Gyöngybagolyvédelmi Alapítvány

We all met at London Victoria Coach Station to begin our epic journey to Budapest on the bus. There was a little confusion as to whether we would be getting the ferry across to France. When we arrived at Dover we assumed we were until the bus did a U-turn and headed for the channel tunnel. Thankfully at this stage we all dozed off and woke up mid France. Belgium, Germany….

Day 2 – 18 May

Still on the bus in Germany. Arrived in Austria early morning and had a quick bus change in Vienna. Arrived in Budapest at around 11am very tired and smelly and got a taxi to ‘Home Made Hostel’ where we dumped our bags and headed off to explore a bit of Budapest. In the evening met Akós to discuss money, health and safety and how to get the bus to Nagykanizsa.

Day 3 – 19 May

Got the bus without any difficulties and were met by Balázs who drove us back to Orozstony with a stop for a fruit soup and deep fried cheese lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent looking around the garden and meeting the collection of animals – the owls, geese, sheep, chickens, cats and bear of a dog aka. Kóbor. For tea we decided on some campfire goodies, with baked potatoes and toasted bread for the veggie and meat on sticks for everybody else.

Day 4 – 20 May

Had a lie in and spent the morning cleaning out the aviaries. The owls were not impressed and tried to intimidate us with hissing and bollywood-style headrolls. We then helped start building a nest box and all felt very macho hammering nails into wood! After lunch, Balázs showed us a slideshow about the foundation and then we started our Hungarian lessons. Most of the time was spent attempting to get our heads around how to pronounce the alphabet. Spent a very hot couple of hours scything the sheep’s field which was a new experience for all of us.

Day 5 – 21 May

Up early for a day of Barn Owl and bat surveys. Visited around 10 villages and got into around 7 church towers – lots of dusty, rickety wooden ladders and pigeon poo. At the very last church we were lucky enough to find 4 chicks in the nest box. After a very girly cooing moment we collected pellets and identified the remains of prey items in the box.

Day 6 – 22 May

Day off so spent the morning in Keszthely looking around the palace and gardens, where we took lots of pretty pictures and had a snooze on the grass. After lunch and our first ice cream of the day we caught the bus to Hévíz where we swam in a murky looking but very nice thermal lake. Lucy learnt the hard way that silver should not be worn in the sulphur pool and is now sporting a newly coloured black necklace. The inside of the baths was reminiscent of the film ‘Deep Blue Sea’ which meant a distrust of spontaneous bubbles. Ended the day with another ice cream and headed back to the house for dinner after a rushed food shop.

Day 7 – 23 May

Another day of Barn Owl surveys but this time with extra passengers in the form of two Barn Owl chicks from the aviary. First stop was the last church from Day 5 where we placed the smaller of the two chicks in the nest box. It was nice to give the chick a new home with a new mummy and brothers and sisters. During the day we were unable to find a new home for the larger chick but we grew very attached to our little Bernard (stinky Bernard to use his full title). The locals were very keen to see him too, we couldn’t understand what they said but knew they loved him too from their collective coos. We also had a chance to practice our newly gained language skills although we’re all still having difficulty with goodbye which is fairly crucial! Practice needed!

Day 8 – 24 May

House meeting this morning and we decided on the topics for our presentations and spent the rest of the morning doing research on the computers. Lunch was followed by a rather embarrassing litter picking misunderstanding and a driving lesson for Lucy.

Day 9 – 25 May

First visit of the day was to a pigeon invested church tower where we installed our newly built nest box. The first obstacle was getting into the tower as the door was wedged shut by a foot and a half of pigeon poo. After navigating several ladders the nest was put in its new home. We carried on with the surveying and found a nest with 7 un-hatched Barn Owl eggs, we then did some old box manoeuvring in two other churches and delivered a last owl box to a man planning to install it into his barn. Got home late after a long and exhausting day.

Day 10 – 26 May

We had another day of Barn Owl surveying today, we found a nest with six chicks. The youngest chick was especially tiny and cute, we also found 2 different species of bats in two of the church towers too. It was an extremely hot day again today; we did get to stop off in a pub for a cold coke to cool down before carrying on with the surveys. We headed home with the challenge of attempting to make tea with our depleted stock of food.

