Hungary Trip Report - Private Birding Holiday

Eastern Hungary May 2005 by Chris Fenton

Introduction: Every year we travel on a birding trip to a continental destination, always making our own arrangements. For 2005 we decided on Hungary, in particular the east and north-east of the country. As it turned out we made the right choice as we saw some fantastic birds: several perched Eastern Imperial Eagles and hunting Sakers, Ural Owl, flocks of White-winged Black Terns, displaying Great Bustards, singing Aquatic Warblers, Rose-coloured Starlings, Broad-billed Sandpiper and White-backed Woodpecker and eight other woodpecker species.

Arrangements: Acting upon a recommendation we contacted Gerard Gorman of Probirder http://www.probirder.com and he agreed to guide us and also plan and organise our itinerary. Besides browsing the web (such as Birding Hungary http://www.birdinghungary.com ) we also referred to Gerard's books The Birds of Hungary and Where to Watch Birds in Eastern Europe.
All the arrangements made (itinerary, vehicle, rooms, meals) were very satisfactory and value for money.

Travel: We flew from London to Budapest with Wizz Airlines (�’80 return). The flight was fine. At Budapest airport, we were picked up by our guide in a 4x4 Frontera. Use of the 4x4 meant that we could access many sites that a normal car could not. We were able to drive to off-road spots for some key species and much time and effort was also saved in this way.

Weather: The weather was variable but fine for birding. Some days were windy, others still and warm (up to 25 C). There were rain showers on several days but not enough to hinder us as we were, as mentioned, being taken around in a 4-wheel drive and rough and/or muddy tracks were thus driveable. We found the internet weather sites info on Hungary to be fairly reliable.

Accommodation: Our rooms in the Bukk Hills and Hortobagy areas had been pre-booked for us. Both hotels were family run and cooked excellent meals for us. We were also sometimes given "special" treatment, such as earlier than usual breakfasts and flexible dinner times, which I believe was due to our guide's influence.

Health: The only point we "worried about" a little was the water. Though it is safe to drink tap water throughout Hungary but it is often an acquired taste. So we stuck to the inexpensive local bottled water. In some places, particularly near the River Tisza, there were mosquitos. The worst time of day seem to be evening though they were not as bad as I had experienced in, for example, Poland and Finland.

Guiding: Hiring local help proved a wise move. We hired a guide because we believed that some of our target species would be amost impossible to find alone. This turned out to be the case. But besides the obvious bird ID skills and site info that our guide possessed, his language skills, logistical know-how and driving talents were also to prove invaluable.

Birds: Our main targets (potential lifers for some of us) on this trip were Great Bustard, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Saker, White-backed Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Aquatic Warbler, River Warbler, Moustached Warbler, Ural Owl and Corncrake. Though we did not insist on spending all of our time chasing these species we asked our local guide to plan around and concentrate on them. As it turned out we went home having seen all of these birds and most of the credit must go to Gerard Gorman for this result.

Day to Day Itinerary and Notes

1st May: Budapest Ferihegy Airport to Tiszafured via the M3 motorway and then road 33. Birding on route. Highlights included an Eastern Imperial Eagle, Red-footed Falcons and 2 Sakers at roadside stops in Heves County, a White-tailed Eagle at Lake Tisza and 2 Syrian Woodpeckers and a calling Wryneck upon arrival. Not a bad start at all ! Night in Tiszafured.

2nd May: Birding in the Hortobagy area at various fish-ponds and grasslands north of road 33. Highlights included Pygmy Cormorant, Little Crake, Little Bittern, Common Bittern, Ferruginous Duck, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, feeding flocks of Common Crane, flocks of Black and White-winged Black Terns, several singing Bluethroats (white-spotted race) and many Savi's Warblers. Night in Tiszafured.

3rd May: Birding in the Hortobagy area. Main targets today were Great Bustard and Aquatic Warbler. Without a doubt we would never have found or seen these species without our guide's know-how and the 4x4: or at least we would have needed to a walk miles on a muddy tracks to get the first. Later we explored Hortobagy-halasto, the Great Fishponds. Highlights today were Red-necked Grebe, Great Bustard, all three marsh terns together, more Red-footed Falcons, close views of Little and Long-eared Owls, Roller, Tawny Pipit, Aquatic Warbler, Moustached Warbler, Icterine Warbler and nesting Penduline Tits. Night in Tiszafured.

4th May: We decided to take Gerard's advice and return to the grasslands to see if any
Rose-coloured Starlings could be found (he and other locals had seen some small flocks earlier). After visiting several likely looking sites we were rewarded with a fly past of about 20 birds near Egyek. Later we visited some drained ponds in the east of the Hortobagy and pools to the south near Kaba. Here we picked up Marsh Sandpiper, Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Common and Spotted Redshanks, and Wood, Green, Broad-billed and Curlew Sandpipers. We also spent some time sorting out the Yellow-legged Gulls, both cachinnans and michahellis were present, though most were michahellis. A bit more driving today but well worth it. Night in Tiszafured.

5th May: Today we drove northwards to the Bukk Hills. First Gerard showed us to a roosting Barn Owl (the dark guttata race is here). On route we saw a Black Stork, 3 Honey Buzzards, Eastern Imperial Eagle and a Short-toed Eagle. Several roadside stops produced siging River Warblers. Upon arrival in the wooded hills Collared Flycatcher proved common. Highlights of the day were a Black Woodpecker which flew across the road in front of us near Bogacs and landed on a roadside stump, churring Nightjars and a calling Scops Owl at dusk. Night in Noszvaj.

6th May: Birding in the Bukk Hills.We explored the forests near Felsotarkany and Szilvasvarad, driving forest roads and walking trails. It was all very scenic and atmospheric but hardwork. Woodpeckers and owls do not always give themselves up lightly. Gerard explained that occupied Ural Owl nests were few and far between this spring and so birds had to be found elsewhere. He also kept reminding us to stay attentive, silent and to concentrate on the job in hand. This was good advice which paid off as we eventually head a gruff call or two and then were able to locate a perched Ural Owl in a large beech tree. Gerard quickly gor his scope on the bird, too. This was woodland birding skills at their best. After an hour or so of almost nothing else another fantastic bird appeared, namely White-backed Woodpecker. Other birds seen included Grey-headed Woodpecker, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Willow Tit, Hawfinch and Red-breasted Flycatcher. Night in Noszvaj.

7th May: Today we drove to a large stone quarry in the hills with the aim of seeing Eagle Owl. The gate was locked but after Gerard had had a few words with the watchman and reassured him that we were merely birders it was opened for us. After a lot of scanning of the rocky slopes we had good views of the owl perched in a bush. We also picked up Rock Bunting here. On the way back we stopped at roadside wet-grassland and heard Grasshopper Warbler and then heard and briefly saw a Corncrake.

8th May: A bit of pre-breakfast birding (Wryneck, Syrian Woodpecker, Black Redstart and Golden Oriole) then we headed for Budapest and the airport for our flight home to the UK.

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