Little Hortobagy
(30.000 ha)
Borsodi-Mezoseg (30.000 ha) or the Little Hortobagy has more or less the same birds as the Hortobagy, although there are no fishponds, which decreases heron-numbers. At the same time, birds like Roller, Hoopoo, Saker Falcon and Lesser Grey Shrike are more numerous. Black Stork, Imperial Eagle, Red-footed Falcon and Great Bustard and many waders are all possible. Bustard and Red-footed Falcon can be seen displaying here, during the spring bird tours. In wet years White-winged Black Terns breed in high numbers in the temperory swamps.
Great Bustards in the Little Hortobagy with the Bukk hills in the background
in wet years White-winged Black Terns colonize the swamps
The Little Hortobagy gets very few visitors/birdwatchers, because the infrastructure in this area is a bit out-dated. Especially the central area is only accessible when the weather has been dry for days. Farm Lator has good contacts locally. Our local guide somehow manages to guide us to the core area, which is one of the prettiest remote steppe of Hungary. Farm Lator has the priveledge to be the only tour organizer that visits the core area with groups. These events are like a safari, lots of mud or dust, but very much worth the trouble. Imagine observing a group of Great Bustards and at the same moment being caught in a snowstorm of Black-veined White butterflies. At this spot, at a Blackthorn bushery, literally thousands of Black-veined whites reproduce.
a sleeping party of Black-veined White's
a dirt road verge in the Little Hortobagy with the Bukk Hills in the background
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