Gyöngybagolyvédelmi Alapítvány

Project Diary by Fiona, Bill & Bev

24th May

We were met by Ákos at the station, who drove us back to Orosztony. It was good to finally arrive after our long exhausting journey. One the way back we ate at a local restaurant – Kis Balaton, our first taste of Hungarian cuisine was great. Ákos gave us a tour of the cottage and his house and garden. We went for a walk around the village with Mike and Balázs and then sat around outside drinking beers in the sun. Bill and Balázs made a dog trap to try and catch the dog that had killed and eaten one of Ákos’ sheep. Went to bed pretty early as we were all feeling knackered.

25th May

We went to Nagykanizsa with Ákos to do a weekly shop. We bought fruit from the local market, good to practice a bit of Hungarian with the locals. In the afternoon Mike gave us an introduction to radiotracking; We went out to the church tower in Felsőrajk to tag the owl pair that last year’s cohort tracked, but  we only found the female with no chicks (the intention was to tag a pair of owls that had chicks in the nest). We tagged her and another female from a nearby water tower who had chicks in the nest, but there was no sign of the male there. We later found the male from the church tower dead in some cow sheds on a local farm. In the evening Ákos took us out on a corncrake survey. It was a lovely bright evening with thunderstorms in the distance but a lot of mosquitos were out. We heard a few corncrakes which we detected by rubbing two combs together to mimic their call. We heard a rare Scops owl which Ákos was very pleased about. Then the thunderstorms caught up with us so we retreated back to Orosztony.

Weds 26th May

We got up early and went with Ákos to a large wetland site called Mórichely where there is a white-tailed eagle nest. We saw one of the eagles in its nest and watched it fly around the trees. We drove around the wetland site where there are 7 large artificial lakes designed for carp fishing but which make an excellent habitat for birds. We conducted a bird survey which involves counting the number of bird species found on each lake. In the evening we went out on another corn crake survey, didn’t hear any corncrakes but did see a family of wild boars crossing the road right in front of us.

Thursday 27th May

This morning we went to Felsőrajk to have a look at some of the fixed points in the village. In the afternoon Fiona and Bill had a ‘driving lesson’ with Balázs in the Suzuki, it was strange driving on the other side of the road. After dinner Ákos gave us a presentation about owls, it was useful to learn more about owl biology. Later in the eveing we went out with Mike to the water tower and tracked the female for a while to give us some  practice with the radio telemetry kit.

Friday 28th May

This morning we went to Felsőrajk to find more good fixed points from which we can track the owls when they leave the water tower. We spent the afternoon doing some maintenance up at the aviary; cutting down over-grown branches and cleaning up a bit. In the afternoon we drove to Nagykanizsa to collect Ákos’s friend Robert from the train station. We went to a local school to rescue some long-eared owl chicks that had fallen out of their nest. We had to hold the chicks for a while up in the attic of the school while Akós was sorting out their nest. They were covered in lice and we ended up getting lice crawling all over us which was really unpleasant but the situation improved when we were treated to an icecream later. Drove back to Orosztony, then sat around the fire with some beers – a great way to end the day!

Saturday 29th May

We had a pellet analysis session in the morning with Robert, and examined some tiny shrew skulls and jaws. We went to Keszthely and had a stroll around the town and a beer by the lake. In the afternoon we went for a swim at the thermal baths at Heviz which are the largest in Europe, the radioactive water is supposed to be very good for you!. We came home and made dinner quickly, then went back out to the water tower to try and tag the male bird but he was not there. After standing around for a while both birds returned to the tower together and were obviously quite freaked out by us all waiting for them outside their nest; they were making loud screeching sounds and wheeling around us overhead. They didn’t return again after that, so after a couple of hours of waiting we returned home. Me, Mike, Bill and Bev went to the Presszo up the road for a couple of drinks, where we were chatted up by the locals we named ‘Pervy’, and ‘Flathead’ and played some songs on the massive blaring jukebox in the corner. Came home after a few drinks and fell asleep on the sofa.

