Great egret colonies in the Tiszazug

Each spring, the aerial monitoring of the protected great egret (Egretta alba) breeding colonies takes place in the Central Tisza – Jászság region. This year, we took off on 30^th April from the Szolnok airport to assess great egret and mute swan population sizes in eutrophic lakes overgrown with reedbeds, oxbows and inland water pools. From the air, the number of nesting pairs can be relatively precisely estimated either on the spot or retrospectively, from the aerial photographs.

The largest colony – cca. 150 pairs – was found on the Dead Tisza near Cibakháza. Some nests are built every year on the Csukás-fertő and the Csépai-fertő (Tiszakürt), where this year we registered 25 and 50 breeding pairs respectively. Every now and then, old fishponds also provide nesting sites for the iconic bird species of Hungarian nature conservation – this year the Bábockai fishponds in Öcsöd give home to 15 pairs of great egrets. During the aerial survey, we recorded and documented 300-320 breeding attempts of great egrets and 29 attempt of the mute swan in total.

Zoltán Sallai

ranger of the HNPD