Day 11 – 27 May

Today we had a round the house day and pulled up some electric fencing, cleaned the aviaries and had a Hungarian lesson. Left to our own devices for the rest of the evening and we were challenged with our first attempt of herding the goslings and chickens and then feeding the rest of the animals on our own. We finished just before the heavens opened and we saw our first rain since arriving in Hungary.

Day 12 – 28 May

After last night’s dramatic thunderstorm the weather took a turn for the worse and our day off at Lake Balaton turned into a quick march in the pouring rain by the lake followed fried cheese and a 2 hour Tesco visit to stock up on treats for the next week. We had a visit from Akos in the evening with tea and biscuits and then we went to help him with the animals. We struck a deal in which raspberries will be exchanged for our nettle removal services. We’re yet to see the fruits of our labours but are hopeful that the raspberry fairy will appear in the next few weeks.

Day 13 – 29 May

A day off which started with a lie in excluding a quick trip out at 6 in our pjs to let the chickens out. Spent the day relaxing around the house, working on our diaries and making elderflower cordial and pancakes.

Day 14 & 15 – 30 & 31 May

We set off on a two day Barn Owl survey trip towards the Croatian and Slovenian boarders and unfortunately no owls or eggs were found at any of the 30 or so churches we visited. We did however see Grey long eared bats and got a particularly good look at one that was on a low beam. Other highlights included being given ice cream and cherries by some enthusiastic locals.

Day 16 – 1 June

We headed out with ominous grey clouds about us, but in hope the rain might contain itself and leave us dry. Didn’t happen. The rain was hard and heavy accompanied by close bouts of thunder and lightening. We had to head back to Orosztony after checking a few boxes at a farm and finding signs of a Barn owl in a cow shed. Once back in the safety of Akos’ house we listened to a presentation of his, while drinking tea and eating cherries. The rest of the afternoon was spent working on our presentations and then after dinner we cracked out the rum and cards which resulted in a very late night.

Day 17 – 2 June

Got up late! Went for a walk around Orosztony, practised our Hungarian in the shop and took some typical tourist cheesy photos with the village sign. Rest of the day we spent in the garden relaxing.

Day 18 – 3 June

Brilliant Barn owl survey day today. First stop was at a church with 3 chicks in the nest which we admired from the safety of the ground while Balázs held them up from the loft entrance Lion King style. We then visited a nearby Water Buffalo reserve which has Bat and Owl boxes installed in various locations. This was a great stop because we got to look around the park whilst we were there. We all peered into one of the bat boxes and there were several huddled together peering back, one of which chose this moment to relieve himself in Balázs’ eye. Last stop was a village hall with 3 large chicks in the nest box. We collected pellets from the box and each got to hold a chick while a ring was fitted to each. This was definitely the highlight of the day and we were all very sad when we had to give them back. Once back at the house we finished off the day by cleaning out the aviaries and having a Hungarian lesson.

Day 19 – 4 June

We headed out early for a weekend of camping and Harrier surveys. We met our fellow surveyors at the side of a road where they were watching 3 breeding pairs of Montagu’s Harriers. The males were gliding about above our heads and the females were nested on the ground. Akos stopped a little ice cream van which was less van and more converted golf buggy and bought us some ice creams. During the afternoon the weather took a turn for the worse and we were forced to hide in the cars after a close encounter with some lightening. Deciding that it was best to set up the tents before another storm, we found a suitable field to camp in and put the tents up with surprising ease. We then headed out for some more bird watching in the fields surrounding the campsite and while no more Harriers were spotted we did see a Long eared owl hunting in day light. A very rare sight according to Akos. In the evening we brewed some tea on our little gas stove before sharing a tin of beans and some stale bread for dinner. After our feast we joined the others round the campfire but declined Akos’ request to sing English songs.

Day 20 – 5 June

We got up at 5, damp and cold, and set off for another day of surveying. It was a good day for sightings with everybody particularly excited to see 3 Blue throats and hear the call of a Corncrake. Another highlight for us was seeing a nest of Sedge warbler chicks that was balanced in reeds near to our look out.

Lesson for the weekend: Make sure you take enough water when camping for 2 days in 30 degree heat.

Day 21 – 6 June

Day off around the house today which consisted of a lie in, working on our presentations and then sorting out the animals in the evening.

