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