More rarities!
Amazingly the northern Hortobágy site: Rókás is still producing more rarities. There has been a Pectoral Sandpiper as well as a Terek Sandpiper in addition to the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and the Buff-breasted Sandpipers.For more information please visit rarebirds.hu!
Pectoral Sandpiper Photo: János Oláh
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Photo: János Oláh
The two rare waders in the same field of view! Photo: János Oláh
Sakertour team
Rarity bonanza on the Hortobágy!
In the last couple of days an amazing number of rare birds were found on the Hortobágy. The best one was a first for the Carpathian Basin (and Hungary) – a summer plumaged Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. It was found by our team member János Tar (aka ´Mannu´). Congratulations! This fantastic bird was seen by visiting birdwatching groups such as the Travelling Naturalist tour and by the Terres Oublies tour as well.
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (bottom left) Photo: János Oláh
The following day the sharpy was joined by Hungary´s first ever spring Buff-breasted Sandpiper, which is also only the 10th record of the species in the Carpathian Basin. This was found by Tamás Zalai another of our team members.
Buff-breasted Sandpiper Photo: János Oláh
In addition to these a Dalmatian Pelican, a subadult Pallas´s Gull (Great Black-headed Gull), Cattle Egret and Ruddy Shelduck were also seen at the remarkable wetland of Rókás in the Northern Hortobágy.
Sakertour team
Wild Images facebook gallery
Please take a look at our growing photo-gallery of the 2011 Wild Images photo-tour on the Birdquest facebook page!
Bee-eater male giving a present to female Photo: János Oláh
Wild Images tour to Hungary 2011 May
The Wild Images tour had fantastic weather and a great selection birds from our hide network. About 93 species were seen from the hides and a good portion were captured on memory cards too! Favorites were mating Rollers and Red-footed Falcons, Hoopoe flight shots, Bee-eaters, a wide range of waterbirds and woodpeckers (Black and Middle Spotted)!
The gallery is coming to our Facebook page soon but a few images can already be seen in our hide gallery and below!
There is one or two places left for the 2012 tour!
Ferruginous Duck Photo: János Oláh
Red-footed Falcon Photo: János Oláh
Pygmy Cormorant Photo: János Oláh
Hoopoe Photo: János Oláh
Sakertour team
Wild Images tour well underway!
Our Wild Images partner photo-tour from U.K is well underway. It started with a rainy day but ever since it has been fantastic and so have all the hides and birds!
A gallery of the tour will be soon available on our Facebook page!
Bee-eater is a great photo subject in May and June Photo: János Oláh
Sakertour team
Richard´s second visit to Hungary in 2011
Our friend and client Richard Smith has been back to the Zemplén Hills for a few days before he starts his photo-tour with us later this May. He had a wonderful time yet again and you can read more about his experience here.
Amongst the many highlights was a stunning Ural Owl. It is probably the worst breeding year for the species in the last 25 years so it has been very difficult to see. It is still possible with Sakertour though!
Ural Owl in the Zemplén Hills 2011 May (courtesy of Richard Smith)
Sakertour team
Shetland Wildlife Birdwatching tour 2011 May
Our friends at Shetland Wildlife have just finished their pho-tour and now back with a birding group! This is a week birding in the World Heritage Hortobágy National Park and the World Heritage Tokaj Region of Hungary (Zemplén Hills).
Check out the tour itinerary here.
Watch this space to see how it went!
Black-necked Grebe in the Hortobágy in May 2011! Photographer: János Oláh
Sakertour team
BirdHolidays group 2011 May
Our friend Roger Barnes returned for a Hungary & Transylvania tour in May 2011. This is one of our classic tours nowadays with a wide range of interesting birds and also Brown Bears in the Carpathian mountains. This year tour was no exception, the group had a wonderful time and lots of birds! Great Bustard, Wallcreeper, Rock Thrush and Ural Owl was just a few of the highlights!
Please visit the BirdHolidays webpage for their next tour to Hungary!
Wallcreeper in Transylvania Photo: Gabriella Tóth
Sakertour Team
Shetland Wildlife Pho-tour 2011
Our friend Hugh Harrop took a devoted group of bird photographers to Hungary in 2011. The weather was perfect and the activity around the hides was brilliant! They even managed to break the total number of species in a single day at our drinking hide with an outstanding 32 species seen & photographed in a single day! The Red-footed Falcon and the shorebird hides were also very popular!
