Hungary? It’s beautiful!

Originally posted on the 11th of July, 2019.

At the beginning of June, I embarked on a journey into central Europe to study and monitor birds. However, the adventure began at the start of this year, at the Sharpham Estate located in Totnes, Devon.

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Towards the end of 2018, when I was feeling a little lost and scrolling through endless pages of internships, traineeships, volunteering opportunities and paid jobs (that usually ended up needing 5-6 years’ experience) I came across an organisation called Ambios. Intrigued, I opened their website to see whether it was a legitimate organisation or just another ‘eco-volunteering’ page trying to steal my money. To my surprise as I scanned through their pages, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. I bookmarked the page for later.

I came back to the website a few days on. As I was reading through, I saw they had vacancies going for their study abroad programs. However…the deadline was the following day. I literally thought ‘Screw it’ and wrote out an application and sent it off. The following week, I check my emails and to my surprise I had been invited to an interview on Lower Sharpharm Farm in Totnes. The farm was nestled in a valley along the river Dart, surrounded by fields and patches of woodland. I was up there for most of the day, helping out around the farm and learning how they’ve made it sustainable. The interview process wasn’t long or scary, due to one of the interviewers being a dog I got to cuddle. Fast forward a few weeks after my day at the farm – I got the placement and will be going to a week training session up on the Sharpham estate to prepare me for the trip abroad.

I attended the training session in the new year which was a brilliant experience in and of itself – we did sessions on bird ringing, tree and bug identification and camera trapping. I ended up switching my chosen placements – originally I was heading to Portugal for fourteen weeks, but due to finances and my own personal interest I decided that two weeks in Hungary would be more suitable. This decision was tricky, but I’m so glad I decided to go for it.

In June 2019, a group of us would be going out to Hungary to study and work alongside the Barn Owl Foundation, putting into practice everything we learned during our time at the Sharpham estate. During the build up to Hungary, I was a nervous wreck. I was going away to a new country, with people with far more experience in conservation and natural sciences than myself. I’m a creative – what was I thinking doing something like this? All this worry was for nothing in the end, as those two weeks were beyond brilliant.

*The 2019 Hungary Team, left to right, top to bottom: Mike, Rowan, Brogan, Alice, Akos, myself, Georgina & Joe*

After what seemed an eternity of travel (we travelled via coach…great for the environment, not so great for us!) we arrived in Budapest. A beautiful city that is split in half by the river Danube. The western part is the oldest and the original settlement – Buda. The newer and modern side is Pest. Our host for the two weeks, Akos, picked us up outside the bus station, we were all a little disoriented and in need of a night’s sleep that wasn’t on a coach.

He took us to the minibus where we were driven to our home for the next two weeks, Orosztony, a small, sleepy village located a few hours outside of Budapest. During this drive I spotted two wild boar, which was a great start to the trip. When we arrived, Mike, one of the members of Ambios, had prepared us a meal which we wolfed down before heading straight to bed.

Our accommodation was basic, but charming. Simple sleeping arrangements in the rafters (which was a bit scary at times during the thunderstorms – also prone to some leaks!) and a shared dining area, kitchen and bathroom. The shared bathroom always made the mornings rather interesting, particularly in terms of getting ready for 4am starts as you can imagine. Our accommodation was situated at the base of the Barn Owl Foundation, and the garden and woodland we were able to explore was brilliant for birds and lurking insects. On one occasion, I came across a male Stag beetle on my morning stroll, a bug we do get in the UK but one I had never seen before. They were in abundance here, as we also saw female stags and plenty of males flying around. One of our garden residents was also a pair of Spotted Flycatchers, who we watched most days flitting to and fro, snatching insects out of the air. Slow-worms were also frequently seen, basking in the sunlight or slithering across the path. Scorpion flies were also a common sighting, as was a variety of different butterflies and hoverflies – occasionally during the evenings, the Fireflies would come out and perform for us, their lights blinking like beacons in the night.

