During this eight days tour we were extremely lucky weatherwise, as we had full sunshine all over the week and a nice, above the average temperature. We visited the Zemplén-hills as well as the Hortobágy, where we did see all the possible woodpeckers, including White-backed and many great views of Middle-spotted. We also saw 5 species of owls, like Ural and Eagle Owl. Thanks to the nice weather, Dotterels were still around and Great Bustards and Lesser White-fronted Geese were also seen extremely well. One of the main attraction of the season are the Cranes, which were present in huge numbers with more then 40.000 seen one evening flying to roost. We even recorded some local rarities, like Lesser Yellowlegs, Grey Phalaropes (2 different individuals – one found by the group) and Herring Gull.  

Ural Owl

Flock of male Great Bustards

Dotterels

Long-eared Owl roosting

Common Cranes flying to roost (Photos: Simay Gábor)

Sakertour team