Sunday 30th

We had the day off today. Did some washing in a bucket outside and chatted to Mike about the radiotracking. It rained. And then rained some more..

Monday 31st

We had a Hungarian lesson and a meeting with Ákos first thing. We were stuck inside most of the day doing research for our presentations. More rain. Went for a walk down to the woods just to get out of the house but got caught in a thunderstorm and made a tactical retreat before too long. The weather has turned really cold and wet, feels a bit like cabin fever is setting in from being stuck indoors. Ended up having quite an unproductive day. Sat around in the evening with everyone having a few beers, looking at random stuff under the microscopes.

Tues 1st June

Still wet and cold today. Working up at Ákos’s  house stripping a big false acacia log to be made into a post for a nestbox, helping to make a nest box, and sorting out a massive pile of wet wood and putting it into the attic of the barn for storage. Also cleaned up a couple of the old sheds to make a new enclosure for the geese. Nice to have a productive day. In the evening we couldn’t go out tracking because of the rain and we still haven’t managed to tag the elusive male bird. Weather still cold and wet.

Weds 2nd June

In the morning Fi sorted through the paper maps of Felsőrajk in order to make a large map of all our fixed points in the village. Bev went to Nagykanizsa to do some more food shopping. Fi and Bill then went up to the workshed to do some more tidying. In the evening we went out to Felsőrajk to practice some radiotracking in the rain. We spotted that an owl (which we assumed was a new male) was visiting the female in the church tower. Came back to the house after an hour or so and sat around drinking Unicum and eating chocolate. Still very heavy rain today.

Thursday 3rd June

Today we went out to Felsőrajk to verify some anomalous fix points. Bev and Fi were carrying the tag and Bill and Mike were trying to get a fix on the girls. Fi and Bev ended up trekking through some extremely dense, thorny, nettley woods and a mosquito ridden swamp and oil seed rape field, after which they were soaking and grumpy. We all went back to the house and finally did some washing of all our soiled clothes in Akós’s washing machine. Then we all went for a swim in the local swimming pool which is set out like a thermal baths, with lots of different temperature pools, jacuzzis and sauna; it was nice to have some time to relax, not so nice to expose our mosquito bite riddled bodies in public!

Friday 4th June

Went out to Felsőrajk again to verify more anomalous data points which was unsuccessful due to an equipment melt-down. Returned to the church tower in the evening to check on the female. We tracked her to some tall evergreen trees at the edge of the village where she was roosting. We tracked her then returning to the tower, where she was joined by the male, and they flew off hunting together.

Sat 5th June

The day was fantastic. 5am start and a 3 hour drive to Kiskunság national park, where we met three colleagues of Ákos’s who do Little Owl surveys in the local area. Their methods were different to that of the UK, but they were obviously very passionate about wildlife conservation. Together we checked 7 nest boxes which were tubes constructed from thin canes. High up in one tree the nest tube actually contained three Jackdaw chicks. The Bee-eaters in the afternoon were a highlight; we helped install a mist net and caught some of these amazing birds before ringing and releasing them. European Bee-eaters are slender, tropical looking birds with amazing feathers of yellow, blue white and black. They nest in steep sandbanks during the summer months, and as the name suggests feed primarily on small insects like beetles and bees.

Sunday 6th June

We got up late after our knackering day on Saturday, and went out to Felsőrajk again to verify more data points. In the evening we went back to the tower to try and tag the male and do a full night’s tracking, but the male bird didn’t enter the nest box. After about 4 hours we gave up and went home, disapointing end to the evening.

Monday 7th June

This morning we had a Hungarian lesson and a house meeting. In the afternoon Mike gave us his presentation about botany: he taught us the main groups of plants and how to use the field keys. Bill made another of his gristly beef stews for dinner, then we went out with the aim of doing a full night’s radio tracking to get some practice before Mike left. The tracking was sucessful, but only stayed out till 2am in the end, and lost one of the birds for a while but got some good fixes.

