Butterflies & Dragonflies of Hungary
Saturday 21st June – Saturday 28th June 2008
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This exciting tour is designed to explore the Northeastern part of Hungary in detail and discover the butterflies and dragonflies in one of the best areas in Central Europe. The itinerary combines lowland lakes and rivers at Hortobagy with the Northern Hills of Bükk and Aggtelek and three National Parks with various habitats and optional programme possibilities.

Hungary is surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains with many attractive mountain species while within the huge basin you can find a variety of different habitats ranging from special wet meadows, alkaline marshes, steppes through extensive oak, beech, evergreen woods, limestone slopes and volcanic hills. No wonder that Hungary is one of the richest countries in the Old Continent in terms of butterfly and dragonfly species.

Some of the facts: Hungary’s butterfly species list contains almost 200 species and about another 3400 moth species including several specialities and endemics. The dragonfly list contains 65 species, including some exceptional rarities such as White-tailed Skimmer, Common Winter Damselfly, Southern Emerald Damselfly, Green-eyed Hook-tailed Dragonfly, Norfolk Hawker, Lesser Emperor Dragonfly, Scarce Chaser, Large White-faced Darter, Southern Skimmer and Vagrant Darter. The main reason for the abundance of species is the rich, diverse habitats and plant species with more than 55 species of stunning orchids living among the 800 protected plant species here. Its no wonder Hungary has become such a popular destination among butterfly, dragonfly and wildlife enthusiasts over the last decade.

During this 8-day itinerary, we visit Hortobagy, Bükk and Aggtelek National Parks. The scenery is spectacular and you get some feel of the culture of the areas visited as well. The trip will be escorted by local lepidopterist/dragonfly specialist guides who both speak the language and know natural history of the areas we plan to visit. All local transport, meals, including picnic lunches at suitable places and accommodation are included. We use lovely, small hotels and family owned inns literally in the woods within the borders of the National Parks with plenty of great butterfly and moth species all around us! We hope to see close to 50 species of dragonflies and twice as many species of butterflies including many rarities. In addition to seeing many bird, butterfly, dragonfly, moth species including some great rarities, we offer different activities as optional programmes at each location. Please check the detailed itinerary below!

Our Tour Itinerary

Day 1
On arrival at Budapest Airport you will be met by your English speaking guide, who will accompany you throughout the trip. From the airport we head East toward the Hortobagy National Park. The roads cross excellent habitats so we can stop at suitable butterfly/dragonfly-rich sites as many times as we wish or we hit the highway and stop just once or twice to admire Imperial Eagle or Saker Falcon as well as our first butterflies and dragonflies. Night at Hortobagy.

Days 2 & 3
The landscape of this region of Hungary is the great plain or “Puszta” and is very different to the hilly region we will see later on. It is the westernmost part of a typical Eurasian Steppe, unique in Europe. This area is the birders’ Mecca with its amazing variety of birds, and we can see some great butterfly species such as Lesser Fiery Copper, Knapweed Fritillary, Swallowtail, Scarce Swallowtail, Eastern Bath White, Pale and Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, Small and Large Copper, Silver-studded Blue, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Silver-washed Fritillary, Small Heath, Chestnut Heath, Grizzled Skipper and Small Skipper.

On one of the days we offer as an optional programme a great boat-tour on the delightful channels of River Tisza connecting it with the Lake Tisza and its oxbow-lakes. This is a dragonfly paradise where among the common species such as Emerald Damselfly, White-legged Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly, Variable Damselfly, Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Migrant Hawker, Broad-bodied Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer, Scarlet Darter, Ruddy Darter we can find some really great rarities as well such as White-tailed Skimmer, Lesser Emperor Dragonfly, Norfolk Hawker, Common Winter Damselfly. If the timing is right, we also can find some late Large White-faced Darter or some fresh Bulbous White-faced Darter.

After the boat-tour another suggested optional programme is to visit the Hortobagy puszta with horse-drawn carriages, walk along a boardwalk into a marshy area with birdwatching hides and have an evening Puszta Party at a hidden corner of the National Park.

Alongside the shores of the Lake Tisza we can find some great butterfly species, such as Large Copper, some Fritillaries and Blues while birds will be represented by Squacco and Night Heron, Savi’s Warbler, Pygmy Cormorant, Penduline Tit, all four marsh tern species and probably even White-tailed Eagle.

