Slovakia/Hungary (Hortobágy) September 2026
Updated: 11 hours ago
More editing and photos to come.
Place names in brackets are where I stayed the night
Thursday 10 September (Radošina SK)
Arrived at Bratislava from Leeds/Bradford about 1220 hrs. A lot of Brits at border control, made for slow progress.
Drove north to my daughter's home.
Vodná nádrž Kráľová, Šoporňa
Very quiet just Cormorants, Mute Swan and Mallard.
On the road
Grey Heron, Marsh Harrier, Swallows, Rooks, Woodpigeons
Friday 11 September (Radošina SK)
Radošina
Very heavy rain until late morning. Just Great Tit, House Sparrow, Collared Dove and House Sparrow around my daughter’s house and garden.
Orešany Airstrip and manure dump
Common Buzzard, Blackbird, Magpie, Song Thrush, White Wagtail, Crested Lark.
Sĺňava Reservoir, Ratnovce
Little Egret, Great White Egret, Little Grebe, Black-headed Gull, Hooded Crow.
Saturday 12 September (Radošina SK)
Sokolovoce river, oxbows and reservoir.
Sunny and cool morning
Great Tit, Starling, Woodpigeon, Kestrel, Spotted Flycatcher, Jay, Greenfinch, Yellowhammer, Common Buzzard, Chiffchaff, Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Hawfinch, Goldfinch, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Great White Egret, Grey Heron, House Martin, Black Woodpecker, Little Egret, Mallard, Mute Swan, Cormorant, White Wagtail, Stock Dove, Swallow, Hooded Crow, Black Redstart, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Long-tailed Tit, Syrian Woodpecker, Chaffinch, a distant eagle species gave brief views.
Sunday 13 September (Radošina SK)
Radošina
Red Squirrel in vintage.
Svrbice
A walk along the track here to the top of the hill is usually productive, very quiet today.
Orešany Airstrip manure dump
Northern Wheatear
Voda Krtovce
Great Crested Grebe. Unusual family party of Mute Swans with last year’s young still present with this years.
Vodá Ripñany
Red-backed Shrike, Tree Sparrow, Pochard, Tufted, Coot, Green Sandpiper.
Bojná
At the Beaver dam, what I at first thought were two Beavers, when I studied videos and photos on my computer back home, it turned out one was a Beaver the other a Coypu. Grey Wagtail, Common Treecreeper and several Chiffchaffs feeding on fallen trees in the dam.
Monday 14 September (Radošina SK)
Madunice to Drahovce
Blackcap, Chaffinch, Robin, Wigeon, Teal.
Sĺňava Reservoir, west side
Black Tern, Common Sandpiper, two Kingfishers.
Tuesday 15 September (Inárcs H.)
Orešany Airfield & Manure dump
Black Redstarts, Red-backed Shrike, Common Redstart, Meadow Pipit,
Pariẓ̌ke Močiare Reserve, Gbelce SK
When I got to the top of the observation tower, I noted a distant large raptor that seemed to have a swollen type head, reminiscent of Short-toed Eagle. Soon after this sighting I started photographing a soaring Marsh Harrier then another raptor, I quickly realised was an actual Short-toed Eagle. This species is very rare in Slovakia, with a small breeding population in the west of the country. After this eagle drifted off south my attention turned back to the previous perched raptor, which was still present. I got bit nearer and confirmed its identity. Meanwhile there was a large midday murmuration of thousands of Starlings around the eagle. This eagle eventually drifted off south as well. Dunlin and Teal on a recently made scrape, first Raven and Grass Snake,
I then crossed over a very low River Danube into Hungary for the next 8 nights
Visited a number of wildlife sites to the north and south of Budapest, all very quiet apart from a Hobby on a roadside power line. The most numerous butterfly today in Hungary was Cardinal Fritillary, not a species I have noted in Setember before. Most were very worn indiviuals.
Wednesday 16 September (Egyek H.)
