Hungary's Bats, Mammals & other Wildlife

Over the years we have offered a variety of tours to Hungary, focusing on such wide-ranging wildlife delights as birds, butterflies and flowers. This unique holiday, however, focuses on a different aspect of the Magyar natural world and offers a fascinating insight into the life of bats and other mammals which are typically elusive and usually difficult to see. In all, we hope to see between 15 and 20 species of bat on this week-long tour, as well as up to 10 species of mouse, shrew and vole and perhaps three species of dormouse. Larger mammals such as Wild Boar, European Beaver, Brown Hare, Badger and both Red and Roe Deer are also possible, together with an abundance of birds and other wildlife. Wolf, European Lynx and Wild Cat also occur in this region, but remain elusive, only seen by a lucky few!

We begin our holiday with a flight to Budapest, Hungary’s scenic capital city. From here we journey to the Aggtelek National Park, our base for the first four nights of the tour. Aggtelek is situated in the north-east of the country and was one of the first national parks to be designated in Hungary, primarily on account of its fine limestone scenery, karst landscapes and extensive caves. During our time here we will visit bat colonies close to our hotel to see Geoffroy’s, and both Greater and Lesser Horseshoe Bats, and spend the evenings mist-netting with researchers, hoping for Greater and Lesser Mouse-eared, Serotine and Grey Long-eared Bats. We will also inspect small mammal traps to sample the local rodent fauna. Amongst the species we might see are Common, Pygmy, Lesser White-toothed, Bi-coloured White-toothed, Water and Miller’s Water Shrew; Striped Field, Wood, Yellow-necked, Herb Field, Harvest, Steppe and House Mouse; and Bank, European Pine and Common Voles. Along a stream we could catch Bechstein’s, Mediterranean Horseshoe, Brandt’s, Pond and Natterer’s Bats and with luck even Parti-coloured Bat. There is, of course, plenty of other wildlife to enjoy in addition to the mammals and during our time here we will not be ignoring butterflies such as Pallas’s Fritillary, Large Blue and Large Copper, and such birds as Eastern Imperial Eagle, Golden Oriole, Red-backed Shrike and Black Woodpecker. On one day we will also pay a short visit to an old vineyard and enjoy a typical Hungarian goulash prepared by its friendly owner.

For the latter half of our holiday we will move south to our second base in the Bükk National Park, stopping en route to visit an old Cistercian Abbey, home to an important colony of Lesser Horseshoe Bats. The Bükk National Park protects a landscape of gentle forested hills and meadows, noted particularly for its gorges and numerous caves. This region holds an exceptionally diverse bat fauna, and on occasions up to 14 different species can be observed on a single night! During our time here, we will visit a large house to observe a colony of Geoffroy’s, Greater Horseshoe, Mediterranean Horseshoe and Lesser Mouse-eared Bats and we will spend time one evening studying bats at one of Hungary’s most important ‘swarming caves’. Species to look out for may include Alcathoe’s, Greater Horseshoe, Lesser Horseshoe, Mediterranean Horseshoe, Daubenton’s, Pond, Bechstein’s, Brandt’s, Whiskered, Greater Mouse-eared, Lesser Mouse-eared, Geoffroy’s, Natterer’s, Barbastelle and Common Long-eared Bats. We will also visit the baroque town of Eger to observe a huge Noctule Bat colony roosting under a road bridge.

In search of European Beaver we descend from the hills to spend an evening boating on Lake Tisza, where we will hope to catch a glimpse of this elegant mammal in its element. The numerous canals, oxbow lakes and ponds here are home to a wide variety of other wildlife including plentiful dragonflies and birds such as Purple, Night and Squacco Herons, Great and Little Bitterns, Pygmy Cormorants and Penduline Tits. En route we will stop at an expanse of grassland steppe known as the ‘Little Hortobágy’. Here we should be able to add European Souslik, (a small and endearing ground squirrel), to our mammal tally along with Brown Hare and perhaps Muskrat.

Once back in the hills we will join another small mammal researcher to check dormouse nest-boxes in the hope of finding Edible, Forest or Hazel Dormouse.

After a week exploring the wilds of Hungary, we head back to Budapest for our flight home, although you might like to consider extending your holiday for a few days to enjoy all that Hungary’s beautiful capital city has to offer.