Day 22 – 7 June

We had to ‘man up’ today for a day of bricklaying. First we had to clear the workshop and level the ground using pick-axes and shovels which took a surprisingly long amount of time. Emma made an exciting discovery and we now have a new pet – a dead, but still in tact, slightly flattened mole that we have named Crispin. Next was laying the bricks down onto the newly flattened ground. We had a few issues getting the lines straight but we finished eventually and headed back to the house for dinner. We had ‘soup’ – a bit of an experiment with one important lesson learnt: raw cabbage in soup is a no, no. At 8 we set off with Akos to do a Corncrake survey. This involved visiting two different sites and listening for the Corncrake call to determine if there were any birds nesting in the area. Their call sounds similar to scraping a comb and we thought we heard one but unfortunately it was hard to distinguish from the frogs! We got a little distracted when the mosquitoes arrived and had to fashion our own fly swats from the reeds.

Day 23 – 8 June

It was raining in the morning so we stayed at the house and had a Hungarian lesson. The rest of the day was spent finishing off the brick laying and adding the cement for the floor in the workshop. Once finishing we stepped back to admire our work and were very pleased with ourselves. A first for everyone before bed – we spotted some lightening bugs flying around the garden.

Day 24 – 9 June

A bad start to the day with the discovery that all of the goslings are missing. Akos thinks they were probably eaten by foxes during the night and we were all pretty gutted when we heard. Kestrel surveying was rained off again so we spent the day working on our presentations and doing a mass food shop.

Day 25 – 10 June

A very varied and busy day, in which we built a nest box, cleaned the aviaries, de-feathered 2 dead owls and removed what felt like 10 years worth of Ivy from the apple trees. The day was broken up with a trip to visit the adopted chick in his new home and see how he was getting on. The five chicks had rings fitted and we snuck in a sneaky cuddle while there.

Day 26 – 11 June

It’s the start of our long weekend off today, so we spend it relaxing at the house and doing a couple of chores. We had a huge present of cherries from the Ukrainian lady next door in the afternoon, we like her!

Day 27 – 12 June

We drove to Lake Balaton today, relaxed in the sun for a bit and then went for lunch. We had forgotten our phrasebooks so this lunch was a little more challenging than usual, first trying to decipher the menu and then trying to order the food. We drove on to Keszthely, where we got ice-cream and spent some more time in the sun. We checked out the delightfully tacky souvenir shops, before we headed home. Emma purchased herself a rather wonderful, owl-themed, wooden calendar.

Day 28 – 13 June

It was a long day of presentation prep today, broken up with a trip to clean out the dead chick freezer in the afternoon. The evening consisted of us feeding the owls during a massive thunderstorm and a visit from Akos to chat about the week’s plans.

Day 29 – 14 June

This morning we had the unpleasant task of sorting out the owl food; day old chicks picked up from the egg factory by Balázs. They are placed into bags of about 20 and frozen for future owl feedings. The next half of the morning was spent finishing off the little owl box that we had started last week, we were quite proud of the finished box. Then after lunch we helped Balázs sheep proof his vegetable patch by putting up a fence. The rest of the afternoon was presentation prep time, before presenting them to Akos and Balázs in the evening.

Day 30 – 15 June

As usual it was gloomy and rainy when we headed out with Akos today. First stop was a park where we had to pick up an ill cormorant that had been reported on the foundation helpline. Once we had located the cormorant, we had difficulties finding a box for it. So rather than keeping him confined to the car, we found a nearby dog sanctuary to look after him for the day. Throughout the day we drove round the sandy grassland area, looking at different habitats and checking next boxes for Kestrels and Little Owls. Unfortunately we found nothing in the nest boxes, though we did see a pair of White tailed eagles, complete with nest and chicks. We drove through some beautiful woodland before going to pick up the cormorant at the sanctuary. Now in a more suitable box, it was easier to transport him to a bird sanctuary in Keszthely. In the evening we went up to Akos’s to raid his cherry tree and on the way up saw around 8 young, Long Tailed Tits, snuggled up in one of the nest boxes. Back at the house we were gifted another bag of cherries from the lady next door and now have more than we know what to do with!