Hortobágy National Park South
Yellow Wagtail, Stonechat
Hortobágy
Went and picked up a fishponds pass from the visitor centre for 8 days 10,000 Florints about £25, a big increase on past visits.
Halastó Fishponds
Shoveler, Gadwall, Pygmy Cormorant, Greylag Geese, Bee-eater, Lapwing, Cattle Egret, Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Snipe, Wood Sandpiper, Lapwing,
Egyek
When I arrived at my apartment at dusk there were several large bats out in good light. I had forgotten my bat detector, but from behaviour they were probably Nocutle Bats. A montarge of the bats is below, made by cuting and pasting in Photoshop.
Thursday 17 September (Egyek H.)
Gelei-halastó Fishponds
Just a few common wildfowl, egrets and Herons.
Újszentmargita
Just to the north of the village the first Cranes down on the ground feeding in a recently ploughed field. Throughout the trip very few were seen on the very dry grass plains.
Bivalyhalmi-tó Fishponds
Difficult to access to view open water, on arrival the first White-tailed Eagle a juvenile circled overhead. A later walk along a path to the north found 7 White-tailed Eagles in the air together. First time on my sixth visit to the Hortobágy Fishponds I have been asked to show my fishpond pass as I was to do on another four occasions! Large flock of Cranes kettling in the distance.
Tinó-laposi-halastó Fishponds
Four more White-tailed Eagles and the first Black Storks.
Nagyiván Road
Another one of my favourite sites in the past, but due probably to the dryness of the area very little about other than Kestrels, Starlings, Stonechats and Tree Sparrows.
Árkus Road
After a fairly quiet day, it all kicked of here late afternoon. Over the dry reedbeds at the side of the road, during the next hour or so, up to 30 Red-footed Falcons were feeding in the air. Juveniles, females and males were picking insect from the air, from photos they seem to be beetles or some kind of bugs? Also flying over a flock of Spoonbills, many gulls and a few Black Storks.
Friday 18 September (Egyek H.)
While having my breakfast there was the constant noise of Cranes overhead and when I went out, they could be heard on the ground in the distance.
Little Hortobágy
Crossed the River Tisa on the first ferry of the day at 7:00 am to make my sixth visit to this part of the National Park. Due to the dry plains and the fact that last time I went the track through the area was impassable in an ordinary car, I was not expecting much. Surprise number one was the track had been graded with new stone for the first few kilometres and then it was a very dusty but smooth right the way to the northern boundary. The wetlands next to the abandoned visitor centre had dried up, seemed to be bad omen, but I pushed on north. Several Red-backed Shrikes, lots of Kestrels, a Wheater, then after carefully keeping an eye on the huge electricity pylons in the area my number one target species an immature Saker Falcon was found. Typically, on the wrong side of the car, I managed to turn the car around and watched the falcon from inside my car for about 25 minutes, when it flew off north. I then turned around and carried on northwards. A juvenile Red-footed Falcon was very obliging in a roadside tree, further on a White-tailed Eagle and an Eastern Imperial Eagle were on top of a mound of earth. I then drove through a small wood and came across a/or another Saker Falcon perched in a roadside tree. As usual on the passenger’s side of the car, but the track was wide here and I managed to get the driver’s side of the car turned so I could photograph the falcon from the car. The falcon stayed in the tree for over ten minutes and to my amazement an immature Eastern Eagle circled over the tree, all the while being bombed by a Marsh Harrier. On the return trip down the road near the mound where the two-eagle species were found, a Saker Falcon circled overhead, with an Eastern Imperial Eagle nearby. Plus, all the time Marsh Harriers, Common Buzzards, distant White-tailed Eagles and Kestrels all up at the same time. I then continued back south and just past the derelict visitor centre on an overhead line, where I have had them on previous visits was a Roller.
Csécs-mocsár Fishponds
Willow Warbler, Red-crested Pochard, Greenshank, large flock of hundreds of Lapwings.
Halastó Fishponds
First Squacco Heron and a Pied Flycatcher in the children’s playground.
Arkos Road
Red-footed Falcons several present feeding much higher than the previous day.
