Wednesday 16 October - Sokolovce, Slovakia
Arrived Bratislava 1720 hrs by Rynair, 15 minutes early. Drove an hour north to my new base in the village of Sokolovce, about ten miles north of Hlohovec.
Thursday 17 October - Sokolovce, Slovakia
Very foggy early morning. We travelled further north, up to sunny upland pastures, numerous Black Redstarts and a constant stream of Red Admiral heading south.
Friday 18 October - Sokolovce, Slovakia
Sunny morning visit to the Fishponds near Koplotovce. Great, Middle Spotted Woodpeckers and a Grey-headed Woodpecker. Flock of (White-headed) Long-tailed Tits, Kingfisher and Nuthatch. In the garden back at Sokolovice a Syrian Woodpeckers could be heard, from its lower sounding call. Also Greenfinches still common in Slovak gardens.
Saturday 19 October - Sokolovce, Slovakia
Foggy down at base, but soon lifted when I drove to the more upland Oresany Airstrip. Fairly quiet apart from at the manure dump, which held several Black Redstarts and Crested Larks plus a few White Wagtails. A low flying Sparrowhawk caused a commotion, but failed to catch anything.
Sunday 20 October - Sokolovce, Slovakia
Early morning walk by the River Vah A ringtail Hen Harrier flew over a maize field. Scuby areas held good numbers of Yellowhammers. A few flocks of a hundred plus Mallard flew over, a rare sight in Britain these days.
Monday 21 October - Strelniky, Slovakia
Visited the Oresany airstrip at first light. Two Kestrals, a Buzzard and another ring-tailed Hen Harrier was all of interest apart from the Black Redstarts. Left Sokolovce to head north east to stay in the village of Stelniky next to the Polana protected area. A stop at the top of a mountain pass near Banska Stiavnica produced two pairs of Buzzards and Sparrowhawks soaring together. In the woodland a couple of Marsh Tits were a surprise at such a high altitude. Upon arrival at our apartment, I asked the owner about Brown Bears, which apparently are fairly common up here. I have been given a small "bear bell", which I have been assured, will scare any bears off!
Tuesday 22 October - Strelniky, Slovakia
Spent the day driving and walking quiet lanes around Strelniky. Plenty of birds, if nothing too exciting. Buzzard, Wren, Robin, Black Redstart, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Goldcrest, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Marsh Tit, Crested Tit, Treecreeper sp., Hooded Crow, Raven, Jackdaw, Jay, Tree Sparrow, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Brambling. Only mammal a completely black Red Squirrel. A Painted Lady was the only butterfly. After dark, went on a night drive through the forest in hope of bears, boars, martins ect. Only mammal seen was a Roe Deer.
Wednesday 23 October - Strelniky, Slovakia
Travelled northwest to the base of a couple of ski-lifts to the top of the Low Tatras. All were closed. Found little other than Black Redstarts, Marsh Tit and Ravens. Back at Srelniky added Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Grey Shrike and Yellowhammer, to yesterday's list.
Thursday 24 October - Strelniky, Slovakia Climbed a local mountain called Minca, early morning. No birds for first two hours, then things picked up a bit. Added the following to the Strelniky list Coal Tit, Starling and Fieldfare. Later a large hawk flew over the car, then glided low over a field and perched on a low branch. Suspecting Goshawk, it was great when I put my bins on the bird and could clearly see the large supercilium and orange eyes of this species. Sadly it was on the wrong side of the car, flying off when I got out. Rest of day quiet apart from more Marsh Tits.
Friday 25 October - Sokolovce, Slovakia
Final morning up at Strelnicky. An early morning walk found no birds at all. Later came across flocks of Fieldfare, Chaffinch and Brambling. Uneventful drive back to Sokolovce, little other than a possible Rough-legged Buzzard hovering next to the road, with nowhere to stop, could not confirm.
Saturday 26 October - Sokolovce, Slovakia
Fog down at Sokolovce, made me go up to the airstrip at Oresany. Some fog up there as well, made birding awkward. At the manure dump Black Redstarts, Crested Larks and a Great Grey Shrike.
Sunday 27 October- Fertod, Hungary
More fog down in the valley, so it was up to the airstrip again. Black Redstarts, Crested Larks and a flock of Tree Sparrows. All the birds soon cleared off when a couple of Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk appeared. A walk nearby, found a Great Grey Shrike on a power line, where I had has seen this species in previous years. By 9.00 am the fog had lifted enough to check the reservoir, next to Sokolovce. Apart from a few Pochard and Coot, thousands of Mallard. At midday left Sokolovce to travel down to Fertod Hungary. Called in at Andau (Austria) only raptors Kestrels, Buzzards and 3 (2 ring-tails, 1 male) Hen Harriers. A flock of around 200 Cranes flew over, just west of Tadten.
Monday 28 October- Fertod, Hungary
Fertod (Hungary) arrived pre-dawn to see thousands of geese leave the wetlands. Most seemed to be White-fronted. Also present in big numbers Teal, Mallard and Shoveler. Small flocks of Shelduck, Avocets and Curlews. Drove back into Austria and toured some of the wetlands to the southeast of the Neusiedler See. Low water levels and a number of the lakes being completely dry, made birding hard. Marsh Harriers over most of the reedbeds. The first rain of the trip then set in. Visited the cemetery at Apetlon in the hope of Long-eared Owls. As you would expect in Central Europe the cemetery was very well maintained and I could only find one pellet, with no owl in the tree above. Fortunately a group of birders told me of the location of an owl high in a conifer, with no pellets underneath.
Tuesday 29 October
Early morning rain and poor visibility at Fertod made birding difficult, with no new birds found. It was then time to drive back to Bratislava for the flight home. Called in at Andau (Austria), amazingly a single Kestral was the only raptor at this raptor hotspot. Good to see many farmland birds, such as Yellowhammers and Tree Sparrows, plus a Great Grey Shrike. On the drive back through Slovakia a Red Kite next to the road. Rynair arrived back in Manchester on time, Train late getting back to Sheffield, meant a missed bus and a taxi home instead.
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