Month: June 2009

We finished our nine-day Ukrainian tour organised by Liberty Tour. The tour focussed especially on the Crimean Peninsula. We were welcome by the endless and treeless steppe dressed in blue-yellow flowers with real sunny summer weather, and this perfect birding spell was disturbed only by smaller showers in one afternoon.

The days spent in the Crimea had a true eastern European atmosphere, although the vast habitats proved that we were somewhere in the easternmost corner of Europe. Besides flat and hilly steppes, extensive, brackish water lagoons, steppe lakes, limestone gorges, dry hornbeam-oak and coniferous forests, reed beds, patches of planted woods and seashores were visited by us.

Eastern European migrating and breeding species are really common here, such as Marsh Harrier, Red-footed Falcon, Crane, Black-winged Stilt, Little Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Scops Owl, Hoopoe, Bee-eater, Syrian Woodpecker, Tawny Pipit, Black-headed Wagtail, Great Reed Warbler, Icterine Warbler, Collared Flycatcher, Red-backed Shrike, Lesser Grey Shrike, Golden Oriole, Corn Bunting, Ortolan Bunting, Squacco Heron, Purple Heron, Glossy Ibis, Long-legged Buzzard, Honey Buzzard, Barred Warbler, Hobby, Avocet, Collared Pratincole, Kentish Plover, Brood-billed Sandpiper, Roller, Thrush Nightingale, Penduline Tit, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Great Bustard, Short-toed Lark, Red-necked Grebe, Alpine Swift, Rock Bunting, Firecrest, Black Stork, Rock Thrush, Siskin, Crossbill and Pygmy Cormorant.

Due to the closeness of the Black Sea, some marine species or species confined to the lagoons like Shellduck, Sandwich Tern, Grey Plover, Turnstone, Sanderling, Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot, Little Tern, Caspian Tern, Arctic Skua, Yelkoun Shearwater and Shag are also representatives of the avifauna here.

A real speciality is the presence of some real steppe range species that make the list of observed species extremely interesting, such as White Pelican, Ruddy Shellduck, Pallas´s Gull, Calandra Lark, Slender-billed Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Paddyfield Warbler, Booted Eagle, Demoiselle Crane, Little Bustard, Isabelline Wheatear, Rose-coloured Starling, Black-headed Bunting, Pied Wheatear, Black and Griffon Vulture and Citrine Wagtail.

It was a superb tour with 181 species recorded.

The Sakertour Team

Slender-billed Gulls

In a two full and two half day trip we visited the Zemlén-hills and the higher mountains around Rejdova (Slovakia), while the last evening and the next morning were spent in the Hortobágy with a couple from the US. In the first afternoon we managed to see 4 Ural Owls, White-backed Woodpecker and Collared Flycatcher. The following day despite the continous rain we saw a Nutcracker and had prolonged and very close views of a Three-toed Woodpecker. We also managed to see 6 other species of woodpeckers, Corncrake, Short-toed, Lesser Spottes and Eastern Imperial Eagles. Despite of the windy weather, some of the River Warblers were still singing form a pearch, while Barred Warblers were buisy to carry food for their nestlings. In the Hortobágy, beside many other we saw a diplaying Aquatic Warbler and a fine male Great Bustrad.

Simay Gábor

Lesser Spotted Eagle                                             Simay Gábor

Juv. Bearded Tit                     Simay Gábor

We had a fantastic 8 days tour with a very keen party of Lancashire birders in the Hortobágy and Zemplén from 16th to 23rd May, 2009. We were birding from dawn to dusk most days and recorded 183 species. Our final list although had not included Dunnock and Grey Wagtail but it was ´still´ impressive :).

Best 10 birds:

Dalmatian Pelican

Baillon´s Crake

Black-winged Pratincole

Terek Sandpiper

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Great Snipe

Ural Owl

Great Bustard

Aquatic Warbler

Moustached Warbler

Our tour started in the Zemplén Hills where we soon secured the most sought-after birds like White-backed Woodpecker and Ural Owl.

Ural Owl Photo: János Oláh

We also manged to see all the possible woodpeckers and had superb views of White-tailed Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle and Lesser Spotted Eagles too. From the passerines the Collared Flycatcher, River Warbler and Barred Warbler were the most appreciated.

Collared Flycatcher Photo: János Oláh

One morning after a superb encounter with Eurasian Eagle Owl we even had time to look for the rare Zephyre Blue (Plebejus sephirus) butterfly.

Zephyre Blue Photo: Zoltán Petrovics

After an action-packed two days we were birding in the Hortobágy National Park. Our first afternoon in the Bihar Plains gave us unforgettable memories with Great Snipe and Baillon´s Crake within 5 minutes! The latter is a rare breeding bird in Hungary and it was a new bird even for one of our senior guide Gábor Simay!

Baillon´s Crake Photo: Róbert Ványi

The next few days we managed to gather a few other rarities in addition to the fantastic resident birds like the Aquatic Warbler below!

Aquatic Warbler Photo: János Oláh

I must say this was a tour when everything was going well and I am sure there are not many tours in Europe where you can get shorebirds like Black-winged Pratincole, Great Snipe, Broad-billed Sandpiper and Terek Sandpiper just as a supporting cast.

Terek Sandpiper Photo: Tim Davie

This customized tour will surely be long remembered for the participants and also show you that the Sakertour team will get you the best possible birds available on your visit!

Sakertour team