Tuesday 8^th June

A well deserved lie-in for a tired team, followed by a day of heavy lifting and wood stacking. In the evening we headed out for some tracking. We started off in the ‘Village of the Damned’, where we were stared at by some creepy looking zombies. To celebrate Mike’s last evening we stopped for a quick drink in Felsőrajk, and then settled in for some tracking. At about 11pm an equipment breakdown forced a tactical retreat and home to bed.

Wednesday 9^th June

The wood saga continued… more sorting and stacking of wood. Will this never end?! Team separation today; Fi and Bill took Mike to the train station, abandoning Bev with the wood and a pile of next boxes to paint. The addition of a stereo in the workshop made this a more pleasurable task. After lunch, team versus the góré – chopping, mulching, removing tiles and general tidying. Nice and sunny today. In the evening Bev went on a Corncrake survey with Ákos and they saw two Scops owls which are quite uncommon in the region, exciting stuff.

Thursday 10^th June

Barn Owl nest box survey in Zala County today – climbing through the filth and skeletons of a million rodents, dead pigeons, and assorted carcasses, excrement and pellet dust. A good day though! We visited 8 churches, but found chicks only in one nest. Highlights of the day – visiting an abbey in a beautiful peaceful location on a hill top, seeing 3 types of bat species in one church, clambering up the bell towers with a disregard for British ideas of Health & Safety, and eating a live vole. Only joking about the last one. In the evening, Ákos plied us with strong Slovakian spirits so he could beat us at Jenga. In the mosquito vs people game, we won narrowly when we returned home to find the kitchen swarming. We massacred them with the aid of a road map, but they’ll come back. They always do.

Friday 11^th June

An early start to a day of ‘Man’s Work’. The ladies raked a small patch of ground and the men shifted yet more piles of wood. In the afternoon we stripped the tiles from the roof of the góré– really messy work that involved getting showered in tonnes of crap and ant eggs. Will we ever be clean again?! We scrubbed ourselves off in the thermal baths in Gelse, much to the delight of the staff there.

Saturday 12^th June

DAY OFF! Hurrah! Drove to Balatonlelle, where Ákos dropped us by the lake. We settled in for a day of swimming, reading, people watching, sunbathing, ice-cream eating and beer drinking. All of our favourite things. Good day all round.

Sunday 13^th June

Went with Ákos to help one of his colleagues (Csaba) spread grass seeds on a Natura 2000 site that had previously been illegally ploughed. It was a fun day striding up and down the fields throwing handfuls of seeds about, and nice to be out in the sun. We met Csaba’s family, and his wife cooked us a lovely lunch. We had a quick look around his farm, and the guys helped to load a bull onto a trailer. A beautiful sunny day, with a quick swim in Balaton to cool off at the end of the afternoon.

Monday 14^th June

A day of running errands – shopping, getting materials to construct mosquito nets for the house, updating our tracking paperwork, paying bills and posting letters. In the evening high excitement – An emergency call came in about a White Stork with a broken wing that had been found in a field the other side of Gelse. The stork had flown into the telegraph wires, and had damaged its wing quite badly. We removed the damaged parts of the wing and treated the wounds to prevent infection – the stork spent a night recovering and was transferred to a bird sanctuary.

Tuesday 15^th June

Up at the góré in the morning stacking the ant-infested roof tiles, and cleaning the rubbish from inside the building. After lunch Fi and Bev set about mosquito proofing the house – making frames and nets for the windows. In the evening we went out tag the male from the church tower; once againwe failed to trap him. Discovered that the female from the church tower seems to have moved into the water tower, very strange owl behaviour.

Wednesday 16^th June

Rain today. Did some work up at the house; fixed all the tools we have managed to break in the last few weeks. Finished the pole nestbox by screwing the box onto a 7 meter high false acacia trunk, we are all wondering how we are going to manage to erect it. We had a good tracking session this evening; stayed out late and got some good fixes, although we have lost all signal from one of the female owls, it is looking like she might have died which is a shame. Number of chocolate bars eaten today – 3.