For a selection of images from the tour click here. If you like to join Hugh next year book early!
Male Red-footed Falcon
Breeding-plumaged male Ruff!
Drake Ferruginous Duck
Nightingale
All images by Hugh Harrop!
Sakertour team
Brown Bear photography
During the last week of April we had a memorable three days in the Translylvanian mountains. The main aim of this trip was to take photos of Brown Bears. In two evenings we saw and photograhed no less than five bears – some big males and some smaller youngsters as well. Some of them were only a few dozen meters away, which was an unforgetable experience.
Brown Bear in the Carpatians Photo: Simay Gábor
Beside the bears there were a lot of birds to watch, such as Lesser Spotted and Golden Eagles, Marsh Sandpipers, Thrush Nightingale, Rock Bunting and a beautiful pair of Rufous-tailed Rock Thrushes.
Female Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush Photo: Simay Gábor
Sakertour team
First photo-tour of 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
Three days in Hortobágy
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
2011 Spring in full swing
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
Early spring tour with Island Ventures
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
Early spring activity around our hides
Despite the weather getting warmer, after an unusually long winter, activity is still excellent around our eagle hides, with basically the same range of species, as on a milder winter´s day. White-tailed Eagles still visit regularly, though in smaller number and maybe for a shorter time, like in winter.
Landing adult White-tailed Eagle Photo: Simay Gábor
It is very exciting to watch and photograph the always fighting gulls, with predominantly Caspians. Though Yellow-legged Gulls also mix with them, while recently an intermedius/graellsii type Lesser Black-backed was also photographed – a scarce visitor to Hungary.
First winter Caspian Gulls Photo: Simay Gábor
In early spring, Greylags occupy their nesting gound and, during the day they may visit the hide´s surrounding to graze the fresh green grass or to drink from the little pools which have remained after the heavy rains of the autumn.
Greylag Goose Photo: Simay Gábor
Sakertour team
Gulls, eagles and buzzards
The last two weeks around our eagle hides were very eventful. Following the exceptionally good December, January was more quiet with the White-tailed Eagles visiting the hides less frequently. In February the activity was/is much better again and now eagles regular visitors plus a few extra photo subjects!
Adult White-tailed Eagle (February 2011) Photo: László Sóti
There was a short period of warm weather when gulls returned to the Hortobágy area and they also visited the hides daily in good numbers. If gulls are around the eagles are less keen to get close but they still do. The gull action photography is something amazing though and our guests certainly enjoyed some excellent moments in the hides!
Calling and fighting adult Caspian Gulls (February 2011) Photos: Csaba Lóki
Adult Caspian Gull in front of the hide (February 2011) Photo: Attila Szilágyi
Common Buzzards are regular with up to 11 individuals showing. They were regularly fighting over food when several birds were around thus allowing great photo opportunities. Rarely even the scarce Rough-legged Buzzards visit the area.
Common Buzzard (February 2011) Photo: Attila Szilágyi
Fighting Common Buzzards (February 2011) Photo: Joan Roca
Sakertour team
Owl nest-boxing 2011
With our friends (Balla Dániel, Molnár Szilvi and Vasas András) the Sakertour team placed out a Ural Owl nest box in the Bihar Mountains in Romania, but near to the Hungarian border, to a location just a little bit more than two houres drive from the Hortobágy. We have a good chance to attract the owls into the nest box, as the surrounding mature beech forest is an excellent habitat for them with several observations from the previous years.
Balla Dániel is helping from the ground
Photo: Gábor Simay
Crested Tits are among the commoner birds in the higher, spruce forest region
Photo: Gábor Simay
The higher montanous areas were still snow covered, and the landscape was beautiful…
Photo: Gábor Simay
Sakertour team
Bird count on the Carpathian lower Danube 2011
We made our annual winter waterbird count on the lower part (Carpathian Basin section) of the River Danube from Orsova to Bazias in Transylvania. This c.130 kilometer stretch of Danube usually holds 25,000-30,000 waterbirds in winter. Numbers also depend on ice cover of the upper Danube sections (mainly in Hungary) as well as the weather generally.
