Month: May 2009

Our 12 days tour with Birdquest was a great success again! We had recorded 220 species on the tour with some amazing highlights. The previous record of 222 species for this tour was not far but we simply run out of possible birds.

We started our tour in the Zemplén area where we had Black Stork, White-tailed Eagle and Black Kite upon arrival. Next day we had great encounter with Ural Owl, Eagle Owl and White-backed Woodpecker on the first full day of birding! The Corncrakes and River Warblers were late this year but we managed to get both at the very last morning in this remarkable area of rolling hills.

Ural Owl

White-backed Woodpecker

We also made a short visit to Slovakia where we saw many Crossbills (strangely absent of the higher regions this year) and a few Hazel Grouse and had an initial taste of the high altitude species. Although we heard Three-toed Woodpecker it proved elusive. Next day we made a quick visit to see the localised Short-toed Lark and continued our journey to Transylvania.

Short-toed Lark

Our first day in this forgotten corner of Europe produced Woodlark, Crag Martin, Rock Thrush, Scops Owl and Ortolan and Rock Buntings.

Ortolan Bunting

Later we drove to Székelyudvarhely in the heart of Hargita. In this pristine area we had two days of fantastic birding with many great birds like: Capercaillie, Hazel Grouse, Jack Snipe, Ring Ouzel, Black and Three-toed Woodpeckers, Red-breasted Flycatcher,Wallcreeper, Nutcraker, Red-throated Pipit, Crested Tit and many others.

Black Woodpecker

Three-toed Woodpecker

Red-throated Pipit

Thrush Nightingale

We also must not forget that despite positioning this tour mainly for the birds, in some years we are able to see a few bears at the very end of their viewing season. This year we got really lucky with six different bears seen in the late hours of the day!

Our last port of call was Hungary´s most celebrated birdwatching area: the Hortobágy National Park! And yet again this superb area did leave up to its billing as one of the finest birdwatching area in Europe. We had excellent looks of the star birds like Long-legged Buzzard, Red-footed Falcon, Saker, Great Bustard, Little Crake, Stone-curlew, Aquatic Warbler, Moustached Warbler, Lesser Grey Shrike and others. We also had a few surprises as usual in this bird-filled area. A magnificent Dalmatian Pelican and a flock of breeding plumaged Dotterels were unexpected.

Dalmatian Pelican

Dotterels

Bearded Tit

All photographs: Zoltán Baczó

All in all we had an action-packed holiday with a lot to remember!

Gabriella Tóth, Zoltán Baczó, Zoltán Petrovics

We had a classic Carpathian Basin transect tour between 27^th April and 6^th May 2009, during the 10 days of which we visited all of the important birding sites. In spite of the extreme drought in spring all specialist species were found on their habitats, in fantastic weather conditions, only one afternoon was rainy in the higher mountains of the Carpathians.

After one day of travelling we spent one whole day in the Hortobágy, where characteristic Hortobágy species, such as Red-footed Falcon, Stone-Curlew, Long-eared Owl, Moustached Warbler, Crane, Saker, Glossy Ibis, Ferruginous Duck, Pygmy Cormorant, White-tailed Eagle, Temminck´s Stint, Tawny Pipit, Hoopoe and several other species were “drawn out of a magician´s hat” one after another, and a total of 104 species were observed by the end of the second day.  

The next day we set off for Transylvania. There, having travelled through the wetland habitats as well as the Carpathian Foothills, we got into some higher lying regions, where patches of snow reminded us of the past winter and the change was welcome after the 30 °C hot weather of the previous days. We did not have to miss variety here, either: almost every moment brought some interesting species including specialities like Capercaillie, Red-necked Grebe, Goshawk, Lesser Spotted and Golden Eagle, Great Snipe (very rare in Transylvania), Little Owl, Scops Owl, Tawny Owl, Lesser Spotted, Syrian, Black and Three-toed Woodpecker, Nutcracker, Crested Tit, Red-throated Pipit, Rock Bunting, White-winged Tern, Little Gull, Wallcreeper, Dipper, Ortolan Bunting, Ring Ouzel, Alpine Swift, Thrush Nightingale, Great Grey Shrike and many more. And of course I must not forget to mention the seven Brown Bears we saw, which, just as in an action-packed theatre play, were walking up and down in front of the hide. Transylvania was simply amazing with its intact habitats and its traditional, landscape-friendly man-made environment.  It was a pleasant surprise for us that last year smaller roads were rebuilt, which also contributed to an even more convenient and enjoyable tour. 

Having arrived back into summer from spring, we spent the last days of the tour again in the Great Hungarian Plain, mainly in the Hortobágy, where we devoted our time to finding bird species missed earlier. Fortunately, species came on time, just as for a meeting: Great Bustard, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Imperial Eagle, Montague´s Harrier, Aquatic Warbler, Marsh Warbler, Lesser Grey Shrike, Roller, Bluethroat, Collared Flycatcher, Long-legged Buzzard, and Saker Falcon again. A memorable tour, not just because of the nearly two hundred species we saw but also thanks to the delicious meals like the breakfast in Torockó.  

Gábor Simay

In the first two weeks of May several mobile hides were positioned to capture some of our most colourful birds!

Our Hoopos Hide is very good since the first few days of May. Check out some more pictures: http://www.sakertour.com/hidegallery.php?hide=25

Photo: János Oláh

Our Roller Hide is starting to be in action. Best activity is in the next two weeks. Check our some more pictures: http://www.sakertour.com/hidegallery.php?hide=26

Photo: János Oláh