Thursday 17^th June

We had a lucky escape today – the film crew were put off by the torrential downpours, so we could put off having to display our dirty mosquito bitten selves to the general public. Headed out on a Scops owl nestbox survey near Kis Balaton, assisted by a very long ladder and mosquito repellent. Found no traces of the elusive little scamps, we assuaged our despondence by eating strawberries whilst overlooking the Kis Balaton wetlands. In the afternoon we answered the question of how we were going to erect the pole box; it can’t be done without the aid of bigger/stronger things than us. We are going to source a tractor or some buff young men to help us with this task. At night we headed out to our beloved Felsőrajk but the proximity of two massive storms made us question our techniques of standing on a hillside pointing a metal pole into the air. We beat a hasty retreat, drove around for a while searching for the missing female, then admitted defeat.

Friday 17^th – Sunday 19^th June

After a few weeks hard work we took a well deserved break and headed to Budapest for the weekend. We got dropped off in Moskva ter at 10.30, and spent the day wandering round Pest, visiting the Great Market Hall, Heroes Square, Andrassy ut and the National Museum. In the evening Bev took us on a tour of her favourite bars, including Szimpla, Mumus and Instant. We partook in many a Dreher, indulged in some Hungarian treats such as lecsó, gulyás and kürtőskalács, and generally ate, drank and made merry.

Saturday morning – másnapos vagyunk. We had a late start, meeting Bev and her Hungarian friend Anita in Vappiano where we ate huge bowls of pasta to soak up yesterday’s beer. We then trekked over the Szechenyi chain bridge and wandered around the castle district, taking some time out to chill out in the sun. We also went to the Bazilika, where we witnessed a few weddings as we sat in the square people-watching.  In the evening we were joined by Anita and Ákos for dinner and Hungarian chat. After a few cocktails in Barladino, we headed to the art museums in Heroes Square as it was Múzeumok Éjszakája – an annual event where Budapest museums are open until 2am. We saw some interesting exhibits, including apainted gömböc– a geometric shape developed by Hungarian scientists. We got museum-end out at 1am, and ended the night sampling pálinka in Potkulcs.

Sunday morning saw Anita cooking us a traditional Hungarian Sunday lunch – clear soup, chicken with potatoes and a chocolate cake. This went down a treat with the team, and was a lovely ending to our weekend in Budapest. On our return to the back of beyond, we stopped at Velence to look in a barn for an owl (no owls, although sexual predators aplenty), then stopped for a while at Balatonlelle to give Ákos a chance to try out his new windsurfing kit. Got back to Orosztony late – tired and happy.

Monday 21^st June

Barn owl survey in Zala county today – met up with Krisztian bright and early, and embarked on a tour of Zala churches, scrambling up the poo-encrusted towers to check out the nest boxes. Although visited 11 churches we only found chicks in 1 tower – probably an indication of the harsh winter. We ate our sandwiches squashed up in the car – classic British wet weather day out. Came home and went out tracking in the rain, treats for us. We required 4 chocolate bars and a flask of coffee to get through this. The night ended abruptly when the dial on the Sika unit committed suicide, forcing Bill & Bev to crawl around the road on their knees to locate the missing parts. After attempting some roadside surgery, we took the injured device home for rehabilitation.

Tuesday 22^nd June

Chores day; shopping, cleaning, report writing, data analysis, diary write up, cooking, blah blah blah.

Wednesday 23^rd June

More barn-owl surveys in Zala county; we visited 13 churches along the Slovenian and Croatian borders. This time we found owls in a couple of churches which was very encouraging. Good day was had by all, although climbing up the death-defying towers left us all knackered by the end of the day. In the evening we all sat down together for a pasta bake, which was nice.

