A 2024. januári vízimadár-felmérés eredményei a Balatonon és a környező vizesélőhelyeken

Waterbird census was carried out on 49 survey plots around Lake Balaton and its surrounding wetlands on 14 January 2024, like in previous years (KOVÁCS, 2008a, 2008b, 2008c, 2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2013d, 2015, 2023a, 2023b, 2023c, 2023d, 2023e; KOVÁCS & HAJDU, 2015a, 2015b; KOVÁCS & BRUCKNER 2022a, 2022b, 2022c, 2025a, 2025b, 2025c, 2025d, 2025e) by BirdLife Hungary South-Balaton Local Group. A total of 37 waterbird species from 8 orders and 8 families were observed (Table 1). The Mallard was the most numerous species (>10,700 individuals), followed by the Eurasian Coot (>8,300), the Black-headed Gull (>7,000), the Greylag Goose (>5,900), the Tufted Duck (>4,900), the Greater White-fronted Goose (>4,300), the Great Cormorant (~3,300) and the Common Goldeneye (>3,100), all of which were also significant throughout the survey area. Noteworthy totals included nearly 1,000 Great Crested Grebes, 178 Black-necked Grebes, and 225 Common Mergansers. In fishponds and marshes, the dominant species (those with a dominance value D > 5%) were the Black-headed Gull, Mallard and Yellow-legged/Caspian Gull. On Lake Balaton itself, the dominant species were the Mallard, Eurasian Coot, Greylag Goose, Tufted Duck, Greater White-fronted Goose, Great Cormorant, Common Goldeneye and Black-headed Gull. The highest number of individual birds was counted at Balatonszárszó (>5,000 individuals). Additionally, more than 1,000 waterbirds were recorded at 17 other survey locations (Table 2 and Map 1). The highest species richness was recorded at Zamárdi, with 19 waterbird species observed. Furthermore, at 21 additional locations, more than 10 species were recorded (Map 2). Several locally outstanding records were also made: 1,551 Mallards at Balatonmáriafürdő; a flock of 3,000 wild geese at Balatonszemes; 1,000 White-fronted Geese and 1,790 Great Cormorants at B.őszöd-B.szárszó; 1,000 Common Goldeneyes at Balatonföldvár; 1,400 Eurasian Coots at Szántód; 2,500 and 1,200 Greylag Geese at Balatonakarattya and Balatonkenese, respectively; 1,400 and 1,030 Black-headed Gulls at Balatonfűzfő Tobruk and Balatonalmádi; 1,609 Eurasian Coots at Tihany Gödrös; 1600 Tufted Ducks and 1304 Eurasian Coots at Sajkod; 1,600 Greater White-fronted Geese at Fenékpuszta; 4000 Black-headed Gulls at Királyszentistván. Species occurring at more than half of the observation sites (constancy C > 50%) included the Mallard, Mute Swan, Eurasian Coot, Common Goldeneye, Yellow-legged/Caspian Gull, Black-headed Gull and Greylag Goose, indicating their widespread presence in the study area. An interesting faunistic result was the occurrence of the following species: Ferruginous Duck (2-3-4-1 ind. at Balatonboglár, Balatonlelle, Ábrahámhegy, Királyszentistván); Greater Scaup (1-90-2 ind. at Balatonszemes, Zamárdi, Balatonakali); Common Scoter (1 ind. at Csopak); Black-necked Grebe (1-1-175-1 ind. at Balatonszárszó, Szántód, Zamárdi, Siófok); Pallas's Gull (1 ind. at Fonyód); Red-throated Diver (1-3 ind. at Zamárdi, Tihany Gödrös); Black-throated Diver (3-2-1-1-2 ind. at Zamárdi, Balatonalmádi, Csopak kikötő, Tihany Gödrös, Sajkod).