Day 31 – 16 June

We installed the Barn owl and Little owl nest boxes at a farm this morning. First up was the Barn owl box that needed to be installed into a metal cattle shed. The nest boxes are usually nailed straight onto wood so a metal platform had to be created for the box to rest on. Once the platform was ready and we had added the final touches to the nest box it was lifted to its new home with the help of one of the farm’s diggers. The Little owl nest box was less problematic and installed in a smaller wooden barn. The barn was home to some of the cattle and one bull in particular was less than impressed with our presence. We were thankful for the sturdy gate separating us from him and the cows. We then went home for lunch which was made extra special thanks to the arrival of the Marmite that Emma’s mum had sent.

In the afternoon we cleaned out the aviaries which had gotten particularly pongy in the heat of the last few days. Back down at the house we worked on our diaries, made soup for dinner and settled down in front of Harry Potter before bed.
Day 32 – 17 June

We crawled out of bed at 5 today so that we could get a lift to Tihany with Balázs. We had a brilliant day swimming in Lake Balaton, exploring the shops and having an extravagant lunch in Ősközség. The rum and tea went down particularly well. We caught a bus to Budapest where we were met by Akos who drove us to his sisters flat, our home for the night. The flat was close to a 24 hour supermarket so we bought our food for the weekend’s camping trip and got an early night.

Day 33 – 18 June

We met Péter outside the flat in the morning and set off on the Barn owl survey. We visited 14 churches in an area near Budapest although unfortunately we only found owls in one church; 4 Barn owl chicks. Other churches had older pellets and faeces but no signs of recent owl activity. Péter treated us to some cake in a small cake and ice cream shop in one of the villages which was very welcome. In the evening we struggled to find a place to sleep but eventually found a small clearing next to a lake where we pitched our tents.

Day 34 – 19 June

We had a shorter day today with only 3 churches left to survey. We had finished at 11 and drove to Péter’s parent’s house to have lunch where they spoiled us with tea, cakes and popcorn. We popped to Ikea before meeting Akos in Budapest. He drove us back to Orosztony while we listened to his Animal Farm audiobook in the car. 

Day 35 – 20 June

Day off today filled with diary writing, kittens, sunbathing and clothes washing.

Day 36 – 21 June

We were up at 5 again today for White stork chick ringing. We drove to different nesting sites in Zala county and took turns going up to the nests in the crane to watch the chicks being ringed. The nests are usually built on top of electricity pylons with specially fitted platforms and each nest has on average 3 or 4 chicks. During the day we also visited a church tower and found 5 Kestrel chicks in the nest box. In the evening we had dinner and did some gardening.

Day 37 – 22 June

It was a very hot Barn owl and Bat survey day today. We found bats in several churches but unfortunately no owls. Everybody was fed up with the heat so we stopped off for ice cream before going to Tesco for a special birthday food shop.

Day 38 – 23 June

First job this morning was cleaning out the old gosling shed for the sheep. It was a very smelly, tiring job but it didn’t take long and it looked good in the end. Next was working on a bit more of the brick flooring in the workshop but it wasn’t long before we got frustrated in the heat and headed down to the house for lunch. After lunch we had a Hungarian lesson and then helped Balázs catch the owls in the aviary and record their ring numbers.

Day 39 – 24 June

We started the day off with a trip to a church tower to ring 6 Barn owl chicks. They were quite big so it took a few of us to stop them from flying out of the nest box. They were still cute though. Back at the house we did some general maintenance in the garden and then it started to rain so we headed back to the house for lunch. In the afternoon we were relieved of aviary cleaning duty as a group of Hungarian students arrived to do it instead. We worked on our online diary for the rest of the afternoon and watch Harry Potter 5 in the evening.

 Day 40 – 25 June

It was a day off today so we headed to Gelse for a swim in the newly built swimming centre. We particularly enjoyed the warm pool with rapids and fountains! In the evening we started Emma’s birthday celebrations with music and a bottle of rum.

 Day 41 – 26 June – Emma’s Birthday

We had a nice breakfast today and Emma opened all her birthday cards and presents including the handmade ones Jenny and Lucy had been sneakily making for the past week. We spent most of the afternoon playing with the chickens and making a cake before heading up to Akos’ for a birthday tea. He had made Emma a cake name which we proceeded to eat while watching The Legend of the Guardians. Back at the house we presented Emma with a cheese castle, which is exactly what it sounds like.

