One of Europe s great wildlife spectacles - the mass arrivals of Common Cranes in the Hungarian Hortobágy Agoston Paksz

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1 Hungary CARNIVAL OF CRANES One of Europe s great wildlife spectacles - the mass arrivals of Common Cranes in the Hungarian Hortobágy Agoston Paksz 2016 Saturday 8th - Saturday 15th October (8 days) LEADERS Barrie Cooper & local guides One of Europe s great wildlife spectacles is the annual arrival of tens of thousands of Common Cranes over the marshes and steppe of Hungary's Hortobágy National Park. Mid-October sees peak numbers of Cranes here, along with flocks of wild geese and waders, many birds of prey, Great Bustard and Dotterel. Add a superb range of woodpeckers, Hawfinch, and Ural and Eagle Owls in the glorious Zemplén Hills - all from two characterful rural retreats - and you've got our classic Hungarian autumn tour! Some of the most spectacular autumn birding anywhere in Europe 4 nights at a superb new lodge adjacent the Hortobágy National Park October finds peak numbers of Cranes in the Hortobágy - as many as 100,000 birds White-tailed and Eastern Imperial Eagles, Saker, Great Bustard, Dotterel Sociable Plover, Red-breasted Goose and 9 Lesser White-fronts on our 2014 tour! 3 nights at a pretty village hotel beside the beautiful hill forests of the Zemplén Ural and Eagle Owls, 8 species of woodpecker, gangs of Hawfinches Expertly led by Barrie Cooper and our specialist team of Hungarian guides What's Included? Limosa Tour Leader Expert Hungarian ornithologist guide Flights London Heathrow to Budapest 7 nights accommodation at two characterful rural hotels All meals (and some local wine) included - with water provided during the day Wine-tasting evening at a Tokaj winery All local travel, entry fees, tour based tips and taxes LIMOSA HOLIDAYS, West End Farmhouse, Chapelfield, Stalham, Norfolk NR12 9EJ (UK) TEL: +44 (0) info@limosaholidays.co.uk WEB: limosaholidays.co.uk

2 Ural Owls breed in the majestic hill-forests of the Zemplén - along with lots of woodpeckers and Hawfinches, too! János Oláh Outline Itinerary Day 1: Days 2-4: Days 5-7: Day 8: Tour Overview Fly London-Budapest, transfer east to the Hortobagy National Park. Balmazújváros (4 nts) Three full days devoted to the steppe grasslands, wetlands and woods of Hungary's premier national park - the Hortobágy. We transfer to the superb hillforests of the Zemplén, seeking raptors, owls and woodpeckers - and sample the famous Tokaj wines. Komlóska (3 nts) Return to Budapest, fly London One of Eastern Europe s truly great bird areas, an autumn visit to the Hungarian Hortobágy is hard to beat. For in addition to its wealth of scarce resident birds, the sweeping steppe grasslands and reed-fringed lakes of this most famous National Park are a vital staging post for huge numbers of passage migrants and winter visitors streaming south to escape the onset of the harsh Russian winter further north. October is the time to visit. Only then do the large flocks of winter wildfowl and droves of stately Great Bustards assemble on the plains - where they are joined by legions of regal, trumpeting Common Cranes! Their numbers reach a peak in mid-october, when there may be upwards of 100,000 of these magnificent birds in the area. At one spot we visit, it is quite possible to find an incredible 20,000 Cranes roosting together. The sight and sound of these huge birds flying to roost against a backdrop glowing red with the last rays of autumn sun is an experience never to be forgotten. With them from the north come the great skeins of wild geese. The majority of those arriving now will be Russian White-fronts, but we should see Eastern Greylag and Taiga Bean Geese, too. With the help of our expert local guides and contacts, we also have a chance of finding the rare Lesser White-fronted Goose in amongst them - nine were seen on our October 2014 tour, along with a single Red-breasted Goose. The Hortobágy s extensive grasslands support significant populations of rodents, notably the squirrel-like Souslik. These in turn attract numerous birds of prey - and October is an excellent month to look for them. White-tailed and Eastern Imperial Eagles, Long-legged and Rough-legged Buzzards, Goshawk and Saker... we have seen them all on this tour. As we search the steppes for them, we may well encounter a solitary Great Grey Shrike watching over the steppe late autumn, witness the pre-migration info@limosaholidays.co.uk

3 gathering of Stone-curlews, or perhaps enjoy close-up views of migrant Dotterel (these super mountain plovers stop off in Hungary every autumn, when up to 200 birds may be present). Equally exciting are the Hortobágy s many fish ponds - immense reed-fringed lakes that shelter the likes of Pygmy Cormorant, Bittern, Great White Egret, and Bearded and Penduline Tits. Long-eared Owls will be gathering in significant numbers at their favoured winter roosts and an October visit adds the prospect of passage waders, with Spotted Redshank, Little Stint and Ruff among species we regularly see. Vagrant Sociable Plovers were an unexpected highlight on both our 2013 and 2014 tours here! We conclude our autumn trip with three nights in the beautiful Zemplén Hills. In October, the picturesque autumnal forests of beech, oak and hornbeam are