A male Smew (Mergellus albellus) thru my scope. Just missed the dive! 😀 You can always tell when it's ready to dive because it completely flattens its crest. #BirdingHungary #smews #ducks #mergansers #waterfowl

The lady Smew (Mergellus albellus) hanging out with the Tufted Ducks. #BirdingHungary #ducks #waterfowl

This Mute Swan crash landed on the ice right in front of me. It was so close, I couldn't get all of it in the viewfinder. 😀 #BirdingHungary #waterfowl #swans

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) "HP64". Color-ringed a little over a year ago at a landfill about 33 kms from where I saw it. Since it was banded, it has been reported 28 times mostly round Siófok on Lake Balaton. This bird doesn't wander very far. #BirdingHungary #gulls #seegulls

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) about to be run over by the Lake Balaton ferry. 😂 (kidding.. they're too quick) Breeding plumage is spectacular compared to dull winter plumage, except for the bill. The beak is bright pink in winter but much darker during breeding #BirdingHungary #grebes

The male Common Goldeneye was like, "Okay, I've had just about enough of your nonsense. Good bye!" 😄 #BirdingHungary #ducks #waterfowl

♂️ Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) among the ice floes on Lake Balaton. One of the commonest winter diving #ducks in Hungary. The Latin name means noisy bullhead. Sounds about right. 😂 It was such a dull, overcast day that the lustrous dark green of the head appeared black. #BirdingHungary

A very dapper adult ♂️ Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) #BirdingHungary #ducks #waterfowl

Slide show of a food fight. A ♂️ Common Merganser caught a fish that was too big to swallow, but that didn't stop his buddies from trying to steal his catch. In the end, the fish landed on the ice and flopped back into the water, so nobody got it. 😀 #BirdingHungary #ducks #waterfowl #mergansers

🎵 Ferry cross the Mersey... well, actually it's the ferry across cold and snowy Lake Balaton 😄 #BirdingHungary #Balaton #LakeBalaton

The snow, ice & sub-zero temperatures thru most of January has taken it's toll. Today at Lake Balaton I counted 11 dead mute swans as well as a few dead gulls and ducks. It's a wonder they don't just high-tail it to the Adriatic coast. #BirdingHungary #waterfowl

A ♀️ Smew (Mergellus albellus) in company with a ♀️ Tufted Duck. My life Smew was 52 years ago... March 02, 1974 at Reifel Bird Sanctuary south of Vancouver, Canada. At the time, I thought it was a female, but it was determined to be an immature male. #BirdingHungary #ducks #mergansers #smews

Another cool duck from Lake Balaton. A male Smew (Mergellus albellus). The tiniest merganser, it's even smaller than a Hooded Merganser. There is a ton of these moving thru Hungary right now. Yesterday I saw 243 on a single small lake. 😲 #BirdingHungary #ducks #mergansers #smews

It was a ducky day at Lake Balaton. The lake is still frozen over which concentrates the #waterfowl in the few patches of open water ... like the ferry route between Szántod and Tihany. Here is a female Greater Scaup (Aythya marila). Uncommon winter visitor to Hungary. #BirdingHungary #ducks

What better bird for a great grey and rainy day, than a Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor) 😀 #BirdingHungary #shrikes

Speaking of #swans I saw a Mute Swan today with a strange kink in its neck. Its neck was like this even when it was flying. 😲 #BirdingHungary #waterfowl

Another image of today's Whooper Swan. Cruising around with its buddies the Mute #Swans 😀 #BirdingHungary #waterfowl

Heavy leaden overcast with constant drizzle... but this brightened up my day. I found a Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) in company with a pack of Mute Swans. A scarce bird in Hungary. #BirdingHungary #swans #waterfowl #SuperDuperWhooper

Mute Swans and Greater White-fronted Geese chilling together. The geese really like these short, grassy fields in winter. Not sure how much nutrition they can extract from grass, but it must be something because they eat a lot of it. #BirdingHungary #geese #swans #waterfowl #wildgeese

More Great Bustards (Otis tarda). In Latin, "tarda" means slow (that's where the word tardy comes from) so I decided to give these guys a double shot of Starbucks espresso ☕☕ to speed them up a bit! 😂 #BirdingHungary #bustards #bigbirds

A Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) against the snow. After penguins, #swans have the most feathers of any type of bird, and most of that is on the neck. All those tiny, densely packed feathers insulate the neck when they plunge their heads into the icy water. #BirdingHungary #waterfowl

Another thrush for #ThrushRushThursday Male Common Blackbird (Turdus merula) in front of my window. #BirdingHungary #thrushes #blackbirds

Portrait of a Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) #BirdingHungary #thrushes #ThrushRushThursday

Syrian Woodpecker (Dendrocopus syriacus). In Hungary, it tends to be found near human settlement. Relatively open spaces in parks and gardens. #BirdingHungary #woodpeckers #WoodpeckerWednesday

