I took a trip to Hungary and Romania in the summer and although it was very much a touristic trip, I tried to snap pics of birds when I could. Sometimes on the fly from a moving car/train. Now many of the species I saw and you'll see here won't be very exotic. In fact many of them have counterparts here in North America that are undoubtedly related. But they're still interesting if you've never seen them. I tried to take the best pics I could, but sometimes it's just a record shot.
What I found interesting is that I was able to see many of these species in the middle of big cities (like Budapest) or not far from human populations. In other words it's very similar to here in Ontario. People there don't seem to mistreat or pointlessly hunt birds. Although I'm not sure how much protection they enjoy. I did not make it to the Danube Delta in Romania where the river flows into the Black Sea or to Lake Balaton in Hungary, both of which are bird paradises. Maybe next time.
Hungary.
Didn't get to do too much birding in Hungary but considering most of these are from in and around Budapest, I still found impressive variety.
Hooded Crow. This was taken up on the Buda hill in Budapest right by the palace.
Great Cormorant. Very similar to our DC Cormorant. This was in a pond close to Hero's Square in Budapest. Not the best pic...was struggling with lighting a bit.
Eurasian Coot. Similar to American Coot. This was in the same pond as the above Cormorant.
Gray Heron. A bit smaller but otherwise nearly identical to our Great Blue. Across the street from the Great Cormorant was another pond where I found this Gray Heron. Again lighting conditions and distant shot made for a difficult photography:
Yellow Legged Gull. Gull ID can be tricky but this is as close as I was able to match up to what's in the pic. This was taken at foot of the Chain Bridge in Budapest.
Black-headed Gull. This was also taken from the Chain Bridge.
Blue Tit. This was on a walk down from Buda Hill to the Pest side. These are somewhat related to our Chickadees and even sound a bit like them. Sorry not a great pic.
Chaffinch. This was near a castle in Hungary. A juvenile apparently.
Romania Most of these are from the grasslands/famrlands where my cousin's house is built. Overall not a bad place for birding. But many of the pics were taken through the window due to a heatwave outside and skittish birds...so that impacted photo clarity somewhat.
Eurasian Magpie. Virtually identical to our Black-Billed Magpie.
Eurasian Tree Sparrow. The reason posted this is so that you don't forget to pay attention to all the species when you go Europe. For example I wrote off this bird as a House Sparrow but in fact it's a European Tree Sparrow...very similar but they do have differences. The swirly black patch on its cheek/ear is a good way to tell them apart from House Sparrows.
Eurasian or Little Kestrel. Similar to our American Kestrel. Saw him every morning before it got too hot.
European Stonechat. Another tough shot through the window.
Black Redstart. Another regular but very skittish visitor. Only shots were through the window.
Red-backed Shrike. Saw a couple of these on a regular basis.
Wood Warbler. Only saw this guy once and got a fleeting shot of him. Through the window.
Little Owl. Just like the Kestrel showed up every morning, the Little Owl showed up every evening. But usually when it was too late to take pictures. This pic was taken when there was just enough light left.
Jackdaw. In the city, these guys are very common. Very cool blue eyes.
White Stork. This is a bird from my childhood memories. Took the pic from a car...didn't get an opportunity to take another pic.
Rook. This pic is from a train. Wish I got better pics as I love the way these crow species looks. Next time.
Marsh Tit. They're basically the Black-Capped Chickadees of Europe. I even thought these might have been Chickadees at first. This was by the Hunyadi Castle in Hunedoara.
