Month: April 2011

Our hide system was ready by the end of April and the first photo tour was a group of Swiss and Austrian photographers led by our old friend Beat Rüegger. Following the record breaking precipitation in 2010 the 2011 spring started with perfect dry and sunny weather. Luckily this continued all the way through the photo tour and our participants enjoyed some great moments.

Black-winged Stilts mating                                                                          Photo: Beat Rüegger

This week was deliberately positioned to be able to try for the shy Great Bustard and also to coincide with the arrival of the Red-footed Falcons. The group was lucky as they had experiences with both species. As soon as the Red-footed Falcons arrived they were busily into territorial fights and mating!

Red-footed Falcons mating                                                                        Photo: Beat Rüegger

The drinking pool hide was also very popular with up to 26 species per day(!) including several woodpeckers! The Shorebird hide with breeding plumages Ruffs and Black-winged Stilt was much appriciated too. One of the star attractions was the a confiding singing male Moustached Warbler right by our Pygmy Cormorant hide.

Moustached Warbler singing                                                                      Photo: Beat Rüegger

Some of the team managed to get some great images of Stone-curlew     Photo: Beat Rüegger

Sakertour Team

With Piero Venturi and his friends we spent three days in the Hortobágy and the surrounding area. Within this three days the weather was perfect: suny and warm, indeed a bit too warm for the season.

Alkaline grassland                                                     Photo: Simay Gábor

In this nice spring weather we saw Great Bustards displaying, Saker Falcons mating and we observed a family party of Moustached Warblers. Around the temporary ponds and marshes, which remaind after the heavy rains of the last year, thousands of waterbirds were feeding. Breeding plumaged (and even displaying) Ruffs in the biggest numbers, but we also seen a few Mars Sandpipers and the first Curlew Sanpipers of the season. All three species of marsh terns were around in good numbers, Black-necked and Red-necked Grebes were building their nests, Bitterns were displaying in the open and Ferruginous Ducks were numerous. We even managed to read the code of a coloreringed Mediterranian Gull.

Syrian Woodpecker was buisy to carry food to its nesthole, while in the forest we saw Black, Middle Spotted and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers along with Short-toed Treecreeper and Collared Flycatcher.

Male Syrian Woodpecker                                          Photo: Simay Gábor

Male Black Woodpecker                                           Photo: Simay Gábor

Sakertour team

We have terrific spring weather since 15th of April and new birds arriving day by day! There are still 54 Lesser White-fronted Geese on the Hortobágy and the Marsh Sandpiper migration was peaking too (up to 23 in a flock in the Hortobágy).

Gábor Simay has found a breeding plumaged female Wilson´s Phalarope which is the undoubted star bird of April yet. More info here.

Last weekend was the start of both the birdwatching and the photography tours! We had Richard Smith with us for a long-weekend and you can read his experience here.

White-backed Woodpecker in the Zemplén Hills (courtesy of Richard Smith)

Our partner from Switzerland started a week long hide photography holiday on the 18th and we shall be updating on the success of the tour. The hides are ready and the activity is fantastic!

Sakertour team

In just three action-packed days we wisited the Zemplén Hills (2 days) and the Hortobágy (1 day) with the group. Despite the limited time we managed to see most of our target species.

Just after the arrivel our first stop produced a fine adult Imperial Eagle. In the hills several further species of raptors were observed, including Black Kite, Short-toed Eagle, several Lesser Spotted Eagles, Golden Eagle, Goshawks, Hen Harrier, Merlin and among them quite a few Black Storks, most had just had arrived from their wintering grounds. The Hortobágy proved to be excellent for raptors too: White-tailed Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, a lingering Rough-legged Buzzard and a superb Saker Falcon were all seen.

Black Srotk                                                                Photo:Simay Gábor

We saw a good variety of woodpeckers, which included the first two Wrynecks for the season. This spring Ural Owls have been present in much smaller numbers, owing to a shortage of food, but we managed to find a female in the forest, while Eagle Owl and Tawny Owl were also observed. 

Ural Owl                                                                    Photo:Simay Gábor

Camberwell Beauty – several were seen in the Hills   Photo:Simay Gábor

In the Hortobágy the group´s two main targets were the Great Bustard and the elusive Moustached Warbler. The first was an easy one this time with a flock of 32 individuals, males and females mixed, while to see the warbler we had to visit several breeding sites as the strong wind prevented these small birds from singing from exposed perches. Eventually one bird showed for all of us well, while, along with it many singing Bluethroats, the first Savi´s Warblers, Pygmy Cormorants and Ferruginous Ducks were also seen.

Sakertour team