Thursday 24^th June

In the morning we went to the White Stork roadshow – an event organised by Bird Life Hungary and the electricity company, where ornitholigists use a small crane to ring the stork chicks in the nests atop electricity pylons. Unfortunately we did not get to have a go in the crane, although we did have our picture for a newspaper, and were given the responsibility of harassing passers by to take some leaflets. In the afternoon we headed to a Natura 2000 site to assess the numbers of protected species to be found in the woods. We saw orchids, lungworts, stag beetles, ferns, 9 spotted moths, horsetails, scabious, hornbeam, silver beech and many other species. It was a nice afternoon in the forest.

Friday 25th June

In the morning, we stayed in Orosztony, doing paperwork and writing our presentations.  In the afternoon the weather brightened up enough for us to venture out on a bike ride up to the weather tower on a hill overlooking the village.

Saturday 26th June

The day consisted of doing some gardening, scything, weeding and making nest boxes for small birds.  In the evening we went out radiotracking. We had some difficulties getting good fixes because the male was flying around a lot, but the female was staying still in the church tower.  We hoped that this might be because the female was incubating  a new clutch of eggs.

Sunday 27th June

Day off today!  We went to Siófok (which we found to be even more touristy than Balatonelle) on the train and did some sunbathing and relaxing by the lake Balaton.  We had a cocktail at a touristy bar whilst watching the Germany- England World Cup game.  We caught the train back to Balatonelle where we met Akos for some dinner.

Monday 28th June

Today we did more Man’s Work at the góré, stacking the roof tiles, scything, strimming and clearing vegetation around a large walnut tree.  We constructed a new area for the sheep and geese by moving the electric fence and herding them into their new enclosure.

Tuesday 29th June

Today we carried on with our Man’s Work, clearing out the workshop and the góré.  In the evening we had a sucessful night’s tracking and got some good fixes.  We found that the male bird was flying much further to the south than we had expected, possibly roosting in some trees in Alsórajk.

Wednesday 30th

Today a large digger was working up at the house and we were helping by moving around piles of stuff in its wake.  The digger erected the pole box, levelled out the soil under the workshop, and dug a pond.  We helped lay down a water pipe that would collect rain water from the roof of the house and drain it into the pond.  In the afternoon we went to Keszthely to do the weekly shopping.  In the evening we went out with the tracking kit to check if the male owl was actually roosting in Alsorajk but we eventually found him in the village.

Thursday 1st July

Today we were visited by a film crew who are making a documentary about the placement.  We took them to film some owl chicks in a nest box, and also a school in Nagykanizsa where he had an emergency call regarding a long eared owl chick that had fallen out of its nest.
There were a lot of excited school children who were standing around the chick poking it and asking questions.  We were then filmed whilst we  worked on the góré, feeding the owls, and raking the soil at the pole box.  We were interviewed about the placement on camera which everyone found cringeworthy.

Friday 2nd June

Another day of making nest boxes and finishing off our presentations.  In  the evening we went out to the presszo for a few drinks.

Saturday 3rd June

Today we went to the Water Buffalo Festival where we had a stall set up promoting the work of the Barn Owl Foundation with leaflets, stickers and Tony, our tawny owl. Tony has lived in captivity for most of his life as he has a broken wing and would be unable to survive in the wild.  We helped a colleague of Ákos put up a large yurt and walked around the water buffalo reserve where we spied some bats nesting in a bat box.

In the evening we went out radiotracking and spent most of the evening chasing the male back and forth between Felsőrajk and Alsorajk.  He was being extremely active, and each time both teams got into position to take a fix, he would fly out of signal again. This was very frustrating, but through our searching we discovered a few more fixed points including a creepy and deserted train station in Felsőrajk.  We eventually found the male very far to the south in Kiliman.

Sunday 4th July

Today we went on a lovely canoe trip on the lake Balaton; we canoed around the lake, up the Zala river, and had a swim from the canoe.  We later had a look around a bird sanctuary where our rescued white stork was living, and went to see a strange exhibition of stuffed birds and animals.   In the evening we went tracking and finally got some good data on the southern extent of the male owl’s range.