After checking out some more wet areas in the Hortobagy region during late afternoon we travel North to the Aggtelek National Park where we stay at a great hotel surrounded by excellent butterfly and dragonfly habitats.

Days 4 & 5
The whole Aggtelek region is of outstanding natural beauty and is famous for its huge cave systems: over 700 caves have been discovered so far! An optional extra programme could be a tour of the amazing Baradla dripstone cave system, which is now a designated world heritage site, with a music and light show in the “Giants Hall” which comes highly recommended. Picturesque valleys with meadows still cut by hand and attractive small villages characterize the region where the traditional way of life remains pretty well intact.

Over the next days, we shall explore a mixture of habitats ranging from very dry hillsides to wet valleys. In one of the valleys alone, all nine Hungarian Hairstreaks occur at different times of the year and there is also a long list of Blues including Chequered, Chapman’s and Turquoise, with an outside chance of picking up the rare Iolas Blue. Amongst the Satyrids, both Woodland Brown, Speckled Wood and Dusky Meadow Brown occur and Dryad is another possible new species here. Eastern Dappled White and Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow have both been recorded at this time of year, while the valezina form of the Silver-washed Fritillary and False Heath Fritillary are also possible in the area.

One of the days will be split between different sites. These areas boast a terrific list of butterflies and we should be in for quite a treat.

South of Josvafo village at a remote hiking trail among many nice species such as Scarce Swallowtail, Pale Clouded Yellow, Purple Hairstreak, Scarce Copper, Purple-shot Copper, Meleager's Blue, Duke of Burgundy we will find some rarities as well like Eastern Short-tailed, Osiris, Mountain Alcon, Large, Chapman's and Anomalous Blue. Fritillaries will be represented by Silver-washed, Dark Green, High Brown and Heath Fritillary, but the main highlights would be to find Lesser Spotted and Pallas's Fritillary.
A few miles away north of the above mentioned area we will look for Hungarian Glider. Purple Emperor, Duke of Burgundy, Camberwell Beauty, Peacock, Map, Silver-washed Fritillary, High Brown Fritillary, Chestnut Heath will be all around and it this place will give a second chance for Pallas's Fritillary.

On another day we start with a walk from our hotel to a nearby stream coming from the cave system. In the water and around at the wet forest habitats we will search and find Fire Salamanders which are the symbol of the national park.
We cross Josvafo, a cosy village with many traditional 100-year-old houses surviving and a stream running through the middle. Along the stream there are usually “clouds of butterflies”. We follow the path alongside the stream through a nice little gorge up to a wet meadow.

We will eat our packed lunch at a marvellous upland. This is a perfect site not just for butterflies, but birders as well. Raptors are widespread, so we will have a chance to witness hunting of a Honey Buzzard or even an Imperial, Golden or Short-toed Eagle. One of the main food-source for raptors is the locally common Suslik.

During our day we should find many species such as Sooty Copper, Mountain Alcon Blue, Lesser Purple Emperor, Common Glider. More common will be Meleager's Blue, Chalkhill Blue, Peacock, Map Butterfly. Even Camberwell Beauty and Large Tortoiseshell is possible. Fritillaries will be around in good numbers again including Weaver's, Heath, Lesser Spotted and Spotted Fritillary. Dryad, Pearly and Chestnut Heath are also possible. Finally we will walk back towards Josvafo village and our hotel.

Aggtelek National Park is a fantastic place for dragonflies as well. We will definitely find Beautiful Demoiselle, Banded Demoiselle, White-legged Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Common Club-tailed Dragonfly, Green-eyed Hook-tailed Dragonfly, Migrant Hawker, Emperor Dragonfly, Broad-bodied Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer, Scarlet Darter and Ruddy Darter.

Another 2 optional programmes we can organize if we are notified in advance that it is of interest: evening bat-detecting and identification and/or evening moth-trapping and identification session.

Day 6 & 7
We can continue our butterfly and dragonfly-quest around Aggtelek or we highly recommend going for a marvellous cave tour into the Baradla dripstone cave system, which is now a designated World Heritage site, with a music and light show in the “Giants Hall”. All of former tour participants agree that it is always the highlight of the tour!

