We hosted our Dutch partner BirdingBreaks between 24-31 May for a classic week of birding in the Hortobágy and the Zemplén Hills. Once again the tour was a great success and the group saw all the target birds. Highlights of the tour were Great Bustard, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Saker Falcon, Aquatic Warbler, Moustached Warbler, Ural Owl, White-backed Woodpecker and lot of other supporting cast (Eagle Owl, Little Crake, Roller, Bee-eater, Barred Warbler etc.).

Short-toed lark Photo: Kees de Vries

Bee-eater Photo: Kees de Vries

Lesser Grey Shrike Photo: Kees de Vries

Please take a look at the report of this classic birding tour with a serious of Eastern European specialties!

Sakertour team

Our friend Eusatce Barnes came to recce Hungary and Transylvania for a proposed tour in 2012. The tour will be a new and exciting one with a start in Budapest and a finish in Bucharest. It will cover the main areas within just two weeks!

We had a great time in late May with many exciting birds. Eustace´s party arrived from Poland so the floods were familiar to them but unfortunately the rain continued to fall in Hungary too. It was not as severe as the preceding weeks and did not hamper our birding. In fact the Transylvanian part was blessed with great weather!

Wallcreeper Photo: Zoltán Baczó

Endless flowering meadow in Transylvania Photo: Zoltán Baczó

Sakertour team

Our partner Shetland Wildlife was also pretty unlucky with weather just as our Photo-tour was at the same time! But birdwatching is easier in the rain than photographing and the group managed to see all the main targets on the classic Hortobágy-Zemplén tour.

They started with Broad-billed Sandpiper in the Hortobágy and then Aquatic and Moustached Warblers performed well. For Great Bustard it was a long walk as the muddy conditions did not allow easy access but it was well worth the effort!

In the Zemplén woodpeckers and owls were the main target and once again it was not a problem for us to find Ural and Eurasian Eagle Owls as well as all the woodpeckers, including the secretive White-backed Woodpecker.

You can find a more detailed description in the Shetland Wildlife news section and a report is due to come!

Hopefully next year the sun will shine on Shetland Wildlfie!

Sakertour team

We operated our first ever photo-tour with our partners Wild Images from 16th to 22nd May, 2010. The weather was simply horrific as we did not see the sun for 5 days at all and it rained more or less continously. This has never ever happened to one of our Hungary groups before and it was frustrating and disappointing. Finally the last full day of the tour and the day of departure enjoyed good and sunny weather. This did show to our photographers what could be done from the series of hides. Next time!

Middle-spotted Woodpecker Photo: Tour participants Eric McCabe

Female Red-footed Falcon in the rain Photo: János Oláh

Let´s hope the weather will be kinder for the rest of May and other photographers!

Sakertour team

The first time ever our partner Shetland Wildlife is starting a birdwatching tour in Hungary. They are doing our classic Hortobágy-Zemplén tour.

The weather is not looking good with plenty of rain in the forecast but I am sure the unusually wet Hortobágy will have a lot of surprises. There are plenty of White-winged Terns starting to breed and Broad-billed Sandpipers were seen in the last few days.

We will keep you updated about the tour!

Sakertour team

Our two country classic tour, which was introduced by Sakertour in the early 1990´s was a great success again! We visited the famous Hortobágy National Park and Transylvania in a 9 days tour with our partner Limosa!

Temminck Stint

It was a keen party of birders and we worked hard to see as many special birds and moments as possible. We recorded 209 species in 9 days, which is a terrific total in Europe just over a week. There were many highlights but surely the fighting Wallcreepers were a great delight to all of us as it finished on the top of the ´Bird of the trip´ contest!

Red-throated Pipt in breeding plumage

Other memorable moments were displaying Three-toed Woodpeckers on the same dead treetop, thre Brown Bears in broad sunlight from a hide, all the possible warblers (17 species!) including River, Aquatic, Moustached and Icterine Warblers, superb male Red-breasted Flycatcher and many Collared Flycatchers, as many as 20 Red-throated Pipits, excellent views of Ural and Scops Owls, a fine male of the shy White-backed Woodpecker, many Temminck Stints and four summer plumaged Broad-billed Sandpipers were the icing on the cake. And this list could go on and on…but look out for the report on the Limosa website!

