Hungary – A long weekend in the Hortobagy

10 May – 13 May 2012

Price per person: £430 (£50 single supplement)
Deposit per person: £150
Suggested flights: The low cost airlines Easyjet and Ryanair run flights to Budapest from several UK airports

This short tour is based in one of Europe's best bird areas. The Hortobagy National Park in eastern Hungary. At the time of our visit the grasslands, farmlands, fishponds and marshes here teem with birds.

Eastern Hungary is largely flat and dominated by the grasslands (puszta) and farmlands of the Great Plain.

Special birds should include Saker, Eastern Imperial Eagle, colonies of Red-footed Falcons, Long-legged Buzzard, Great Bustard, Stone Curlew, Roller and Lesser Grey Shrike. Large fish farms and their adjacent marshes and reed beds host a rich range of breeding and passage wildfowl, herons, egrets, crakes, marsh terns and warblers.

The Hortobagy National Park is also home to a key population of the endangered Aquatic Warbler.

Day 1

The tour starts at Budapest Ferihegy airport. From here we head by road (about 2.5 hours direct) to the Hortobagy. We will make roadside stops for birds such as Eastern Imperial Eagle and also a woodland for Collared Flycatcher and Black and Middle Spotted Woodpeckers.

Day 2 & 3

We have two full days in this justifiably famous birding region. The grasslands of eastern Hungary, called the puszta, are perhaps most famed for their Great Bustards and we will spend time in search of these magnificent birds. Other puszta birds include Common Quail, Tawny Pipit, Crested Lark, Corn Bunting, the blue-headed race of Yellow Wagtail, Little Owl, Stone Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Roller and Lesser Grey Shrike. Raptors include Long-legged Buzzard, Montagu's Harrier, Saker and Red-footed Falcons which nest in colonies and are often very photogenic.

A few wet grasslands are home to Aquatic Warbler and we will visit the best site in the company of a ranger. On our travels we will also no doubt come across the special livestock of the Hortobagy such as the very long-horned Hungarian Grey Cattle whose grazing is part of the habitat management of the park. Large fishpond systems in the area are alive with birds.

We can expect to find Pygmy Cormorant, Red-necked and Black-necked Grebes, Great White and Little Egrets, Squacco, Night and Purple Herons, Common and Little Bitterns, Spoonbill, Yellow-legged and Caspian Gulls, Bluethroat (white-spotted race), Penduline and Bearded Tits, Moustached, Marsh, Savi's and Great Reed Warblers and hordes of Whiskered Terns. The Hortobagy also has some marshes and smaller brackish lakes with Garganey, Ferruginous Duck, Black Tern and in some years colonies of White-winged Black Terns.

Day 4

Optional birding before breakfast. Later we head for Budapest airport (about 2.5 hours) or to your hotel in Budapest if you are staying on, where the tour ends.

The cost is based on 2 persons sharing twin/double rooms which have en-suite facilities. Single rooms are available available for an additional supplement of £50 per person.

Half-board accommodation (breakfasts, packed lunches), ground transport by private bus, services of driver, local English speaking guides, and permit fees are also included.

This tour is run in partnership with our friends at Probirder, experts in Eastern European birding.