If we try to complete our list from this area we will visit a nice valley where Sloe Hairstreak, Scarce Copper, Eastern Short-tailed, Chequered, Meleager's, Chalkhill Blue, Lesser Purple Emperor, Marbled, Lesser Marbled, Spotted, False Heath and Heath Fritillary, Woodland Grayling, Dryad, Pearly and Chestnut Heath, Woodland Brown all can be found!

Several Skipper species are around including Lulworth Skipper and Safflower Skipper. We might find White-letter Hairstreak, Camberwell Beauty; White and Red Admiral are common. A good range of warblers, tits, shrikes and woodpeckers are present. Other bird highlights of the region include Ural and Eagle Owl and Rock Bunting. Brown Bears, Wolves and Lynx are occasionally reported but we would indeed be lucky if any of these came our way.

During the afternoon our journey to the Bükk National Park takes us through the Uppony Mountains, where we will visit a spectacular gorge in search of the elegant Hungarian Glider and White Admiral, together with some interesting Blues and Skippers, including possibly Safflower and Orbed Red-underwing. We shall be staying in a small and tranquil village at the border of the Bukk National Park.

Over the course of our stay, we will visit a number of key sites within the national park. The heart of the Bukk Hills is famous for its karst plateau with geological forms such as sink-holes, dolinas, limestone crags and caves. The edges of the plateau form huge cliffs with panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. These cliffs attract hilltoppers like the Common and Scarce Swallowtails with a possible late Clouded Apollo. Southern Small White, Mountain Green-veined White and Fenton’s Wood White will be among the more challenging species to seek out, while Chalkhill, Alcon, Reverdin’s and Eastern Short-tailed are amongst several species of Blue that also occur. Both species of Marbled and Lesser Marbled Fritillary are also recorded in this area together with Twin-spot and Nickerl’s Fritillary. Other potential highlights are Eastern Pale and Berger's Clouded Yellow, Sooty Copper, Small Spotted Blue.

We will continue our quest in the fields around Repashuta and the humid Hor Valley which form a rich combination of habitats. Several Copper species fly in this area including Purple-shot, Large, Scarce and Purple-edged, joined by Small, Chestnut and Pearly Heath. Duke of Burgundy, High Brown and Niobe Fritillary are all common species, while the Hor Valley is a good place for Cardinal, Poplar Admiral and Camberwell Beauty. Charcoal burners are still found working some of the local woods and we will have a chance to look in at one of their sites. This is also an area where local lime-burners still produce high quality chalk through traditional methods dating back thousands of years.
Lesser Purple Emperor, Lesser Fiery Copper and Silver-washed Fritillary are species around the accommodation.

In the Bukk National Park Area among some others we will try to find the following dragonfly species: White-legged Damselfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Azure Damselfly, Migrant Hawker, Emperor Dragonfly, Broad-bodied Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer and Ruddy Darter. Among the rarer ones we will search for Common Winter Damselfly, Norfolk Hawker and Vagrant Darter.

Apart from butterflies and dragonflies, the region boasts four species of Eagle including Imperial Eagle which is regularly spotted above our accommodation. Other interesting birds include Collared Flycatcher, Black, White-backed and Grey-headed Woodpecker, Hoopoe, Barred Warbler and Bee-eater. The southern part of the national park is generally well grazed with areas of longer grass, rocky outcrops and scrub. These variations in vegetation and an abundance of wild flowers mean high insect diversity. Glanville, Knapweed, Spotted and Lesser Spotted Fritillary are all common, together with Silver-studded Blue, Marbled White, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and False Grayling. Probably it will be late for the beautiful Scarce Fritillary and Southern Festoon, which both occur in the area, but an early Bath White is possible.

Optional programmes we can organize in the Bukk Hills if we are notified in advance that it is of interest:
-evening bat-detecting and identification
-evening moth-trapping and identification session
-cultural visit of the charming historical Eger town
-wine-tasting at the famous Thummerer-cellar, wine-maker of the year with famous Bull’s Blood

Day 8
Today, we travel to Budapest for our flight home. Depending on our flight schedule there are two options for the last day:

1. We might visit one of the largest remaining populations of Great Bustards in Europe just an hour drive from the capital.

2. We offer you a professional sightseeing tour by bus stopping at the main highlights of the capital. Budapest is among the finest cities in Europe, no wonder large part of it designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Site.

Leaders: Local expert guides