Ural Owl

Sakertour team

We can say that we were very lucky with the group as we encountered only a few quick showers in this very wet spring and the weather was exceptionally nice during the majority of the trip. We started with a nice Eastern Imperial Eagle view, just an hour after the plane touched down at Budapest airport. The Zemplén hills proved very productive and encounters during our two and a half day stay included two Ural Owls, Tawny Owl, male and female White-backed Woodpecker, Corncrake, Barred and River Warblers. A beautiful male Collared Flycatcher chasing away a Great Tit in the leaf litter of the nice beech forest just 5 meters from our feet was a memorable sight, while the view of White and 4 Black Stoks, 2 White-tailed Eagles, a Lesser Spotted Eagle, a Black Kite and a Hobby from one point was also very nice. On the Hortobágy we also managed to pick up the specialities during our four days stay, such as Ferruginous Duck, Stone Curlew, Saker Falcon, Great Bustrad, Aquatic Warbler, Moustached Warbler, many Pygmy Cormorant, many parties of Bearded Reedlings with freshly fledged juveniles, a Penduline Tit nest with the feeding adults, and as a bonus, we encountered two Broad-billed Sanpipers by a small pool. In the last morning in a nearby forest we completed our woodpecker list with Middle-spotted and Lesser-spotted Woodpeckers, and thus we saw all 9 species of this interesting family, which is available in Hungary.

Landscape in the Zemplén hills Photo: Gábor Simay

Ural Owl Photo: Gábor Simay

This spring White-winged Black Terns were numerous over the marshes of the Hortobágy Photo: Gábor Simay

Sakertour team

We had three days birding in the Hortobágy region with superb weather following two days in the Zemplén mountaines where we experienced heavy rain. After all we managed to see all target species in both areas and finished a great five days birding in Eastern Hungary!

Five minutes after we entered Hungary from Austria a female Pallid Harrier was flying slowly above us.

In the Hortobágy we encountered Ferruginous Ducks,  Long-legged Buzzard, several Montagu´s Harriers, Saker, Red-footed Falcons, no less than 8 Great Bustrads some of them displaying for us, brilliant scope views of Sone-curlew, Mediterranean Gull, a beautifully perched European Nightjar, singing Aquatic Warblers, Moustached Warblers and a very late migrating Firecrest.

Mediterranean Gull Photo: János Oláh

In the Bihar plains we saw a total of 26 Glossy Ibises which was a record number in the area! We also saw Squacco Heron, Red-crested Pochard and close views of Little Crakes and Grasshopper Warbler.

In the vicinity of the Hortobágy we found five species of woodpeckers so we headed towards the mountains with great expectations.

Despite the bad weather in the Zemplén area we could see all our target species including Lesser Spotted Eagles, Short-toed Eagle, Corncrake, Eagle Owl, Tawny Owl, River Warbler and Rock Bunting.

On the way back to the airport we found an adult Imperial Eagle which proved to be a super ending of a very successfull tour.

Attila Simay

Sakertour team

We have three of our partner tours arriving on the 1st of May! This is the offical start of a very busy Spring (following our tour cancellations because of the volcano activities). Birds are abundant and most of the late arriving birds also returned from the wintering grounds. Even Corncrake, Aquatic Warbler, Marsh Warbler and Red-breasted Flycatcher is allready here.

The Hortobágy area is very wet this year and hence we are looking forward to a superb year for breeding marshterns. Already thousands of White-winged Black Terns looking for suitable breeding area.

White-winged Black Tern in the Hortobágy (2010) Photo: János Oláh

Hide Photography season is well under its way as well and not only two pairs of Red-footed Falcons occupying nest boxes close to our hide but most other hides also brilliant! The waterbird hides are great with up to 6 species of ducks are being photographed there daily!

Ferruginous Duck in front of the PygmyCormorant hide Photo: János Oláh

In the Passerine hide despite the rainy weather up to 24 species has been seen daily in the last days.

Hope to see you in Eastern Europe soon!

Sakertour team

A Subalpine Warbler was caught at Hódmezővásárhely in southern Hungary. This is the second ever observation of the species in Hungary!

This superb bird was caught by Borbáth Erna on the 17th of April so our great thanks goes to her!!!

A few images of the bird:

Subalpine Warbler after the realase Photo: Attila Szilágyi

Subalpine Warbler in the hand Photo: János Oláh

Subalpine Warbler in the hand Photo: János Oláh

Sakertour team