There was such a diverse array of bird species in the area as welll; Tree Sparrow, Golden Orioles, Woodpecker, Redstart, Nuthatch, Blackcap, Turtle Dove, Marsh Tit, Greenfinch and Nightjar to name a handful. This was just in the back garden!

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Our first day was one of the most memorable. The day started with a team meeting in the morning, (where Akos turned up with a Slow-worm) then had a brief tour around the land and the quiet village of Orosztony. The day was spent getting to know the area and relaxing, then came the evening.

The plan for the evening was a Scops Owl survey, but Akos had received a call. So, on our way to do the survey we had a minor detour to pick up an unexpected package. We stopped outside of the house where Akos had received the call, eager to know what it was we were picking up. He didn’t give us any indication of what to expect, not until we stopped near to the farm where the animal had been found. We all hurried out of the minibus to see what it was, taking guesses as to what it could be judging from the size and shape of the small box. We walked a small distance away from the minibus, closer to the farm before stopping.

Akos put down the box, reaching into it to reveal a fledging Little owl. Little owls are dainty birds that eat primarily insects and small mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians – they also have a facial expression that looks as if its permanently shocked. This particular little one had gotten separated from his parents, so Akos played the Little owl call to see if they were still in the area. Surprisingly, they answered – but we didn’t return the fledging this night, as he was unable to fly and in need of a good feed. We returned the Little owl to its box and carried onto our next destination in search of the elusive Eurasian Scops owl.

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When doing a survey, a good way to attract the birds you are looking for is to play their song/call over a loudspeaker to bring them to you. Throughout the trip, as with anything nature related, we had varying degrees of success. Thankfully, this night, we were very lucky. We saw another pair of Little Owls, unfortunately they were around a football field that had been sprayed with pesticides (if I recall correctly) – they would of probably been hunting around there, eating insects that were likely contaminated. But, this aside, we not only heard the Scops Owl but got a fantastic sighting of the bird.

It sat for a good a minute as we all hurriedly took photos – it didn’t seem too distracted by the torch but we didn’t wish to bother it for long. As with the Little owl, it is in the family Strigidae – which contains most owl species. Again it’s a very small owl, having much the same diet as the Little owl. It was a terrific sighting, we were all rather gobsmacked. On the drive back, we wondered at how the trip could get any better – we had seen Bitterns, Bee-eaters and obviously the Little and Scops owl. Yet, somehow over the next couple of weeks, it did.

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White-tailed eagles, Wrynecks, Marsh Harriers, Pygmy Cormorants, Barred Warbler, Cuckoos, and a Bluethroat are just a handful of the 100 species we saw and heard during our time; and that’s just the birds. On our drives, we frequently spotted deer roaming the fields, their heads poking out of the wheat to gaze momentarily in our direction. Hares too, a personal favourite of mine, with their impressive ears and powerful legs. Two amazing sightings happened at Kis Balaton, which is a protected wetland area located about half an hour drive from us. The first of which was a wildcat – it was a distance away, but it was unmistakable in what it was. We only got brief glimpse of it before it slunk away, melting into the reeds. Bernie, who worked for the Barn Owl Foundation, who occasionally joined us on our adventures, then found a beautiful Marsh turtle, also known as a Pond turtle. It had stunning golden markings along its body, and during its mini ‘photoshoot’ it decided to hide beneath my camera bag. We returned it swiftly to the reedbed.

A personal favourite of mine were the Black Woodpeckers we sighted in a beech forest. Akos played their call, and within minutes a pair flew over, protectively guarding their territory. The sound of their beaks drumming against wood was so loud – I never imagined a woodpecker was capable of producing such a noise. It echoed throughout the woodland, brash and bold as they staked claim to their land. We had a terrific sighting as one flew around us; the size of a rook and jet black they were quite striking. They were the rulers of this domain, as evidenced by the various holes seen drilled into the trees seen throughout our walk. I was more than happy to be a guest in their world, if only briefly.