 Day 42 – 27 June

Today was a Barn owl bonanza! We visited lots of churches in the morning, all of which had nests with 5 or 6 chicks in. One of the sites was promising as a release nest for the chick in the aviary. We also found bats in some of the churches we checked in the afternoon. In one of the church lofts we found what we thought to be a dead bat on the floor, on closer inspection it turned out to be a young bat, dropped by its mother. Balázs popped it onto a ledge so it would be safe.

 Day 43 – 28 June

We did a Black Stork survey with Akos today. Our first stop of the day was to the big fruit and vegetable market in Nagykanisza where we stocked up on goodies for the week. We then headed to the first nest site, which was in a patch of trees next to a football pitch, where we saw two chicks. We spent the next few hours soaking up the sun and enjoying our fruit whilst watching for Black Storks. In the afternoon Akos took us to see an old fort that had been built as a defence against the Turkish. We then met a man who showed us to the next Black Stork nest. It was in a beautiful forest but unfortunately there were no chicks.

 Day 44 – 29 June

Bricklaying in the workshop.

 Day 45 – 30 June

Bricklaying again.

 Day 46 – 1 July

Akos came to our house in the morning and gave us a lesson in pellet analysis. We learnt to differentiate between shrew, vole and mice species using the teeth and skulls found in the pellets. After lunch we made a blackberry and apple crumble and analysed more pellets. In the evening we had a get together round the campfire with Akos and some of his friends.

 Day 47 – 2 July

We spent the morning in Kesthely purchasing some tacky souvenirs and walking around the lake. Later we drove to the buffalo reserve where there was a festival, we strolled around the reserve and looked at the little stalls before heading home.

 Day 48 – 3 July

We visited Szigliget castle today as suggested by Akos. It had really lovely views of Lake Balaton and the surrounding countryside. Jenny and Lucy feel it important to recommend the hot chocolate here to any future cohortees!

Day 49 – 4 July

Today we had a fresh load of owl food arrive so we spent a bit of time sorting them into bags for freezing. The rest of the day was spent working on our diary and lazing around in the sunshine.

Day 50, 51, 52 – 5, 6, 7 July

We went on a three day camping Barn owl survey trip in the next county, Somogy. It was a successful trip with many Barn owl chicks found and ringed. In one particularly memorable church tower Lucy had an owl chick take a liking to her pocket and its sibling fall asleep behind Jenny’s legs. In the evening of the second day we were lucky enough to hear Barn, Tawny and Long-eared owls while we sat outside with our dinner. On the last day the weather was so hot we were forced to take a break and go for a swim in a beautiful lake near the Croatian border.

Day 53, 54, 55 – 8, 9, 10 July

We cleaned the aviaries before setting off on the second camping trip of the week with Akos. This time it was a Bee-eater and nest box survey with 3 other surveyors. It was an absolutely boiling weekend with loads of interesting bird finds including; 2 Little owls, 2 nest boxes with Scops owl chicks, Bee-eaters, a Kestrel, 2 groups of Roller chicks, 2 Barn owls and a Saker Falcon. On the way back to Orosztony we went for a swim in Lake Balaton to cool off and picked up an ill Barn owl, who is now recovering in the aviary.

Day 56 – 11 July

Lazy day off recovering from a busy week.

Day 57 – 12 July

This was our final day of bricklaying. We have become so efficient that we did an extra row. In the evening we went with Balázs and Akos to remove pigeons from a church tower that we recently installed a new nest box in. Catching pigeons in bags is as hard as it sounds and needless to say we were ready for our beds when we got back. 

Day 58 – 13 July

We spent the day packing and cleaning as it’s our last full day at the house.  

Days 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 – 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 July

Our last few days will be spent visiting a National Park in eastern Hungary with Akos and sightseeing in Budapest before getting the bus home.

One Response

1. Angol önkéntesek | Gyöngybagolyvédelmi Alapítvány Says:
   May 27th, 2011 at 9:14

   [...] Ittlétük alatt naplót írnak, és a korábbi évekhez hasonlóan ezt hetente feltöltjük honlapunkra. Az első hét eseményei itt olvashatók. [...]