a glorious sight to behold, richly hued in the golds, reds and browns of autumn. Specialities include Ural and Eagle Owls, gangs of Hawfinches and up to eight different species of woodpecker - including Black, Middle Spotted and the rare White-backed. We ran our first Carnival of Cranes tour as long ago as October 1993 and our autumn birdwatching tours to Hungary have been a regular feature of the Limosa programme ever since. Why not join us this year for a truly enchanting autumn week and share in the delight of one of Europe s most thrilling birdwatching experiences! Daily Itinerary Day 1 TO BUDAPEST & THE HORTOBÁGY Our autumn birdwatching tour to Hungary begins with a flight from London to the Hungarian capital, Budapest. We ll be met on arrival by our Hungarian specialist guide and travel east (a journey of about three hours) to the freshwater marshes and puszta steppe of the Hortobágy National Park. We will spend our first four nights here, staying at a new, purpose-built birdwatchers lodge near Balmazújváros, overlooking a splendid wetland site at the edge of the National Park. It's the ideal base from which to explore the Hortobagy with its 50,000 hectares of lakes, reedmarsh and forest set amidst large swathes of original steppe grassland (or puszta). Night near Balmazújváros Days 2-4 HORTOBÁGY NATIONAL PARK Of major importance here are the region s many halastoi or fish ponds. In reality, these are not really 'ponds' at all but huge man-made lakes, broadly hemmed with reed. Marsh Harriers float on upturned wings above the golden swathes as we watch for restless parties of Bearded and Penduline Tits in the reeds and willows. Elegant Great White Egrets, mahogany-red Ferruginous Ducks and lumbering White-tailed Eagles are usually about in October, as skeins of Eastern Greylags and Russian White-fronted Geese clamour noisily across the Hungarian sky. We ll sift carefully through the arriving goose flocks in our quest to find the scarce Bean Goose as well as the rare Lesser White-fronted. With its neat pink bill, prominent white forehead blaze and distinctive yellow 'eye-ring', this petite grey goose is not only one of Europe s rarest but also one of the most attractive. All this is but a prelude to the spectacle of the 'Carnival of Cranes'. Few sights or sounds in nature are more stirring than the massed arrivals and wild bugling cries of these great birds, as wave after wave of elegant cranes passes against a reddening October sky. Although we are unlikely to find them all together in one place, recent counts by satellite during October have revealed peak numbers in the Hortobágy to be in excess of 100,000 birds! With our local guide, we will visit one of the major roosts. Out on the surrounding steppe, Great Bustards gather in droves as winter approaches. Moving sedately across the autumnal fields, these proud, turkey-sized birds can often be rather easier to spot now than in spring. An abundance of European Souslik and other small rodents also makes the puszta one of the very best places in Europe for birds of prey. In October, we should see Saker, Hen Harrier and Common Buzzard hunting over the steppe, with newly arrived info@limosaholidays.co.uk

4 Rough-legged Buzzard and the scarce Eastern Imperial Eagle also possible. We may come across a dashing Merlin chasing down a hapless Meadow Pipit or Skylark, and we could well be lucky to encounter one or two of the season s rarer raptors - perhaps a tardy Short-toed Eagle, cinnamon-tailed Long-legged Buzzard or a wandering Pallid Harrier, the latter a scarce but annual visitor to the Hortobágy. In October, we also make a special effort to look for Dotterel, a scarce but regular autumn visitor to the Hortobágy that usually lingers until the first snows of winter arrive. As we search for them, we may come across late migrants such as Great Grey Shrike, Red-throated Pipit, Lapland Bunting or even Twite before the mellow hues of the Hungarian autumn slip into winter. Last but not least, October is a great month to find both Long-eared and Short-eared Owls in the Hortobágy. Our local guides will check out some favoured roost sites for us, visits to which have been a highlight for many participants on previous tours. We will see if we can beat our previous record count of 74 birds! Three nights near Balmazújváros Day 5 GREAT FOREST & ZEMPLÉN HILLS Leaving the Hortobágy today, we head north towards the rolling Zemplén Hills. We ll break our journey with a visit to the Great Forest near Debrecen, Hungary s second city. Preserving some of the oldest oak woodland in the area, here we may be lucky to find the big Black Woodpecker, along with the mouse-like Shorttoed Treecreeper and the 'snow-headed' northern and eastern form of Long-tailed Tit. Our destination this evening is the picturesque wine-growing district of Tokaj, close to the border with Slovakia. We will spend three nights here, staying at a superbly situated hotel right on the doorstep of the Zemplén s beautiful hillforests. Night Komlóska. Days 6-7 ZEMPLÉN HILLS With the unmistakable scent of autumn in the air, birdwatching in the magnificent Zemplén Hills is a sheer delight. Rising to almost 1000m and pretty as a picture, the Zemplén's extensive forests of ancient beech, hornbeam and oak are simply outstanding for woodpeckers. We will