Vig Károly: Zoological Research in Western Hungary. A history (Szombathely, 2003)

186 Phylum Vertebrata mention further Fertő occurrences of the whimbrel (HADARICS 1997d and 1998c). Three Transdanubian occurrences of the slender-billed curlew are known (HARASZTHY 1998) and it has also been recorded on the Austrian side of Fertő (BAUER and FREUNDL 1955). Earlier sources (GRESCHNIK 1931b; SIKÓ 1931; STUDINKA 1935a and 195 7b) suggest the common curlew (N. arquata) bred regularly in the Hanság, but only a couple of pairs were found in 1982 (FÜLÖP 1983). There are no breeding records from Fertő. Difficulties of identifying curlews in the field are revealingly discussed in an article by GYÖRGY TRASER (1984d). The marsh sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis) had also bred regularly at Fertő and in the Hanság (SCHENK 1934c; GRESCHNIK 1943). It was still breeding in small numbers in Hungary in the 1940s, but nesting was last observed in 1958 (STERBETZ 1965). More recently, it has returned to several parts of the country and several occurrences have been recorded at Fertő as well (STERBETZ 1970; HADARICS 1998c; HADARICS et al. 1992b). Several red-necked phalaropes (Phalaropus lobatus) were observed at Fertő and near Fertőújlak between autumn 1997 and summer 1998 (HADARICS 1997d, 1998c and 1998d). There were early published observations of the Pomarine skua (Stercorarius pomarinus) at Fertő (LÁZÁR 1862; FÁSZL 1883; AUMÜLLER 1973), but only four certified reports of it on the lake have appeared (HARASZTHY 1998). It is very difficult to identify in the field, so that there may have been other occurrences. The Nomenclature Committee certified with hindsight an earlier occurrence, for which the evidence was a specimen from the Fertőújlak district prepared in September 1976 (KÁRPÁTI 1983b; MME NOMENCLATOR BIZOTTSÁG 1998c). The great skua (S. skua) has been observed in the bird-observatory bay at Fertő (MOGYORÓSI and MOLNÁR 1998). This first certified occurrence of the species at Fertő (MME NOMENCLATOR BIZOTTSÁG 1998b) was the sixth in the country. The long-tailed skua (S. longicaudus) is Hungary's second most abundant skua, but only about twenty occurrence data have accumulated since the beginning of the 20th century. LÁSZLÓ STUDINKA (1939) observed it in the Hanság at Lebeny. For the Arctic skua (S. parasiticus), there are two earlier observations (AUMÜLLER 1973) and four more recent ones (PELLENGÉR and SOPRONI 1995 and 1999) from Fertő. Breeding by the Mediterranean gull (Larus melanocephalus) was first observed on Fehér Lake at Szeged, where it has nested regularly since 1953 (HARASZTHY 1998). More recently, it has also settled at Fertő, where the first breeding occurrence was observed by ANTAL FESTETICS (1959). Twelve pairs bred at the habitat-reconstruction area in Fertőújlak in 1996 (SZELL and BAKACSI 1996), since when examples have been seen there several times (HADARICS 1998c). Earlier occasions on which the species bred in Hungary were summed up by JAKAB SCHENK (1916b). RUDOLF ZIMMERMANN (1940a and 1940b) wrote about Fertő occurrences of the little gull (L. minutus). Earlier Fertő occurrence data for the species were given by CHRISTIAN ERARD (1961). It appears as a regular bird of passage at Fertő and appears irregularly in the Hanság as well. The Fertő occurrences of the black-headed gull (L. ridi-