Hungary: A Birding Festival

From 2-9 May, 2010, the UK company WildWings are once again running the Hungarian Bird Festival. This is a different kind of birding holiday where once in place participants choose each day whether to join guided excusions, short or long, or do their own birding. Based in the east by the Hortobagy area with excursions to nearby hills and forests, too, key species to be expected are Pygmy Cormorant, Red-footed Falcon, Saker, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Ural Owl, Barred, River and Aquatic Warblers, etc. For more info click this link to: http://www.wildwings.co.uk/hungary.html

Photo of a Saker in the Hortobagy National Park by Gabor Kovacs.

Serbia: A Birding Tour

Few birders visit Serbia and this is a mistake! But here is your chance. From May 10-17, 2010, Probirder is running a guided tour around the heart of the country. It is an original tour itinerary. Let me stress that Serbia is a great, and safe, birding destination. The tour visits the Fruska Gora Nat Park and the Maljen Mountains, and focuses on a range of upland and lowland species including Rock Partridge, Booted Eagle, Griffon Vulture, Hazel Grouse, Nutcracker, Sombre Tit, Black-headed Bunting etc. In the photo here is Eurasian Nutcracker (by local birder Katarina Paunovic) another great bird that should be seen on this tour. For more details, just get in touch via this blog.

Destinations: Velebit Mountains - Croatia

The Velebit Mountains lie in Croatia and run from north to south just inland from the coast. In places they rise quite sharply from the Adriatic up to sub-Alpine like habitats. The coastal, western flanks are covered in Mediterranean vegetation and the eastern slopes more Continental. Rock Partridge is fairly common in the warmer, stony areas. Other birds, depending of course upon habitat and season, include Scops and Eagle Owls, Peregrine, Short-toed and Golden Eagles, Common and Rock Nuthatches, Blue Rock Thrush, Black-eared Wheatear, Common and Alpine Swifts, Crag Martin and a range of scrub and woodland warblers. A wide range of butterflies occurs in summer and the dry limestone landscapes are ideal for reptiles such as Hermann's Tortoise, Dalmatian Algyroides, Balkan Green Lizard, Dalmatian Wall Lizard, Horvath's Rock Lizard and many others. Mammals include Brown Bear, Wolf and Chamois. Photo here shows the Velebits in the depths of winter.

Special Birds: Fieldfare

The Fieldfare Turdus pilaris is another species that breeds in the north of the region but which in the south is only really seen in winter. A breeding population does however exist in Romania, to the south of its main breeding range, up in the Carpathians. In most winters large flocks of this thrush often invade the warmer climes. It is resident sand quite common in many countries north of Hungary. Photo taken by Laszlo Becsy.

Probirder - from the Baltic to the Balkans...

Probirder organises birding tours and arranges birding and wildlife guides in Eastern Europe. If you are planning a trip to Eastern Europe then Probirder is the right place to go for assistance. In particular, if you are looking for a quality birding or wildlife-watching tour then Probirder can help with an unrivalled selection of carefully planned tour itineraries. Many global wildlife holiday companies and bird clubs, societies, families with children and disabled birders have used Probirder. Besides birds, tours focusing on mammals, butterflies, natural history in general and wildlife tracking are run, too. Probirder ... from the Baltic to the Balkans...

Birding Tours: Hungary October 2010

From 23-27 October 2010, the UK tour company Oriole Birding are running a tour to eastern Hungary. The main focus is the 1000s upon 1000s of Common Cranes that occur here in autumn. Other key target species on the trip are Great Bustard, Lesser White-fronted Geese, Saker, Rough-legged Buzzard, Eastern Imperial and White-tailed Eagles, Dotterel, Pygmy Cormorant, Long-eared Owl roosts, and 8 species of European woodpecker species are likely. Here's the link to the trip details: Hungary Festival of Cranes

Special birds: Slavonian Grebe

The Slavonian Grebe Podiceps auritus (aka Horned Grebe) is a breeding species in the north of the region and a winter visitor in the south. The southern limit of the breeding range is composed of a few pairs in northern Poland. North of here it becomes more common in the Baltic States on shallow, well-vegetated fresh-water wetlands. It is a smallish grebe and males in breeding plumage in spring and summer have bright golden "horns" which are feathery tufts at the side of the head. Photo by Laszlo Becsy.