Hungary at Leisure

Crane Spectacular & Wild Goose Chase

30 October to 5 November 2010

Leaders: Gabor Simay and Mike Witherick

Maximum of 14 clients (two leaders with more than seven clients).

Cost: £1,499 single room supplement £110

Hungary is just a short flight from London, but the country still possesses vast riches for the birdwatcher and naturalist, as it is still easy to find those wild places that are now so rare in Britain. The vast Hortobagy National Park is an enormous mosaic of marshes, wooded river valleys, wetlands and commercial fishponds, interspersed with farmland and the ancient puszta - the grasslands of the fertile Hungarian plain. We have timed this tour so that we are here before the winter snows, but at a time when the Hortobagy teams with birds. The main species to be found here at this time is the Common Crane, with perhaps 70,000 present. The evocative calls and the sights of vast flocks flying over our heads to roost is one of world's great wildlife spectacles. We also visit at a time when geese, ducks and raptor numbers are high. During our five full days in the Hortobagy, we are likely to see Great Bustard, Saker Falcon, Rough-legged Buzzard, Eastern Imperial and White-tailed Eagles, Black, Greyheaded, Middle Spotted and Syrian Woodpeckers. We also witness the return movement of waders and the returning geese, mainly White-fronted, Taiga Bean and Greylag, with small flocks of Lesser White-fronted amongst them. By visiting in early November we can also find one of the world's most beautiful geese, the Red-breasted. The hotel we use is excellent, the roads and motorways quick and efficient, and the food and wine are all very good. This will be Ornitholidays' 51st tour of this region - our knowledge of this area is unsurpassed amongst European bird tour operators.