the house in Orosztony and picked up Mike before heading over to Zalaszabar to watch the twilight activity of barn owls we knew to be occupying the church there. Just as the light was almost fully gone one of the owls flew out over our heads only to return to the spire just minutes later. Shortly after this it set off again at which point we decided we’d seen enough for the night and drove home.

Day 30: On a day when Matt and I possibly needed our binoculars the most two broken pairs lay redundant on the coffee table. Luckily, Akos was able to grab a pair from the bird research centre as we were on the way to Kis Balaton. As we headed into the joint Natura 2000 and RAMSAR site we were relieved he managed to as the area was teeming with bird life. We parked up next to an old sluice gate and upon closer inspection we noticed there were hundreds of frogs trapped within its confines. They were all the same breed but some probable inter breeding had led to a vast array of colours and patterns within the group.
The road we set off walking along was a single elevated track that ran directly into the heart of the marsh and terminated at its far end with a fast flowing ford. Along the route we saw many marsh harriers, a few egrets and a gaggle of geese in the very distance with some fluffy youngsters in tow. About a quarter of the way along the track we turned right onto a small island of wet woodland that opened out into a football pitch size clearing. A large old barn and traditional cattle herders hut sat innocuously in this natural area. The house belonged to a Hungarian novelist who wrote many nature stories whilst residing in it. Back on the main path we continued walking towards the end spotting (and hearing) many bird species as we went. Not far from the end we climbed a large viewing tower giving us fantastic views across the marsh in almost all directions. From this vantage point we watched some incredible aerobatic displays courtesy of marsh harriers and two hobby. Countless duck, grebe, cormorant and great white egret were enjoying the tranquillity of the marsh too. Back in the car we drove to a different area of Kis Balaton and stumbled across a pole cat acting very odd by the side of the road. We attempted to take a closer look but once we were stood over the little thing it spooked and bolted off into the reed. Further along we spotted a purple heron, a yellow wagtail and a roe deer. We dropped by a sand martin cliff for a few minutes to watch the captivating display of so many excitable little birds before driving to meet our final Hungarian visitor for the stay. We met up with Zolly and returned to Kis Balaton for the final time that day before journeying home and managed to catch a glimpse of a kingfisher looking for dinner. Further across the marsh there was a colony of common gulls and more greylag geese ushering there young into the water. This had to be one of the best days for wildlife spotting anyone could have.

Day 31: Mike left long before any of us were up this morning to meet a botanist with Akos at a Natura 2000 sit near Nagykanizsa. When Matt, Zoli and I finally woke we had some breakfast and strolled up to the aviary. Batons needed to measured and fitted on the aviary today in preparation for the roofing tiles going on. Whilst Zolly and I went about fixing the batons Matt decided to secure the gate that connected an area of land adjoining our land that Kobor had a knack of sneaking through. Mike and Akos are planning to have some sheep in to munch some of the vegetation at some point so anything designed to keep Kobor out would surely keep sheep in! By around 6 in the afternoon all the batons were on, Matt had fixed the gate (and seen a grass snake in the process) and it was time to call it a day. Not a terribly exciting day but a productive one.

Day 32: The plan as of last night was to wake up and leave the house by 6:30am to monitor a few barn owl nest sites. The weather had other ideas. Akos explained that it wasn’t a good idea to disrupt nest sites on such a rainy day as the eggs would need incubation so we opted for a morning of buying in some food from the supermarket and then staying at home diary writing and generally pottering. By 3ish in the afternoon the skies had cleared a little and we drove to Széviz-Principalis Csatorna, a Natura2000 site, to conduct some bird monitoring. On the way we secured a scops owl box high in a tree as part of a new initiative to introduce secure nesting sites in local areas. With the owl box firmly in place we made our way to to the bird monitoring site. We entered the site down a muddy track, which Suzi (the Suzuki) got well and truly stuck in a few times before parking up, and walked into an open area that was flooded for most of the winter but reasonably dry now. There was quite a bit of bird activity. A few great white egrets and stalks were foraging for food on the ground whilst a kestrel hovered in the vicinity and further in the distance a lapwing paraded its flying capabilities swooping up and down whilst hunting. A nice moment was caught when two cuckoos were in the midst of a mating ritual, sadly not to last as they flew out of view. By around 7:30 the temperature had dropped sufficiently to warrant our departure but not before Suzi got stuck in the mud one last time.

Day 33: Ouch! Had a run in with some South American booze last night and was feeling a wee bit sorry for myself today. During my mid morning malaise Mike and Matt went to Kis Balaton with Akos to meet up with some birders from England. They had a very productive visit spotting white tailed eagles and a sparrowhawk. Upon their return I had managed to scrape myself into action and after some lunch we continued with the owl sanctuary project. The afternoon was spent measuring and fixing boards for the upper area floor and the supports that carry them. As the last nail was driven in I was relieved to get home and collapse.

Day 34: The long awaited day of tiling the aviary roof came about today and as you can imagine it wasn’t the most of gripping events. Still, there was a quiet sense of satisfaction amongst all of us that the structure we had put some considerable blood, sweat and beers into would finally be sound and dry within. Akos was around until midday in which time we fixed the guttering brackets and began carefully hooking and linking one tile to another and so on. I had the rather privileged job of tiling whilst the awards for ‘just getting on with it‘ go to Mike and Matt for removing centuries of lichen from every roof tile before it could be used. Just shy of tiling to the ridge we called it a day and seeing as it was Saturday night we headed over to Kis Balaton restaurant to meet up with Akos for some lovely grub. Mightily full Matt and I squeezed in pancakes for dessert because they’re just too good.

Day 35: As it was Sunday we all made the joint decision to have a breather from all the adventures and hard work of late and go on a tour of an area north of the southern end of Lake Balaton. After an enjoyable sunny morning drive Mike, Matt, Akos, Caty and I arrived at Szigligeti castle. The short and steep path that led to the castle would have done us in if not for the marvellous attraction that lay at the top. The castle had been badly damaged through centuries of battle and weathering but most of the original walls remained standing. There was a lot of information detailing the former appearance of this magnificent structure and some discreet restoration had been undertaken.

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