Hungary – birds and music

Imagine a music festival with some of the best European orchestras and folk ensembles performing high-quality concerts in some truly wonderful castles, churches and palaces. Then imagine that this location is in the very heart of the best birding habitats to be found in eastern Europe, including the world famous Hortobágy National Park - a 'must' for every birdwatcher interested in European birds. Well, this combination really does exist in the magical country of Hungary.

Some 150 kilometres from the famous Hortobágy National Park, itself a small piece of Asia inside Europe, sleeps a quiet and forested landscape, the Zemplen foothills of the Carpathians. This wonderful mosaic of small peaks, forested slopes, beautiful valleys, meandering rivers, tiny villages and castles creates an unforgettable atmosphere of peace and tranquillity. The Carpathian castles are a feature of the area and it is within this rich cultural setting that the annual Zemplen Art Festival takes place. Now in its eleventh year, the world class programme of music, together with the unique scenery and excellent birdwatching, will provide a rich and unforgettable experience. The music is wide-ranging, the selection of birds is similarly comprehensive, and by staying at just two centres we are assured of a relaxing but rewarding holiday, full of birds and music.

Note: The Zemplen Art Festival programme for 2003 had not been announced when we went to press. We therefore include some previous concerts we have attended to convey the flavour of this uniquely relaxed and friendly festival.

Thursday 14 August to Sunday 24 August

with Bryan Bland and Patty Briggs as leaders.

Hungary bird list
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Day 1: The tour begins with a flight from London to Budapest. Three hours drive from Budapest airport is our hotel in the Hortobágy National Park, and the steppe grassland where we'll look for special birds such as Long-legged Buzzard, Red-footed Falcon, and Lesser Grey Shrike. Night at Trófea Hunting Lodge, Náduvar, with Little Bittern and Kingfisher right outside the reception area.

Day 2: The Hortobágy fishpond complex is the birding Mecca of the National Park. Today, from the observation towers and surrounding areas, we should see more than a hundred species, including all the European herons with already-fledged young and, with luck, Glossy Ibis. Pygmy Cormorant families should be festooning the trees and there will be great flocks of migratory waders on the drained and freshly exposed mud, including Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Spotted Redshank, and various sandpipers. In the afternoon we'll visit some natural and reconstructed lakes to look for other waders such as Broad-billed and Marsh Sandpipers, Red-necked Phalarope, and Temminck's Stint. Night at Trófea.

Day 3: After an early breakfast, we'll spend a short time birding at the small lake near our hotel and then drive to Darassa in the northern part of the national park. This is the best area for birds of prey as the steppe is full of Susliks, a major prey item. We'll look for Imperial Eagle and Saker here, a Goshawk may appear above the forested patches, and, with luck, we might see White-tailed and Lesser Spotted Eagles. We'll then leave the Hortobágy National Park and travel to the Carpathian foothills, via Debrecen Great Wood for Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Short-toed Treecreeper, and a variety of passerines. We will reach our hotel in time for a late lunch and a short rest before the opening performance of the Zemplen Art Festival in the castle yard at Sárospatak.

Day 4: After breakfast we'll visit a few protected tranquil forests of the Zemplen valleys where we'll search the dense canopies for Ural Owl. There will be other forest specialists to look for as well, including Black, Lesser Spotted, Middle Spotted, Great Spotted, Grey-headed and, maybe, White-backed Woodpeckers. The musical double bill last year included a baroque evening of Bach,
Marcello and Handel and the Budapest Cello Ensemble playing Vivaldi, Bach, Klengel, Máté Hollós and Barber in Sárospatak Castle church. Night at Hotel Tokaj.

Day 5: We'll search some abandoned quarries this morning for Eurasian Eagle Owl, Blue Rock Thrush, Serin, and Black Redstart, all of which nest here. A few remaining Bee-eaters should still be around the steep clay walls and the bushes should be full of migrating passerines, including a few Barred Warblers. Last year our late afternoon concert was the Kosice Wind Trio performing Palestrina, Talermann, Debussy, Dusek, and Myslivecek followed by a magnificent Renaissance dinner in Sáropatak Castle courtyard. Night at Hotel Tokaj.

Day 6: After breakfast we'll look for more raptors in the skies above the wide open valleys of the Zemplen Hills, where we should see Honey- Buzzard and Imperial, Short-toed and Golden Eagles, while down in the valleys Woodlarks, Bee-eaters, Wrynecks, and finches should be migrating south. In 2001 we enjoyed two contrasting afternoon concerts; the Szeredas Ensemble performing folk music, followed by tea with I Salonisti, the ensemble that played the orchestra in the film, Titanic. Night at Hotel Tokaj.

Day 7: This morning we'll visit the floodplain meadows and gallery forests of the River Bodrog. These habitats recall the forested marshy landscape that was dominant in the last century, before the river was controlled. This is where we can expect to see White and Black Storks, Black Kite, Ferruginous Duck and marsh terns, while White-tailed Eagle and Hobby are distinct possibilities. Last year our three contrasting concerts included a magnificently sonorous Ukrainian choir, a baroque guitar recital, and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra. Night at Hotel Tokaj.

Day 8: Today we'll visit the most beautiful, untouched oak and birch forests to look for any of the species that we may have missed so far. In the past we have enjoyed afternoon open-air concerts in the ruins of Füzér fortress, the adjacent meadows, and later another baroque evening with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra. Night at Hotel Tokaj.

Day 9: On the way back to our hotel in the Hortobágy we'll stop at any recently drained fishponds to look for waders, ducks, and gulls. We'll make a special effort to seek out some of the secretive birds that live in the reed fringes of these ponds such as Water Rail, Little and Spotted Crakes, and Penduline and Bearded Tits. Night at Trófea Hunting Lodge.

Day 10: After breakfast we'll visit the southern part of the Hortobágy National Park where we'll search for Dotterels, pausing from their migration to feed on the heavily grazed grass. In the same habitat we should see Stone-curlew, Red-footed Falcon, Montagu's Harrier, and Tawny Pipit while at the edge of the steppe on the freshly cut alfalfa fields, Great Bustards should be gathering in small flocks. In the afternoon we'll stop at a suitable habitat to search through hundreds of Yellow-legged Gulls in the hope of finding the impressive Great Black-headed Gull, either staying one more night at Trófea or continuing to Budapest for an orchestral concert.

Day 11: After breakfast we'll set off on our journey back across the steppe, stopping at several places to rest, and to enjoy once more the birds and landscapes of the previous ten days. Or we'll end our tour with some sightseeing in Budapest before driving to the airport for our flight back to London, where the tour ends.

Cost £2250 (includes good tickets for all concerts)

Single Room Supplement £160

Maximum group size: 16 participants and 2 leaders.

Hungary bird list
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