Saturday 19 September (Egyek H.)
Halastó Fishponds
Walked to the 5.6 Kl 3.5 miles to the farest fishpond pond. Huge roost of Cranes from mid morning, with birds continually arriving small groups from local fields and many large flock arriving from the north. By early afternoon several thousand present. New birds Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Black-tailed Godwit, Shelduck and Sparrowhawk. Bearded Tit in the same place as my two previous visits. Got brief views of a Water Rail.
Borsosi-to & Malomházi-halastavak Fishponds, Hortobágy village
Adult and juvenile Night Herons.
Árkus Road
Min of 20 Red-footed Falcon at dusk.
Sunday 20 September (Egyek H.)
Fényes-tó Fishponds
Min of 34 Black Storks, Green Sandpipers, Sedge Warbler, Water Rail, 4 Bearded Tits.
Csécs-mocsár Fishponds
A return to these ponds found nothing new.
Vidi-laposi-tó Fishponds
First visit to these ponds only to find they had been abandoned and a fire had swept though the ponds vegetation and surrounding grassland.
Pince-Lapos-tó Fishponds
Two White-tailed Eagles were flying over a large flock of Greylag Geese. The geese stayed down on the water and did not seem bothered by the eagles.
Ohat Fishponds
A second visit to my favourite fishponds. Again, the passerines where hard to come, by apart from the usual large flocks of Tree Sparrows, as on a number of days Stonechats in the reeds and a few Bearded Tits noted. This has always been a reliable site for Ferruginous Duck and after climbing the rickety observation tower I found a few. Three came quite close later on. Close views of Caspian Gulls at last.
Árkus Road
About a dozen Red-footed Falcone towards dusk, but flying much higher and over the grassland.
Monday 21 September (Egyek H.)
Belépés Fishponds
Remarkably quiet and mostly birdless, apart from another midday Starling roost.
Kilátó: Szikvizes élőhely
A wetland nature reserve with a good observation tower to the south of the town of Balmazújváros. Good numbers of common wildfowl and a White-tailed Eagle perched on a fence post at the side of the water seemed to be causing no commotion.
Ferto-laposi-to Fishponds
Nothing of note other than a huge flock of Mallard numbering well into the thousands.
Halastó Fishponds
All of note today was a large number of Pygmy Cormorants. The muddy ponds are quickly frying up and now contain only a few waders, being mostly Snipe. To my recollection my first ever September Ruddy Darter dragonfly.
Tuesday 22 September (Egyek H.)
West side of the Tiza River at Poroszló
A lot of wildfowl waders and gulls but nothing new. A lot of anglers driving along the top of the floodbank was annoying so I soon left.
East side of the Tiza River at Poroszló
Green Woodpecker, Caspian and Yellow-legged Gull.
Wednesday 23 October (Bratislava SK)
A quiet drive back to Bratislava wildlife wise. Made a detour to the Hansag near the Austrian border, but the main lake was completely dry and very little of any interest.
Tadten and Andau Plains Austria
Remarkably quiet compared to usual. I managed to find several distant Great Bustards, a large flock of several hundred Tree Sparrows and a lone buzzard was the only raptor at this raptor hotspot.
Arrived at my airport hotel near Bratislava Airport around 6:30 pm, leaving me enough time for me to use the superb buses into the centre of the city for a meal and a few beers.
Thursday 24 October
Flew back to Leeds Bradford Airport at 7:10 am
Went through border control at both airports fairly quickly. Then caught the awful bus back to Leeds Station, full to bursting as usual, no room on the luggage rack, meant I had to keep luggage between my legs and on my knees. Train and buses home all on time.
Butterflies
Peacock, Large White, Speckled Wood, Common Blue, Clouded Yellow species, Cardinal, Red Admiral, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Bath White, Small White.
Dragonflies
Common Darter, Migrant Hawker, Emerald damselfly species, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Ruddy Darter.
Mammals
Beaver, Coypu, Brown Hare, Roe Deer, Red Squirrel.
Comments