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Destination country: Hungary. Arrive and depart Budapest.
Next schedules:
- 23 - 31 August, 2022 (Closed)
- 2023 TBA
Duration: 9 days (extension available)
Price:
1190 GBP + 120 GBP single supplement. Price
includes: accommodations and meals (lunch is typically
picnic!), drinking water, vehicle hire with fuel and driver
guide, park entrance fees and ranger guides. The price
exclude: bank transfer loss, international flight, visa,
tips, drinks, personal travel insurance and any other activities
of personal request e.g. laundry, toalet fees, phone calls,
etc.
Accommodation:
Three-star hotels with all rooms en suite.
Numbers:
Min. 3, max. 6 tour participants.
Transport:
Minivan.
Description: "...Our late summer
trip visits Hungary's most typical bird habitats, including
the famous Asiatic steppe-like "Puszta" of the Hortobagy,
home of the Saker Falcon, European Cranes, Stone Curlew and
billions of shorebirds. The sand dunes and shallow salt lakes
in the Kiskunsag National Park provide us with Great Bustards,
Rollers, Shrikes, Collared Pratincoles and a welath of shorebirds.
The fall/autumn migration has already begun, adding extra
variety alongside the resident species. After the Great Plain
we drive to the forests of the Zemplen Hills, home of the
Imperial Eagle, all nine of Europe's woodpecker species and
many owls. We will also spend a day visiting two more of Hungary's
finest birding spots - the Vértes Hills and Lake Velence
Bird Sanctuary - where we expect to add more species to our
list..."
Top
birds: Great Bustard, Pygmy
Cormorant, Ferruginous Duck, Great White and Little Egrets,
Spoonbill, Squacco Heron, Glossy Ibis, Bittern, Little Bittern,
Red-necked Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Black, Whiskered and
White-winged Black Terns, Mediterranean Gull, White and Black
Storks, European Common Crane, Dotterel, Avocet, Black-winged
Stilt, Collared Pratincole, Kentish Plover, Stone Curlew,
Saker Falcon, Long-legged Buzzard, White-tailed Eagle, Imperial
Eagle, Short-toed Eagle, Golden Eagle, Lesser Spotted Eagle,
Red-footed Falcon, Montagu's Harrier, Little Owl, Ural Owl,
Short-eared Owl, Long-eared Owl, Nightjar, Kingfisher, Bee-eater,
Roller, Hoopoe, Woodpeckers, Lesser Grey Shrike, Red-backed
Shrike, Bearded Tit, Penduline Tit, Golden Oriole, Dipper,
Tawny Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Woodlark, Rock Bunting. Billions
of resident and migratory ducks, geese, shorebirds, gulls,
terns and herons.
Habitats: Buda Hills, Danube shore, Vértes
hills, Lake Velence, Kiskunsag, Hortobagy National Parks,
Lake Tisza and Zemplen Hills.
Trip outline:
Day 01:
Arrive Budapest. Budapest birding
for early arrivals at Margaret Island, Buda Hills and on the
Danube shoreline. Optional full-day sightseeing: Heroes Square,
Buda Castle District, Parliament building and St. Stephen's
Basilica.
Day 02:
Drive to Vértes Hills
with en-route stops at the huge parks
of Martonvásár, Alcsút and Csákvár,
all excellent for woodpeckers and songbirds. We will search
for soaring Imperial Eagles and Saker Falcon in the Vértes
Hills. There is also good wetland birding in the old meadows
at Csákvár.
To the nearby Lake Velence Bird
Sanctuary at dusk for waterbirds.
Day 03:
Kiskunsag National Park.
We visit the wetlands and turf-moor forests at Ócsa
and go birding in the charming steppes of Apajpuszta
and Kunpeszér.
A Great Bustard-day:
Day 04:
Kiskunsag National Park shallow lakes.
We spend the day in search of shorebirds, "puszta"
specialities and raptors around the distinctive shallow alkaline
lakes of the National Park.
Day 05:
After an en-route stop at Lake
Tisza we spend a long birding day at our so-called
"Birding Mecca" of Hungary, Hortobagy
Fishpond. Here we shall find literally billions
of water and reedbed birds. This time of year is also excellent
for raptors.
Day 06:
Hortobagy National Park.
Another full day birding on the endless open steppes and shallow
lakes of the fabled Hortobagy Puszta.
Day 07-08:
Zemplen Hills.
This area is 'raptor heaven' - we usually see Imperial Eagle,
Lesser Spotted Eagle, Short-toed Eagle and Golden Eagle. But
our target list also includes Ural Owl, Eagle Owl and all
8 Hungarian woodpeckers, including the rare White-backed.
Day 09:
To Budapest
with some en-route birding. We also stop at Hollokõ
Traditional Village, another World Heritage Site. Depart Budapest.
Extension:
-Budapest sightseeing including
the Danube Bend and Szentendre.
1-3 days on request, before or after the main trip..
Black
square=Budapest
Yellow dots=base trip stations
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