try for Black, Grey-headed, Syrian, Middle Spotted and the rare White-backed. Roving gangs of Hawfinches are also much in evidence here in autumn, as we search for two of the region s largest but most elusive avian residents: Ural Owl and Eagle Owl. Goshawk, Crested Tit and Short-toed Treecreeper are among other forest dwellers to watch for. If we are lucky, perhaps a resident Golden Eagle or Eastern Imperial Eagle will soar into view. Two nights Komlóska Day 8 RETURN TO BUDAPEST, FLY LONDON Depending upon airline schedules, there may be time for one last look around the lovely Zemplén Hills this morning before we must travel back to Budapest. Afternoon flight to London, where our autumn birdwatching tour to Hungary concludes. [For operational reasons it may occasionally be necessary to switch the itinerary around, visiting Zemplén first and the Hortobágy second. Should this be necessary, please note that the change will not affect our birding or the places visited.] Trip Information Group Limit 14 participants & 2 leaders Birds species Accommodation We stay at two comfortable and characterful hotels, with all rooms en suite. We begin in the Hortobágy with four nights at a brand new, purpose-built birdwatchers lodge in Balmazújváros, overlooking a splendid wetland site at the edge of the Hortobágy National Park. For our 3 nights in the Zemplén Hills, we stay at a pretty hotel in the hamlet of Komlóska, set in wonderful wooded surroundings at the end of the road - with great forest birding right outside, and its own wine cellar inside! Meals All main meals are included in the tour price, commencing with either a packed lunch or dinner (depending upon flight schedules) info@limosaholidays.co.uk

5 following our arrival on Day 1 and concluding with lunch on Day 8. Hungarian meals are tasty and substantial. Breakfasts and dinners will be taken at the hotels. For lunches we mix visits to traditional Hungarian inns (csarda) with tasty picnics in the field and forest. Walking In the Hortobagy, easy walks over flat terrain. In the Zemplen Hills, our walks are typically shorter, mostly along forest tracks and trails; expect some slopes of course, but nothing too strenuous and all taken at a gentle pace. Waterproof walking shoes or boots advised. Weather Eastern Hungary frequently enjoys an Indian Summer in October, when the weather can often be very pleasantly warm and sunny. However, the weather can equally be mixed (just like back home!) so pack wet weather gear and waterproof walking shoes or boots, just in case! In October, daytime temperatures in Budapest typically average warmer than in the UK, ranging between 7-16 C (44-60F). Flights Scheduled flights London Heathrow- Budapest with British Airways or Easyjet. Ground Transport Minibus with local driver Tour Cost 2016 (8 days): 1395 (inc flights from London) Land only cost: 1270 (TBC) Deposit: 300 Single Supp: 145 Cost includes Services of our expert guides; flights London-Budapest; 7 nights accommodation in Hungary; all main meals (with water provided and some local wine included); wine-tasting evening at Tokaj; minibus transport; all entry fees, tips to driver and local guides and airport taxes; map and checklist of birds for the tour. Cost excludes Insurance, drinks and other items of a personal nature. This trip will be operated in conjunction with the Travelling Naturalist About Your Guides Barrie Cooper Barrie has had a lifelong interest in nature, and his enthusiasm for conservation led him to develop a successful career with the RSPB. He worked as an international officer developing conservation and ecotourism in several countries a legacy of some of his work can be seen on our tour to Belarus. His passion for nature and travel has encouraged him to focus more on developing and leading tours. Barrie led our inaugural tour to Belarus in spring 2012 and has been back every year since (our 2016 tour there will be his 16th visit to the country). He also guides our autumn tours to Estonia and Hungary. He rates Eastern Europe as one of his favourite birding destinations and is looking forward to sharing his Hungarian experiences with you. Barrie will be assisted throughout by a local guide from our specialist team of experienced Hungarian leaders. What You Say Thanks for a great trip - with lots of fun, as well as lots of birds. CG, Hungary - Cranes tour Financial Security Limosa Holidays is a fully bonded Tour Operator and a member of the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO). We hold an ATOL (Air Tour Operators Licence) granted by the CAA, providing for your protection in the event of Limosa Holidays' insolvency. Our licence number is ATOL For tours not including the cost of a flight from the UK or for holidays booked by you as Land Only, all payments made to us are fully bonded through the Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT). Our ABTOT membership number is For details please see our brochure or website: info@limosaholidays.co.uk