No Spotted Redshanks around right now, but here is one from last fall. With sound, you can hear its familiar "chuwit" call. #BirdingHungary #WaderWednesday #shorebirds #waders #sandpipers

A quick snippet of Red-capped Plover at Bald Hill Beach, north of Adelaide. #BirdingAustralia #plovers #shorebirds #waders #WaderWednesday

The Crested Larks (Galerida cristata) are so well camouflaged against the bare, muddy ground they like to call home. If they weren't so vocal, they would be so easy to overlook. #BirdingHungary #larks

Rather than taking flight right away like they usually do, this Great Cormorant waddled up the side of the dyke. Once it got to level ground, then it took off. 😀 #BirdingHungary #cormorants #waterfowl

Another bird grateful for the warmer weather. Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). #BirdingHungary #cormorants #waterfowl

The Gray Herons are glad the cold snap is over and there is now some open water. That means they can find food! 🐟🐟 #BirdingHungary #herons #waders

Bunch of Greater White-fronted #Geese and Mute #Swans loafing in a field. With all the cold and snow earlier this month, many of the geese have shifted south but there is still reasonable numbers around. #BirdingHungary

This Corn Bunting (Emberiza calandra) wasn't too happy I didn't give it time to clean the dirt off its beak before I took its picture. "Just look at me.. I'm a mess!" 😂 #BirdingHungary #buntings

Big flock of Common #Linnets (Linaria cannabina) yesterday. The genus and species name comes from its partiality to flax and hemp seeds. I get them in the yard in spring and summer, but in winter, they abandon suburbia for the farmland. Probably easier to find food. #BirdingHungary #finches

These two juvenile Eastern Imperial Eagles (Aquila heliaca) were fighting over the remains of a dead coot. #BirdingHungary #eagles #birdsofprey

Thousands of these moving thru the farmland and puszta right now. Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris). Strictly a winter bird in Hungary although it breeds very close by in several of the neighbouring countries. #BirdingHungary #thrushes

Portrait of a male Great Bustard from today. The males are much larger than the females and have a much thicker and paler neck. The north part of the Kiskunság is very reliable for this species right now. #BirdingHungary #bustards #bigbirds

Phonescope video of a few of the Great Bustards (Otis tarda) I saw this afternoon. Watching these big boys is a great way to spend a Sunday! 😀 #BirdingHungary #bustards #bigbirds

The male Hen Harrier saying "Arrivaderci" . Guess he was tired of the attention. 😀 #BirdingHungary #harriers #hawks #birdsofprey

Male Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus). This is the common winter harrier in Hungary. #BirdingHungary #harriers #birdsofprey #hawks

Gray #Partridges are reasonably common in Hungarian farmland but hard to see because they are always under cover. Except when it snows. For some reason, when it is very cold and lots of snow on the ground, they like to sit out in the open. Not sure why that is. #BirdingHungary

Another short phonescope video from yesterday.. the Great Grey Shrike. 😀 #BirdingHungary #shrikes

One of yesterday's Saker #Falcons . Crappy video bcuz thru my scope & there was so much moisture in the air.. ice crystals and fog.. that my phone had trouble focusing properly. You can see the dark underwing coverts contrasting with paler flight feathers. #BirdingHungary #birdsofprey #sakers

Standing like a sentinel over a cold, snowy, windswept plain, watching intently for any movement... the butcher bird... a Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor). No bugs in the grip of winter so its diet at this time of year is mice, voles and other small songbirds. #BirdingHungary #shrikes

This shot show you just how close the two Sakers were sitting to one another. Maybe a mated pair. It won't be too long now before they are getting the nest ready and starting to raise a family. #Sakers breed reasonably early in the spring. #BirdingHungary #falcons #birdsofprey

Here's the second Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug). This one a bit darker. #BirdingHungary #falcons #birdsofprey #sakers

Lucky today to run into a pair of endangered Saker Falcons (Falco cherrug) sitting on the ground. Uncommon resident and breeder in Hungary. This is the paler of the two individuals. #BirdingHungary #falcons #BirdsOfPrey #sakers

1 out of every 4 birds I saw during my Australia trip was not a lifer, and this is one of them.... Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybridus). Lots down under, but also one of the commoner summer marsh #terns in Hungary. #BirdingAustralia

Another "great" bird that gets around.. Great Egret (Ardea alba). Found on every continent except Antarctica. Didn't see very many in south Australia though. This was the only one I saw in Tasmania. #BirdingAustralia #BirdingTasmania #herons #egrets

Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). The widest range of any cormorant, this species can be found from Greenland to Tasmania and just about everywhere in between. #BirdingTasmania #BirdingAustralia #cormorants #waterfowl

From Linnaeus to Lizard 😄 Saw this little guy running around the ecalyptus forest but haven't had a chance yet to check the ID. #WildAustralia #lizards #reptiles