Birds at our rice fields

One week ago we flooded our first rice fields, but now we have approximately 200 hectares under the water. This area is a ideal feeding and resting place for the tens of thousands of migratory birds. A few species:
black stork: 20-25,
spoonbill: 30-60,
whiskered, black and white-winged black terns: 100-150,
squacco herons: 4-6,
night heron: 10-50,
waders: 5000-10000,
collared pratincole: 10-15,
bittern: 2-10

Long-eared owls in the high square

Kisújszállás is a quite busy town on the Great Hungarian plan, but it has a nice big park in the high square, where pines, yews and other trees grow. On a pine tree is a long-eared owl nest, where 3 nice owl flappers live. This picture was taking there last Sutarday.

We are flooding our rice fields!!

The Spring migrants' main stopping points in our area are the flooded rice fields, an area that occupies approximately 1200 hectares and is fully flooded by water, providing an ideal feeding and resting place for the tens of thousands of migratory birds. In this weekend we began to flood our rice fields. Today is a second day, that the fields are flooded, but the birds already there. A few species: Night Herons, Little Egrets, Great White Egrets, Black and White Storks, Eurasian Spoonbills, Black-winged Stilts, Avocets, Pratincoles, Dunlins, Black-tailed Godwits, Whiskered, Black and White-winged Black Terns are looking for prey.

Great bustard in the focus

The a great bustard display draws to an end in Hungary, so in the last moment we went to take a few picture. Last friday we fixed an appointment with the national park's employees, that we are comming on sutarday. Dévaványa is a best place to observe this birds, so our destination was this town. In this region is a bigest polulation of the great bustard in Central Europe.

White-winged black tern

We saw today the first White-winged black tern in Túrkeve. It was at the fishpond system.

Amphibians and reptiles of our rice fields

The last few days were good to see frogs and snakes on the rice fields, because the days were quite warm, so this animals come out to sunbathing. You can see ewerywhere fire-bellied toads, lake frogs, edible frogs. The smooth skiny tree frogs make calls from the grass. The green toads cross the roads towards their mating place. The crested newts are up as well. On the sluices grass snakes make a few hours sunbathing while the pond terrapins make a rest on the site of the ditches.

Long-legged buzzard!

Today I went to check the rice fields, becouse last week it was raining here, so we waiting for the dry soil condition, that we can carry on the work. The soil is too muddy to work, but good for the birds: yellow wagtails, paid wagtais, great white egrets, black storks and a few green sandpipers were there. In the sky skylarks were singing and a few raptors: buzzard...buzzard...buzzard and ohhh a Long-legged buzzard! It is a beautiful bird! Later I saw a few marsh harriers, hen harriers and a imperial eagle. Bound for home I saw a few other species: black-necked grebes, robins, black redstarts, weatears, stonechat, icterine warbler. The white storks mate and repair the their nest at the end of my lane.