6 Limosa Loyalty Discount We are proud of the number of loyal customers who travel regularly with us. As our way of saying thank you, we offer a Frequent Travel Discount. Under the scheme, everyone who takes four trips with us is entitled to claim a 5% discount on their 5th trip *1. Remember to request your discount at time of booking! *1 Please note: This offer applies to the basic tour cost only and excludes certain commissionbased trips, extras such as additional flights, private extensions and cancellations. Discounts cannot be given in lieu of tour deposits or off the cost of single room supplements. How To Book Check availability on our website or with our office. We are happy to hold Provisional Reservations for up to 7 days. After this, we do require a Booking Form and deposit to confirm your place on tour. Any unconfirmed space will be released. Book Online, by Phone or by Post You can book and pay the deposit simply and securely Online via our website, using the Book This Tour button on the relevant tour page or the Booking tab at the top of the page. Telephone bookings must be confirmed in writing by completion of a Booking Form (there's one tucked inside every brochure or as a PDF download from our website), which can be mailed to us in the time honoured way. Be sure to read our Booking Conditions and General Information (found at the back of our brochure, on our website or available from our office on request) prior to booking. When to Book Early booking is advised since flights and accommodation are much more easily secured well in advance. To encourage early booking, we are pleased to offer an Early Bird Discount - see our current brochure or website for details. Our tours are limited to small group sizes. So they can fill up quickly - sometimes even before our new brochure comes out! Single rooms in particular can often be in short supply and among the first to go, so do try to plan well ahead if you definitely require one of these. Last-minute Bookings: We inevitably receive a few unexpected cancellations over the course of a season so it is always worth enquiring about vacancies on any tour - even for those departing in just a few weeks! Payments The amount of booking deposit per person is shown alongside every tour. We accept deposit payments by debit card, cheque (payable to Limosa Holidays and drawn on a UK bank in GB Pounds Sterling) and BACS (please ask for our bank details). We also accept Visa and MasterCard credit cards, with no transaction charge on payment of tour deposits. Full payment of the balance is due not later than 12 weeks prior to departure (20 weeks in the case of certain tours such as cruises or those involving rail travel). We will send you an invoice before the balance is due. We accept payment for balances (and interim payments) by cheque, BACS or UK debit card. We also accept balances (and interim payments) by credit card or overseas debit card but with a charge of 2% of the transaction amount to help offset card company charges. [Note that we do not retain your card details, which are destroyed once used. This means we may need to phone you again for details for subsequent payments.] Payment by overseas customers must be in GB Pounds Sterling and may be made by transfer to our bank (please ask for our bank details), or by overseas debit or credit card with a 2% transaction charge. Please note we do not accept cheques on US Banks in US Dollars, or cheques in Euros or Eurocheques. Late Booking Payments: In order for us to guarantee your airline seats, hotels etc., full payment is required at time of booking for all late bookings (i.e. bookings made within 12 weeks of departure) info@limosaholidays.co.uk

7 Other Things You Need To Know Passports & Visas For UK passport holders, your passport must be valid for the proposed duration of your stay. Although you do not need any additional period of validity on your passport beyond this, when travelling anywhere overseas we always recommend your passport has a minimum of 6 months left to run after your intended date of return home, in case of unforeseen delay. VISA NOT REQUIRED by UK passport holders to enter Hungary. Holders of non-uk passports should contact the nearest Hungarian embassy or consulate to check whether or not they require a visa/s. If a visa is required, you need to apply locally. If the embassy or consulate requires you to provide a letter confirming that you are booked on an allinclusive tour, please contact our office and we will be happy to provide one. Health & Vaccinations Compulsory vaccinations: None. Recommended vaccinations: For travel everywhere (even within the UK), we recommend you check you are up-to-date with protection against tetanus, polio and hepatitis A. Ticks can occur in grassy, forested and wetland areas below 1400m during the summer months across most of continental Europe, including Hungary. If you are at all concerned by this, you may wish to seek advice about inoculations and other measures to prevent tick-related problems (such as tick-borne encephalitis) prior to travel. The above information, together with that contained within our Travel Information sheets (sent to everyone who books), outlines health requirements for this tour. Please note that these details are given for guidance only - and are only for certain diseases - and you must consult your doctor in good time prior to travel as to what immunisations (if any) are needed for your chosen holiday. For full and up-to-date health information we urge everyone to consult The National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) website prior to booking any overseas holiday. NaTHNaC