The Kazán-pass along the Danube Photo: Zoltán Petrovics
This year the count was only 18,459 waterbirds, of which the outstanding result was the record number of Smews. We counted a total 2,062 wintering birds of this lovely bird. The only species which was far less numerous as usual was the Coot. We only counted 1542 individuals which barely compares with the 8000+ last year though the water level of the Danube was very high!
Smews in a mixed diving duck flock along the Danube Photo: János Oláh
Velvet Scoters Photo: Dániel Balla
Other highlights included a Bernacle Goose (very rare bird inTransylvania), 5 Scaup, 3 Velvet Scoters, 7 Red-breasted Mergansers, 47 Goosanders, Sombre Tits and several Cirl Buntings. The latter two species are rare and restricted breeding birds in the Carpathian Basin.
Male and female Cirl Bunting Photos: János Oláh
Juvenile Goshawk at Orsova Photo: János Oláh
Sakertour team
Long-eared Owls in January 2011
In addition to White-tailed Eagle photography our guests enjoyed terrific Long-eared Owl moments in January 2011. There are about 120 bird in Balmazújváros and some of them showing perfectly. They are somewhat special in recent days with overnigth temperatures dropping to -10 or even -15C and the owls have variable amount of frost on their feathers.
Long-eared Owls in January 2011 Photos: János Oláh
Sakertour team
Hungarian National Eagle Count 2011
The Hungarian Ornithological Society (MME) – http://www.mme.hu/ – made the 8th Hungarian Eagle count in mid January. During this event over 275 observers counted wintering eagles all over Hungary. The most common eagle was White-tailed Eagle with 475 individuals and about 60 of these were in the Hortobágy region! This number in the Hortobágy area was well undercounted because of thick fog throughout the counts (14-15 January). Just 10 days later well over 90 WtE were counted in the Hortobágy area. Second most common was the Eastern Imperial Eagle with 170 individuals seen, followed by one Golden Eagles and three Greater Spotted Eagle.
The activity around the Sakertour eagle hides in the Hortobágy National Park is changing every day. Today we had 3 WtE at one of our hides.
Adult White-tailed Eagle carrying food Photo: János Oláh
Sakertour team
Our partner Terres Oubliées arrived today!
One of our partner tour operator arrived today to the Hortobágy National Park. The Terres Oubliées group main target is Whit-tailed Eagle photography. Hopefully the weather will be good, the forecast is promising with cold winter days and sunshine for the next week with some snow. A definite improvment to the foggy, misty, wet two weeks behind us!
Adult White-tailed Eagle Photo: János Oláh
We will let you know the success of the photo-tour!
Sakertour Team
Eagle news January, 2011
The winter in Hungary is certainly wet and variable this year (2010/2011)! The water situation has not improved (since April) at all and the eastern part of the Hortobágy National Park received almost 1400mm precipitation in 2010. This is just about three times the normal and made photography difficult last year.
Adult White-tailed Eagle Photo: Gábor Simay
The White-tailed Eagle photography was excellent throughout December however and many of our visiting photographers enjoyed great views and many actions of these magnificent birds. Since Christmas the activity droped but still very nice images were captured!
Juvenile White-tailed Eagles Photo: Johan and Chris Paulussen
Unfortunately a rapid change does not help with the eagle-photography and they can be rather unpredictable. Most of the time, however, at least one hide is visited by the eagles almost on daily basis.Also several colour-ringed birds were seen and photographed giving good data fot the research team.
Colour-ringed subadult White-tailed Eagle Photo: Johan and Chris Paulussen
Also the daily activity can vary a lot depending on the weather and other circumstances. We had a few days when many eagles visited the hide area daily and then lots of action shots were possible!
Juvenile White-tailed Eagle fighting with crows Photo: János Oláh
See a few images below and also more images are due to be uploaded into our galleries so please keep checking here!
Calling adult White-tailed Eagle Photo: Johan and Chris Paulussen
Subadult White-tailed Eagle Photo: Johan and Chris Paulussen
We will have the annual eagle count on the 14th and 15th January so we will get to know the number of wintering eagles in Hungary. We will keep you posted!
Sakertour team