Thursday, September 13, 2007 - Raptor and migration special
Ecotour's Raptor special tour was finished less than a week ago, so here are some of the best observations and experiences.
Tour participants observed 167 species in total during 8 days in the Hortobagy and the Zemplen Hills. 16 raptor species were recorded including White-tailed, Short-toed, Lesser Spotted, Imperial and Golden Eagles, Goshawk, Long-legged Buzzard, Saker and the spectacle of Red-footed Falcons gathering with several hundreds of these birds.
Cranes were already present in the Hortobagy in smaller flocks and to the surprise of everybody Long-eared Owls were also found at their winter roost in the middle of the village.
We had very good views of Great Bustard, Stone Curlew and Dotterel. A drained fishpond proved to be a very good place for waders and we had close encounters with Temminck's Stints and a Turnstone, not to mention a young Mediterranean Gull.
Hortobagy Fishponds were alive with Pygmy Cormorants, egrets, herons, ducks and grebes. Penduline Tit and Bearded Tit were also noted.
Early September is a good time to still see birds migrating south early and we were lucky enough to have several sightings of Roller, Bee-eater, Lesser Grey Shrike and Golden Oriole.
The Zemplen Hills were a perfect ending to the trip as they brought Middle Spotted, Black and White-backed Woodpecker and we also saw Syrian Woodpecker close to our family hotel. Hawfinch and Wood Warbler were also added to the list.
The Raptor special tour was once again very succesful and participants returned home full of memories of great birds, nice habitats, tasty food and good hotels.
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