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

188 Phylum Vertebrata the little tern (S. albifrons) at Fertő were summarized by PÉTER BERETZK (1940). Observations were again made in the 1990s (PELLINGER and SOPRONI 1995 and 1999; HADARICS 1998C; MME NOMENCLATOR BIZOTTSÁG 1998a and 1998b). Scops owl (Otus scops) is known to have bred in the Fertő district (RANDIK 1959), although a more recent communication (BANKOVICS et al. 2002) does not mention the species at Fertő. The hawk owl (Surnia ulula) has been observed on the Austrian side of the lake (GRÖGL 1940 and 1949). There are only three certified occurrences of the species in Hungary. The snowy owl (Nyctea scandiaca) is a very rare vagrant with only a single Hanság record, at Lébény on April 20, 1987 (BALSAY 1988). The short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) is the only owl species to build a nest in Hungary. It was a more or less regular breeder only in the Hanság (CERVA 1896, 1930a and 1930b; KABÁCZY 1930; STUDINKA 1935a), but these days only wintering birds have been seen. It nested by Fertő in the recent past (HADARICS et al. 1993d). Apart from Fertő and the Hanság, it has been observed nesting in several other places in Hungary (SCHMIDT 1960; HARASZTHY 1998). ISTVÁN FÁSZL (1883) described the bee-eater (Merops apiaster) as a 'rare sight' beside Fertő. GYÖRGY BREUER (1950C) observed it only three times in almost three decades of activity at Sopron and Fertő. There was a breeding record at Fertő in 1949 (SZIJJ 1955a), but then it was a quarter of a century before a bee-eater was observed again on the edge of Fertőrákos in 1984. In the same year, the Illmitz ornithologist ALFRED GRÜLL observed two pairs breeding on the opposite side, in sandpits at Mörbisch (Fertőmeggyes). In the spring of 1986, six pairs were found nesting in suitable habitats on the Hungarian side of Fertő (KÁRPÁTI 1989a). A larger colony is known in the Hanság, at Dőr Hill by Király Pond, and a few pairs breed between Osli and Öntésmajor. There are breeding records near several other villages round the national park (RAGATS 2001). The red-throated pipit (Anthus cervinus) has been observed near Fertőújlak (HADARICS 1997d) as a regular passage migrant in small numbers. The dunnock (Prunella modularis) is a rare nester in Hungary with scattered breeding records in the area discussed (BALSAY 1989a). It is a regular passage migrant in spring and autumn. The number of grasshopper warblers (Locustella naevia) breeding in the Hanság has been declining in recent years (FÜLÖP 1978b and 1983). It breeds sporadically at Fertő. RUDOLF ZIMMERMANN (1940a and 1940b) wrote about the distribution of the aquatic warbler (Acrocephalus paludicola) at Fertő. Breeding by the species was also thought possible by JENŐ GRESCHNIK (1930). The one known Fertő record, at Eszterháza (Fertőd) on September 28, 1892, was a specimen that joined the Léka collection (AUMÜLLER, 1966). The paddyfield warbler (A. agricola) is a very rare vagrant in Hungary with two observations known (SZIMULY and MOGYORÓSI in press). The mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus) is an occasional breeder in Szárhalom Wood, beside Fertőboz and in the Hanság woods (BALSAY 1986). The first observation of the longtailed shrike (Lanius schach) in Hungary was made in the Hanság, in a willow bed