Hungary - Day 4

  We set out early today so that we would have enough time to properly bird the Hortobágy National Park, an area of open grassland with small wetlands and woodlands. We arrived reasonably early, bought a ticket and first headed to the ‘Old Lakes of Hortobágy fishponds’, an expanse of wetland in the center of the park. The birding here was truly excellent, with the bushes full of migrant birds and the wetlands full of different species. For me, there were two lifers with Pygmy Cormorant, followed by Moustached Warbler, which was much skulkier than I had anticipated. Other highlights included Spotted Redshank, Whiskered Tern, Savi’s Warbler, Squacco Heron and a flyover Red-throated Pipit.
  For lunch, we drove a little further to a rookery which also contained a breeding colony of Red-footed Falcons. It was an exceptional experience, watching multiple individuals of these stunning falcons as they circled low over the wood, stooping below the trees and calling together. In total we spent about two hours watching the birds, and it was well worth it.
  During the afternoon we visited a few different areas of pastures where we looked for Great Bustard. Although we did have a single individual flying in the distance, we never spotted any on the ground. There was still good birding to be had, however, with numerous Red-backed Shrikes, Bluethroats and Corn Buntings on offer. We also stopped off at another location where we had a Saker Falcon, but the haze was bad and it was difficult to make anything out on the birds.

-Pygmy Cormorant

-Moustached Warbler

-Common Crane

-Red-footed Falcon

-Marsh Frog

-Lesser Fiery Copper

-Pale Clouded Yellow

-Common Winter Damselfly

Species List:
Hortobágy National Park: Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Gadwall, Mallard, Common Pochard, Ferruginous Duck, Common Pheasant, Great Crested Grebe, Feral Pigeon, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Great Bustard, Common Cuckoo, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Common Crane, Black-winged Stilt, Northern Lapwing, Little Ringed Plover, Ruff, Temminck's Stint, Dunlin, Spotted Redshank, Wood Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Little Gull, Caspian Gull, Black Tern, White-winged Tern, Whiskered Tern, Common Tern, Black Stork, White Stork, Pygmy Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Great Egret, Little Egret, Squacco Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Eurasian Spoonbill, Western Marsh Harrier, White-tailed Eagle, Little Owl, Long-eared Owl, Eurasian Hoopoe, Syrian Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Red-footed Falcon, Eurasian Hobby, Saker Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Eurasian Golden Oriole, Eurasian Jay, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Hooded Crow, Great Tit, Eurasian Penduline Tit, Crested Lark, Bearded Reedling, Moustached Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Savi's Warbler, Barn Swallow, Common House Martin, Wood Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Common Starling, Spotted Flycatcher, Common Nightingale, Bluethroat, Black Redstart, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Western Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Red-throated Pipit, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Corn Bunting, Common Reed Bunting,