The Hortobagy

Leaving Durankulak at 06:30 the wind was still blowing and it was raining hard. I drove up to the Romanian border which was only a 10 minute drive, there was no one at the Bulgarian side so I drove straight through. It didn't look like there was anyone at the Romanian side either, I drew to a stop by the border post and was just moving off again when there was a bang on the side of the van, there was someone here. The checks were brief however and I was soon on my way again. I drove around Bucharest then through Pitesti, joining the A1 at Sibiu there was a fantastic motorway here and I was making good progress. I had decided to cross the border in to Hungary near Oradea my route home would then take me close to Hortabagy where I planned to stop for a day. Joining the E79 north of Deva the road deteriorated rapidly and it looked like the whole length up to Oradea was being reconstructed, all at once, this mean't that the next 170Km were completed on a rough track with large holes everywhere. I thought it would take a couple of hours but it was closer to 5 hours before I finally made the crossing in to Hungary, stopping overnight in a motel near the border.
The following morning the sun was shinning as I drove for about an hour in to the small village of Hortobagy to get my permit to visit the bird watching sites in the area. I hadn't bothered with local currency at all in Bulgaria or Romania, paying for everything with a credit card and in Bulgaria they had been happy for payment in Euros. The visitor centre required Hungarian Forints for their payment so I had to withdraw cash, I had no idea what the exchange rate was and thought I was getting the equivalent of about £50 but withdrew over £300 by mistake, anyway I had plenty to pay for my permit which was 3000 Forints for a week pass which was about £7.50.
Hortobagy is an area of Hungarian Steppe grassland, which floods in the winter, with various fish ponds. In winter it is good for geese, wildfowl and birds of prey and in summer it is home to a large population of Red-footed Falcons and a range of steppe and marshland birds, it's also a reliable place to see Saker Falcon.
I headed for a small wooded area which my permit gave me access to and which held a large rookery and many pairs of Red-footed Falcon. I would guess there were at least 30 pairs but there could have been many more. Standing by the wood all you can hear is the cawing of the Rooks and the high pitched shrieks of Red-footed Falcons. If you want to see Red-footed Falcon, and get fantastic views this is the place to go. 

Red-footed Falcons

I took a lot of photos and could have stayed there all day but I also wanted to look at the fish farm which was about 15km away. The permit gave me access to the fish farm as well but it's a large area involving a 5km walk to the end of the ponds and the same back. There is a small steam train which runs at weekends which you can use to avoid the walk. 
The ponds hold a variety of water birds; Squacco and Purple Herons as well as the egrets, Marsh Harriers are constantly in view plus marsh terns with all three species around, numbers varied and I got the impression birds were moving through, Golden Orioles around the car park and a good range of wetland warblers with a handful of Great Reed, plenty of Reed and Sedge and quite a few Savi's Warblers and there is also a population of Moustached which I was keen to see.

Savi's Warbler

Penduline Tits could be heard calling all the way down the track and Bearded Tits were very active looking like some were carrying nesting material.

Penduline Tit - male

Bearded Tit - female

It was sunny but very windy making the search for warblers in the reed bed difficult but I finally located a singing male Moustached Warbler at the very end of the track.

Moustached Warbler

A colony of large gulls has established itself on an island viewable from hides at the end of the track, they are mainly Caspian Gulls but apparently there are also Yellow-legged with them.

Caspian Gull - adult

The following morning I planned to leave about mid-day but first I visited the Red-footed Falcons again and then went to look for the other bird which Hortobagy is well known for; the Saker Falcon, they tend to sit and even nest on the large pylons that cross the area in several places. I was lucky and found two birds either side of the road. They are distant and one bird was against the light but it was a reasonable view through a telescope. I stayed with them for a hour or so and eventually both birds flew but unfortunately both went away from me. They are an impressive bird, quite a bit bigger than a Peregrine looking about the size of Common Buzzard and a similar general colouration.

Saker on pylons and a crop which just about shows the bird!

I drove in a loop around Hortobagy and came across some nice groups of Common Crane feeding on the grassland and then finally set-off home.
Once I got near Budapest it was dual carriageway which continued through Austria, Germany, Belgium and France until I finally arrived at the Channel Tunnel.
I arrived home in Darley Dale at around 8pm on Saturday 7th May having driven just short of 10,000 miles and visited 12 different countries, a fantastic trip. Hopefully I can complete the second half of the trip to the Baltic States and Scandinavia next Spring!
I'll add in some of the scenic shots and other wildlife, particularly butterflies during the next few weeks.
Pam's mum, Barbara, passed away quietly in her sleep late on the 6th May, we will all miss her, she would have loved to have seen the photos from the trip.

The final route including return to UK