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

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

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

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

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

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

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