Keve András, Sági Károly Jenő: A Bakony természettudományi kutatásának eredményei 7. - Keszthely és környékének madárvilága (Veszprém, 1970)

The birds of Keszthely and its surroundings (Summary)

most characteristic were the stock dove, the roller, the hoopoe, and the golden oriole. As its most remarkable feature can be considered the fact that both treecreeper species had been found here by Steinfatt. It is still worth mentioning that in the lofts of the buildings, in sheds and in hollow trees also the little owl breeds here, although its nesting has been rendered extremely difficult by the closed garret-windows. The most frequent birds of the shore are the savi's-warbler, the moustached warbler, the great reed-warbler, the little bittern. Sometimes the penduline tit builds its nest in the willows of the shore. The mallard and the common coot used to stay only in years when in winter the reed had not been cut off completely and consequently the bathers, anglers and excursionists do not visit the shore too frequently in summer. Nevertheless many birds (herons, spoon-bills, cormorants) from the region of Kisbalaton (Little Balaton) used to visit this area to look for nurishment in the time of breeding. Even grey-leg-geese leading their young had already been seen here, but it is not likely that they were breeding here. In times of migration there used to be very strong flights of wild-geese over the city and its surroungings. These are wild-geese from the fields around Sármellék or from farther away that fly in to the Balaton for the sake of drinking or of spending the night there and afterwards fly back to their area of nurishment. In the past century the bean goose had been the prevailing species. The high frequency of the white-fronted goose is mentioned among others by LOVASSY (1925) and KELLER (1929). This was the situation in 1946, but it looks so as if since 1965 the bean goose had reconquered the ground again. As it has been mentioned in the foregoing, the waterbirds will be discussed in another treatise, since a great deal of them hardly touch the dry-land. Similar is the case of most of the herons, although some of them like to be fishing in the canals of the grove. Of the birds of the shore the ringed plover, the alpine and the little stint, the grey plover, common sandpiper, and the greenshank appear regularly, especially at the time of the autumnal migration, until they find suitable shores. In the pines, between March and September, the coal titmouse makes its regular appearance

—once it built its nest around the Mausoleum (1964). From October to March the mistle thrush is always to be found in the bunches of mistletoe, while the fieldfares used to form flocks of hundreds in the meadows. Sometimes, at the times of the autumn and spring migration one can see vast flocks of pipits on the Balaton-shore while along the canals the water-pipit and the grey wagtail appear even in wintertime. A plentiful yield of the Japanese acacia gives winter-food to flocks of waxwings for months and a similar service is rendered by the pines to the crossbills in fall or late in sommer, although the latter species is not represented in such a high number as the former. In wintertime especially flocks of mixed finches are frequent in which mainly the brambling, the greenfinch and the linnet take the lead. The privet-bushes and maple-trees attract especially bullfinches while the roadsides are visited mostly by yellow-hammers. It must be underlined that there are winters when in the Keszthely Park the flocks of hawfinches reach the hundred. The siskin used to be a regular winterguest of the alder-woods appearing in huge flocks. As a matter of fact the birds of prey appear in wintertime only one at a time. The most characteristic ones are the hen-harrier, the white-tailed eagle, the merlin and the peregrine falcon which was observed by SZIJJ in August (1951) in the direction of Gyenesdiás. Rough-legged buzzards could be observed only sporadically in the last 10 years. Of the sporadically occurring species the following deserve mention: the black stork (1895, 1896, 1934, 1955, 1956, 1962) the whooper swan (1921, 1943, 1949) the barnacle-goose (1948), shelo.uck (1808. 1920). the long-tailed duck (1901), the little bustard (1902), the crane (1937, 1952, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966. 1967), the oystercatcher (1933). the little godwit (1949, 1952), the turnstone (1949), the tenuirostrate phalarope (1946). the stilt (1395), the alpine chough (1964), the ring-ouzel (1954), the thrush-rightingale (1956), the redpoll (1924) and the snow-bunting (without date, around 1900) etc. Unprooved species are the lesser white-fronted goose and the rock bunting (KELLER). Unfurtunately it cannot be ascertained where the three-toed woodpecker was shot, which was seen by HOMEYER in the collection of the pharmacist R. BRAUN in 1892 (SCHENK 1917).