Tuesday, November 11, 2008 - Another succesful crane tour in Hungary
We had a 6-day short Crane Spectacular holiday in Hungary based in the Hortobagy last week. We had a very good start as in the first 3 hours of the first day the group already enjoyed cracking views of Imperial Eagle, Saker Falcon, Peregrine, Long-legged and Rough-legged Buzzard, about 30 Hen Harriers, Great Bustards and Stone Curlews. The afternoon brought close views of the last flock of Dotterels and a Merlin.
The Long-eared Owl roost held more than 100 birds and we also had good views of Barn Owl. The returning Greater Spotted Eagle performed nicely for the group and a visit to the fishponds produced close views of Penduline and Bearded Tits and the usual numbers of water birds.
The evening crane spectacles were one of the many highlights of the holiday, when we enjoyed thousands of Common Cranes flying low overhead into their fishpond roosts.
Excursions to the Bukk Hills brought further wonderful sightings with 3 Wallcreepers chasing each other and a flock of 4-5 Alpine Accentors. We had incredible views of White-backed Woodpecker and enjoyed several Middle Spotted, Grey-headed and Syrian Woodpeckers. The group was lucky enough to see one of the Spotted Nutcrackers that invaded Hungary in the last weeks.
Last day we watched 4 Imperial Eagles, adults and immatures hunting for hares en route to the airport and ended an unforgettable holiday in Hungary.
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