is funded by the UK Government s Health Protection Agency and provides health information for both health professionals and travellers, with information compiled by its own clinical and scientific team. You can search for individual country requirements, which are updated regularly. Your Safety & Travel Advice An unavoidable aspect of travelling abroad nowadays is the risk it may pose to your safety and security. The best advice on current risks is provided by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO). In order to assess and protect against any risks in your chosen destination we strongly recommended that you refer to the relevant FCO Travel Advice - both prior to booking and regularly before you travel. See It is standard Limosa policy for our office to send a copy of the relevant FCO Travel Advice about the tour to all participants along with their Final Letter (ca. 2-3 weeks prior to the trip). Know Before You Go - staying safe and healthy abroad - is a travel safety campaign run by the FCO, and another useful resource. Go to: Further useful information on visas, health, etc., can be found at the World Travel Guide website: Travel Insurance Good travel insurance is essential before setting off on any overseas trip. In common with all responsible tour operators, it is a condition of booking that all clients are fully and adequately insured before travelling overseas with us. Your travel insurance should cover against cancellation, curtailment, missed departure, delay, personal accident, death, loss of baggage info@limosaholidays.co.uk

8 and valuables (see note below), personal liability and legal expenses. Most importantly, your insurance must cover you fully in respect of medical care and repatriation should you become too ill to continue with the tour, including the cost of emergency evacuation by helicopter or air ambulance should this be necessary. Note that passenger liability insurance covering the transportation that we hire, particularly in Third World countries, may be inadequate; it is therefore important that your insurance cover includes sufficient provision for your dependents in the event of an accident. We recommend that you obtain travel insurance as soon as possible after booking your holiday to ensure you are protected right from the word go in the event of unexpected cancellation prior to departure due to accident or illness. You must inform your insurers of any pre-existing medical conditions (including those of persons not necessarily travelling but upon whom your holiday may depend) that may require treatment during a period of overseas travel or might cause you to cancel the trip. Once you have arranged your insurance, please be sure to send us the following essential details: name and contact details of your insurance provider, your policy number, expiry date and your insurers 24hr Emergency Assistance number. Important Things to Note about Insurance Travel Insurance does not normally provide sufficient cover for valuable optical equipment, which is often best protected under your own household insurance policy. If in doubt ask your insurers for advice prior to travel. Most travel insurance policies limit the amount of cover, typically up to a maximum tour cost of 5000 per person. If the tour you are booking exceeds this amount, additional cover can usually be provided upon payment of additional premium. We recommend all travellers check their individual policy limit to ensure the full cost of their holiday is covered. Arranging Your Insurance: due to UK Government legislation, under Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulations, we are not allowed to offer or recommend travel related insurance to customers. Premiums can vary widely according to your age, needs, health, choice of destination and other factors, while many people nowadays have Annual Travel Insurance cover. For these reasons, we leave you free to shop around and pick your own policy, one best suited to your own individual needs. General Information Our website gives easy access to detailed tour itineraries (Tour Info Packs), trip reports, trip photos and the latest Limosa News. Special Diets & Other Requests We pass on all such requests to the airlines, hotels and other suppliers, and do our best to ensure (but of course cannot guarantee) that your needs will be met. Please be sure to tell us about these (in as much detail as possible) at the time of booking, to allow good time to make the necessary arrangements. Smoking Almost all of our clients prefer a smoke-free environment. For the enjoyment and comfort of all, we ask that smokers refrain from smoking in proximity to the group and respect our NO SMOKING policy in the vehicle, at meal times and when watching wildlife. Any Questions? If you have any questions at any time, you ll find our office staff friendly, efficient, approachable - and just a phone call away, eager to assist you in every way. Our office is open hrs Mon-Fri, and can also be reached by fax and . In the event we are unable to take your call, please leave a message on our answerphone (24 hrs) and our office will contact you as soon as we can. Thank you for your interest in our tours. We do hope that you will be able to join us - and we look forward to hearing from you again! revck info@limosaholidays.co.uk