Hungary truly is a biodiversity hotspot, and it made me wonder that perhaps this is what the UK looked like, many decades ago, before intensive farming devastated the countryside. Perhaps not exactly the same, given the different geographical locations, but with that same wild, untamed charm that seemed stitched into the very fabric of the Hungarian countryside. Although yes, there are still pockets of wilderness scattered here and there in the UK, particularly in the far north, but personally I just feel our countryside has lost a lot of its natural strongholds, but I feel that’s a topic for another day. Yet with the threat of new infrastructure, such as a new ‘smart’ road to be built, Hungary’s wildlife may reach the same fate as our own.

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One experience we had was climbing into the bell towers of a few churches to observe and help ring Barn owl chicks – this was both amazing, yet at times nerve-wracking. Being in churches, I find there is always a sense of stillness; whether you’re religious or not. They are tranquil sanctuaries, consisting of Holy imagery celebrating life. But this was not the case once through the doors and into the bell towers. One of which was particularly memorable – we squeezed behind a gap in the wall into the tower, where we were met with darkness. A rickety staircase led up into the gloom above, which felt heavy and oppressive at times. Some sections were missing floorboards, which made the climb that much more thrilling, if slightly difficult to navigate. The quiet of the church was replaced with groan and creak of the wood as we scaled the stairs. There was a fine layer of dust, pigeon poo and other various things (doesn’t take a lot of imagination to guess what) coating every surface, leaving our clothes dusted in a layer of powder. The dust shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight that shone through the cracks in the walls, although this didn’t offer much in the way of light.

As scary as this may sound to some, it really wasn’t that terrifying; it was actually quite fun, especially once at the top where we were rewarded with three feisty barn owl chicks. Photography in the churches was difficult due to the conditions, so I took a chance to enjoy the moment – of being in a dusty bell tower whilst holding a delicate yet powerful little hunter in my hands. I really looked at the bird then - the way the feathers formed around its face, the sharpness of its claws and the structure of its wings. I was transfixed. Every part of this bird, over many years of evolution had adapted to become an expert aerial hunter – literal death from above.

The Barn owl, like most owl species, uses hearing to detect prey, with its ears placed asymmetrically either side of its head just behind the facial disk. The facial disk directs the sound towards the ears, whereas the asymmetrical placing of the ears allows the Barn Owl to locate prey with ease, the ears picking up the different sounds from all areas to give a precise location. The owl would then take flight and hover, its ears guiding the bird to the unfortune rodent. The owl would lock onto the target, usually a vole scurrying amongst the grasses beneath. With no warning, the bird would drop down into the grass, feet first with its talons outstretched. The vole would have had no chance to react, now just an unlucky victim to the owls hunger.

I wonder whether the lithe, feathered owl I held within my hands knew that within a few weeks it would become this deadly little predator.

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We did all this and more – even rafting one day! I acquired a new taste for Hungarian food and wine (Tokaji is seriously amazing), learnt what ‘Bagoly’ means and that it is not said how it is spelt and learnt a lot about…well, a great deal of things actually. I really did have an amazing time with some brilliant people, all from different backgrounds but all sharing that same passion and love for the natural world. Mike said to me at one stage during our trip that people who are passionate about the environment tend to be lovely people – and how true he was! We shared many laughs throughout our adventure; from discussing interesting festival stories, watching random clips of Robot Wars and Jackass, doing an interesting presentation together and even acquiring a sort of dislike towards cherries – a lot happened and I’m really thankful that I was with such a fantastic group of people.

Hungary had never been a country on my bucket list of destinations, yet now I wonder why it wasn’t. The scenery is a patchwork of grazed fields, forests, wild meadows, wetlands and rivers; all patched together creating a bright, vibrant landscape brimming with life. Everywhere we ventured was alive with bird song and splattered with the colours of various wildflowers. If you’re sceptical about travelling there; don’t be – it really is a stunning country I plan on visiting again.

Special thank you Ambios, Mike, Akos, Bernie and the rest of the guides throughout the trip – everyone was fantastic. Also a special thank you to Hungarian team of 2019; Alice, George, Brogan, Rowan and Joe, you were all brilliant!

Thank you for reading (if you made it this far)

Rosie

Atop Mountains High