The Good Life in Aggtelek National Park Part XXXIV: Bird Ringing Camp and Zucchini Season

Kata asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday this year, and I said that I simply wanted to take a walk in the woods and maybe gather some mushrooms. Our neighbours declared that the fields around the Valley Bird Migration Research and Nature Protection Camp were full of field mushrooms. Being a beautiful fall day and in need of some fresh air and exercise, Kata and I headed out into the woods down the wagon trail by the Bódva River towards Perkupa. The bird ringing camp has been held annually since 1986, and this year is on from August 14-October 27. Volunteers from universities, NGOs and Aggtelek National Park rotate every 1-2 weeks while staying in tents. We found some walnuts along the way, but no mushrooms. At the camp, we were greeted slightly unenthusiastically by 4 university student volunteers preparing an early lunch in a cauldron over a campfire by the river. They collect birds hourly out of 44 nets strung down paths and between trees, weigh them, collect data and ring them before re-releasing them. One of the guys went off on his round to collect the birds in small cloth bags while we waited for about half an hour for him to return with his loot. He came back with about ten birds, which they then weighed in a nifty contraption cobbled together from a scale and a quarter of a milk bag into which they dumped the birds head first before clipping the bag and the bird to the scale using a curtain clip. It was funny to see them blow the feathers on the birds' bellies to test the health of the feathers. They generally ring over a hundred birds a day. Then they were nice enough to hold the birds up for us to photograph before they were released. For more information please click here, or contact Roland Farkas, 06-30-637-5149, farkasro@yahoo.com

This weekend we will celebrate European Birdwatcher's Day at Aggtelek National Park. During autumn migration season, Aggtelek National Park, together with the local chapter of the Hungarian Bird and Nature Conservation Association (MME) are organising a bird watching excursion along a temporarily purpose-built nature trail in Szalonna. Spot and learn about the migrating birds, bird census taking and bird ringing. This global event during the first weekend in October is celebrated annually under the leadership of Birdlife International. This day is an opportunity for people to discover the beauty and importance of the world's birds. On this day birdwatchers in most European countries go out to their favourite birding locations to spot as many birds as they can and then enter their data into a common database.

Besides being a World Heritage site, Aggtelek National Park, its Baradla Cave system, and entire the catchment area have been a designated Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (1971) site since 2001. The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental treaty that commits its member countries to maintain the ecological character of their Wetlands of International Importance and to plan for the "wise use," or sustainable use, of all of the wetlands in their territories. This includes the protection and conservation of the wetlands themselves, as well as the flora and fauna that inhabit and utilise these areas - especially waterfowl.

Location: Bird Ringing Camp, Szalonna

Time: all day
Tickets: Free
More information: Tourinform-Aggtelek, Tel: 48/ 503-000, aggtelek@tourinform.hu

Guided bird watching tours are also being held at the Tokaj Nature Reserve and in Szerencs this weekend:

Szerencs

Date and Time: October 4, 9:00am
Location: Szerencs
Meeting Point: Szerencs, parking lot next to train station
Information: Gábor Firmánszky  30/239-4521, István Béres  30/526-7409

Tokaj Nature Reserve
Date and Time: October 5., 9:00am
Location: Tokaj, Tiszaladányi fishing lakes
Meeting Point: Tokaj, train station.
Information: Gábor Firmánszky  30/239-4521, István Béres 30/526-7409

In the meantime, the garden is still producing to some extent. Finally we have a few hot peppers growing late in the season, we got a couple gourds of the vines, and the pumpkin vines are in flower. Kata pickled some beets, and I think we will pick the last of the French beans. The garden rocket, which we left in the ground, is producing a new crop of healthier but bitterer crop of leaves. We jarred a bunch of pesto, and have enough basil for plenty more. The zucchini, as expected, is very productive. We have made yummy zucchini bread several times, zucchini-lemon cookies, a zucchini-chocolate chip cake, zucchini-lemon cream spread, pickled zucchini, and preserved jars of zucchini-garlic spread. The carrots are still surviving well in the ground. I would like to try and preserve a bunch of our oregano, mint, sage, marjoram and other herbs if possible. Maybe a new attempt at sage szörp.

While I was away last week, Gabor and Krisztina Koltay sent over as promised a book of mushroom recipes and some of their elderflower wine. They are also now processing their beet crop into various "royal treats," alongside their mushroom and fruit products. The wine got much stronger as we got lower into the bottle! Kata helped Simon and Dori pick about 20 kg of apples for another neighbour and took home some homemade red onion cheese in return. Sanyi also brought over a half bucket of Peppery Milk-Cap mushrooms (keserű gomba) which are an acquired taste and a lot of work to process, but we like them a lot for their unusual flavour.