This autumn tour has been designed to satisfy those clients who find that too much happens in the spring. And although it includes elements of our popular Slovakia and Hungary spring tour, it also offers the chance of some “winter” species such as Lesser White-fronted Goose and Lapland Bunting. In addition it includes the spectacle of 30,000 cranes and targets such specialties as Capercaillie and Hazel Hen. Most significant, for the less sprightly, there is a good chance of Wallcreeper (and Brown Bear) without any walking.
Although the tour begins and ends in the famous Hortobágy National Park in Hungary, the main emphasis is on Carpathian Transylvania, in the beautiful landscape of mountainous Székelyland populated by the Hungarian Székelys, who since the Middle Ages had the role of defending the borders of the Hungarian kingdom. These mountains—covered by pine, oak and beech woods—determined the construction style of the famous wooden Székely gates and houses with their pine archways and shingle roofs. Today Székelyland remains an intact Hungarian community of two million in the most rapidly developing region of Romania. It’s an unexplored destination and almost virgin territory for birdwatchers despite being a tourist heaven: in addition to the famous sulphur springs and mud baths, the area is known for the volcanic St. Anna Lake and the most beautiful valley in the Carpathians, the Bicaz Gorge, home to the largest Wallcreeper population in Europe.
Of course Transylvania has another famous inhabitant. In the 15th century Vlad Tepes, a local Romanian ruler in the Transcarpathian lowland Muntenia, escaped from Turkish control and spent several years exiled in Transylvania, producing the famous Dracula legend, which we will no doubt investigate. We’ll enrich our birding experience with Brown Bear watching, using an elaborate system of blinds located in the dark pine forests.
Day 1: The tour begins with a flight from London to Budapest. Three hours’ drive from the Budapest airport is the comfortable Trófea Lodge near Nádudvar, with possible Little Bittern and Kingfisher right outside the lobby. Here we will be based in the heart of the Hortobágy National Park, a World Heritage site famous for its culture and wildlife. If daylight still allows we will spend some time birdwatching around our hotel.
Day 2: Today we’ll enjoy a whole day birding on the extensive open steppe of the Hortobágy National Park. Our main targets will be the magnificent Great Bustard and the globally threatened Lesser White-fronted Goose. These rare wildfowl are the first geese to arrive in the Hortobágy area in autumn but we will be lucky to see more than thirty together. We’ll also try to see such resident birds as the splendid White-tailed Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard from the east, and Europe’s most enigmatic falcon, the Saker. If we are fortunate we might find one or two winter inhabitants of the artemisia steppe, such as Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, Hen Harrier, Great Grey Shrike and Lapland Bunting. Dotterels will be our next goal: these handsome waders arrive at the Hortobágy in August and molt here before they continue their journey in October to their wintering grounds. We’ll round off this bird-packed day in the Sunbird tower, where we’ll see hundreds of Pygmy Cormorants coming to roost. Night at Trófea.
Day 3: After an early breakfast we’ll cross the border into Romania and begin our six-hour drive through Transylvania, stopping en route to bird at Élesd reservoirs and Radnót fishponds. We should arrive at Székelyudvarhely in the evening and may taste the local blueberry brandy for the first time.
Day 4: We’ll drive to the higher elevations of the Madaras Hargita and birdwatch along the roads and clearings of the Carpathian pine forests. We’ll concentrate on high-altitude species such as Nutcracker, Three-toed Woodpecker and Crested Tit. We could share our picnic lunch at 5500ft with Water Pipits. After a brief rest back at the hotel we’ll make our way to the Brown Bear blinds. We have a good chance of observing these magnificent creatures in the wild and may see other mammals such as Wild Boar and Red Deer as well. Night at Székelyudvarhely.
Day 5: We’ll rise early and visit the lekking ground of Capercaillie. Very few people know that these rare birds have a short display period in autumn. This is not an easy bird to see but the assistance of local foresters should increase our chances. We’ll then continue to the famous Bicaz Gorge to search for Wallcreeper. To see these unique birds in Europe usually requires walking and climbing, so it is a luxury here to be able to drive into the very heart of their habitat. Even so, it is not necessarily easy to find them on the huge surfaces of the limestone walls. Later we could visit some different blinds to look once more for Brown Bears, followed by a substantial dinner with local Hungarian brandies. Night at Székelyudvarhely.
Day 6: This is a very good time of the year to see the shy Hazel Hen and we’ll make a special effort to seek out this elusive forest dweller. Other birds could include Grey-headed and Black Woodpeckers, Crossbill, Hawfinch and Dipper. We’ll also visit other pine forests in search of any species we missed on previous days. If we are really lucky we might even come across some of the rarer inhabitants of these woodlands such as White-backed Woodpecker and Ural Owl. Night at Székelyudvarhely.
Day 7: We’ll return through Transylvania by a different route, taking in the famous small town of Sighisoara. Here we’ll stop and visit the castle and Dracula’s House, where our guides will tell us the real story of Vlad Tepes. Later we’ll drive through the Kököllö Valley to reach the rocky limestone outcrops of Torocko and Torda. This special habitat is home to Golden Eagle and Rock Bunting, along with Syrian Woodpecker, Great Grey Shrike and Black Redstart. Torocko is an UNESCO World Heritage site and some of these beautiful and historic 200-year-old houses will be our home for the night. Here we’ll enjoy a farewell dinner of home-cooked produce washed down with a variety of local brandies. Night in Torocko.
Day 8: Leaving early, we’ll drive back to Hungary, arriving in Debrecen around lunchtime. We’ll check the great wood for Middle Spotted Woodpecker and Short-toed Treecreeper then continue to a town garden which every winter hosts an amazing population of Long-eared Owls. We’ll then we’ll drive to the northern part of the park. The shallow wetlands and fishponds here are a birding Mecca, offering ideal feeding and roosting conditions for migratory birds, including cranes, geese, ducks and waders, while in the extensive reedbeds Eurasian Penduline Tits and Bearded Tits can be easily seen. As the sun sets across this vast landscape we’ll prepare to witness an amazing spectacle as tens of thousands of Common Cranes fly to roost. The air will be full of long lines of these magnificent birds, their evocative bugling call carrying far on the still air, presenting us with a truly memorable end to the trip. Night at Trófea.
Day 9: After breakfast we’ll continue to explore this remarkable national park and after lunch at a fish czarda head toward Budapest, to board our flight back to London, where the tour ends.
Updated: 13 November 2006
Prices
- 2008 price about $3,460
- Single Occupancy Supplement $250
Notes
This tour is limited to 16 participants with two leaders. Both leaders will accompany the trip irrespective of group size.
This trip is organized by our British company, Sunbird.