Owls in Hungary & Slovakia, May 2015.

Long-eared Owl Asio otus, Nadudvar (Hungary).

 We had some very nice encounters with owls during the recent Limosa tour to Hungary and Slovakia.
The grounds of the hotel in Hortobagy were simply filled with birds in a nice mix of habitats - lake with reed-fringed margins, oak woodlands with dense understory and gallery woodland with scrub.
One of the first species we saw was Long-eared Owl roosting in Willows over the lake and these could be seen every day, only shifting roosting positions slightly.

Eurasian Eagle Owl Bubo bubo, Zemplen Hills (Hungary).

 In the Zemplen Hills we were treated to this nesting Eagle Owl on a hot and rather hazy morning. The adult can just be seen in the centre but the four chicks were almost impossible to see.
Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus, Red-backed Shrikes Lanius collurio, European Bee-eaters Merops apiaster and Wood Lark Lullula arborea were also on view while watching these owls at distance through the 'scopes.

The forests of the Slovakian Ore Mountains, May 2015.

Tengmalm's Owl Aegolius funereus, Slovakia May 2015.

 A two-day excursion into Slovakia took us into the Ore Mountains mainly for woodpeckers, but obviously there were various bonus birds too. This Tengmalm's Owl certainly fell into that category during a real 'purple patch' that included Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides tridactylus (the main reason for visiting Slovakia), White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopus leucotos, Crested Tit and later a Nutcracker Nucifraga caryocatactes.

Eurasian Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus, Nadudvar.

Back in Hungary we did manage to see 'the big one' - Ural Owl Strix uralensis, but unfortunately this individual remained in the canopy and impossible to photograph.

This migrant Eurasian Nightjar was found roosting over the lake near our hotel one morning.