Monday 5th July

Today we went on a field trip with Ákos to a protected area of rare sandy grassland.  We installed a kestrel box very high up an elder tree which took a lot of ingenuity, sweat, ropes and a harness.  Later we did a botanical survey around the grasslands, looking at the specialised plant species, and checking nest boxes.  The area is often used for illegal fly tipping and mining of sand, which is endangering the site. In the evening we treated ourselves to a bottle of local wine and a pizza.

Tuesday 6th July

We started the day by clearing and hacking away yet more vegetation, and dismantling an old rickety well that is to be restored to its former glory for the eco treasure project.  In the afternoon we got on with the paperwork of the tracking data and reports amidst a massive thunderstorm which turned the dessicated ground into rivers of mud.  In the evening, Fi gave her presentation on the transition towns, and later Bev and Fi raided the raspberry bush and made a tasty crumble which everyone appreciated greatly.

Wednesday 7th July

We got up early and went out with Akos on another field trip to a RAMSAR site of marshy woodlands.  We saw lots of frogs, leeches, butterflies and wild boar and deer prints.  We trekked through the swamp for a few hours examining the habitat in our wellies and waterproofs.  Afterwards we went to Nagykanizsa to carry out the dreaded weekly shop.  In the evening we did a long night’s radiotracking, and got some good fixes of the male owl to the south and north of Felsőrajk. There was still no signal from the female bird; we suspect that the tag has run out of battery or fallen off.

Thursday 8th July

We got up late after our long night of tracking, and did some gardening work at our cottage, clearing up rocks that had been unearthed by the digger.  After catching up on our paperwork, we went for a nice walk in the woods surrounding Orosztony.

Friday 9th July

Today we delivered leaflets for the eco treasure project to all the houses in Zalaszabar and Orosztony.  We made some friends amongst some local children who followed us around all day on their bicycles, helping us to avoid savage dogs and empty houses.  In the late afternoon we drove to the Tihany peninsular, and spent the evening walking around the beautiful abbey which overlooks the lake Balaton.  We ate dinner in a restaurant where we shared a huge meat platter whilst being serenaded by a man playing the accordian.

Saturday 10th July

Today we got up early and set off for a road trip to Croatia!  It was a very long drive, but we eventually arrived at the Plitvica National Park in the afternoon. The national park is a series of lakes and waterfalls which have formed in the karstic landscape.  It was amazing there, and we spend hours wandering around gawping at the scenery.  We camped the night at a nearby campsite, and sat around the tent finishing off the last of the plum pálinka.

Sunday 11th July

Nursing our hangovers, we packed up the tents and drove on to the beautiful seaside town of Senj.  The town is set in a landscape of arid mountains which slope down to the sea, and islands in the distance.  The water was crystal clear and the perfect temperature to cool off.  We spend the day lounging by the sea, swimming, people watching and ice cream eating.  In the evening we grudgingly left Senj, and began the epic drive back to Hungary.

Monday 12th July

In the morning we had a Hungarian lesson and house meeting.  Afterwards, Fi and Bill delivered the eco treasure leaflets to Felsőrajk, whilst Bev and Akos went to install some more kestrel boxes.  The afternoon was spent attempting to level out the floor of the workshop which was still a soily lumpy mess after the work done by the digger.  In the evening we went out radiotracking. The male owl stubbornly stayed put in the village for most of the night,  giving us lots of solid fixes, but little in the way of excitement.  At the end of the night, the male disappeared so far to the north that we couldn’t find him at all.  Still no sign of the female owl.

Tuesday 13th July

Today we went out on a field trip with Akos to a silver beech forest south of Nagykanizsa which had a reputation of being a ‘mosquito paradise’.  We spent a few hours heaving massive, heavy Ural owl boxes into tall trees, and winching Ákos up and down on a pulley system.  Afterwards we went to Nagykanizsa to do the weekly shop.  An approaching thunderstorm made the air feel so hot and humid that it was almost tropical.  After we had cooled down in the evening, we were treated to dinner cooked by Ákos, and went for a couple of beers at the presszo.

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