Hungary
has
three
main
geographical
zones:
Transdanubia
west
of
the
Danube,
the
Northern
Hills
from
the
Danube
Bend
to
the
north-east
corner
of
the
country
and
the
Great
Plain
east
of
the
Danube
and
south
of
the
Northern
Hills.
Visits
in
May
to
the
most
famous
part
of
the
Great
Plain,
Hortobagy,
and
the
easternmost
part
of
the
Northern
Hills,
Zempleni,
gives
a
good introduction to the rich and varied Hungarian bird fauna.
Hortobagy
offers
a
mixture
of
puszta
grasslands
and
large
fishpond
complexes.
The
fishponds
are
crowded
by
Red-crested
Pochard,
Ferruginous
Duck,
Red-necked
Grebe,
Black-necked
Grebe,
Pygmy
Cormorant,
Little
Bittern,
Night
Heron,
Squacco
Heron,
Little
Egret,
Purple
Heron,
Glossy
Ibis,
Spoonbill,
White-tailed
Eagle,
Spotted
Eagle,
Spotted
Crake,
Little
Crake,
Whiskered
Tern,
Black
Tern,
White-winged
Tern,
Kingfisher,
Bluethroat,
Great
Reed
Warbler,
Icterine
Warbler,
Bearded
Tit
and
Penduline
Tit.
Large
numbers
of
tundra-breeding
waders
stage
and
a
few
Great
Black-headed
Gulls
might
summer.
Red-footed
Falcons
breed
in
Rook
colonies
in
the
coppices,
Bee-eaters
together
with
Sand
Martins
breed
in
gravel
pits
and
there
is
at
least
one
pair
of
White
Stork
in
each
village.
Great
Egrets
feed
in
the
grasslands,
Golden
Orioles
and
Turtle
Doves
are
present
everywhere,
while
Rollers
and
Lesser
Grey
Shrikes
perch
on
telephone
wires.
In
the
drier
parts,
one
can
with
some
luck
spot
Long-legged
Buzzard,
Short-toed
Eagle,
Eastern
Imperial
Eagle,
Great
Bustard,
Little
Owl,
Montagu’s
Harrier
and
Short-toed
Lark,
and
on
a
lucky
day
a
Saker
hunting
Sousliks.
Large
numbers
of
Hungarian
Grey
Cattle,
Water
Buffalo,
Rakka
sheep
and
hairy
pigs
feed
in
the
grasslands,
and
of
wild
mammals
we
have
found
Steppe
Polecat,
European
Souslik as well as Golden Jackal.
Zempleni
offers
a
varied
landscape
with
valleys,
low
mountains,
woods,
small
fields,
scattered
villages,
brooks,
pastures
and
glades,
housing
a
very
rich
breeding
fauna:
Black
Stork,
Honey-Buzzard,
Short-toed
Eagle,
Montagu’s
Harrier,
Goshawk,
Lesser
Spotted
Eagle,
Eastern
Imperial
Eagle,
Booted
Eagle,
Golden
Eagle,
Corn
Crake,
Ural
Owl,
Nightjar,
Wryneck,
Grey-headed
Woodpecker,
Green
Woodpecker,
Black
Woodpecker,
Syrian
Woodpecker,
White-backed
Woodpecker,
Middle
Spotted
Woodpecker,
Lesser
Spotted
Woodpecker,
Grey
Wagtail,
Bluethroat,
River
Warbler,
Barred
Warbler,
Red-
breasted Flycatcher, Collared Flycatcher, Hawfinch, and so on.
The total number of bird taxa recorded during earlier tours amounts to 240.
All
photos
were
taken
by
Volker
Schoessler
during
earlier
tours
to
eastern
Hungary, most of them in 2015.