Ecotours Wildlife Holidays - Bird Photography and Birding Tours

08/08/2024

Some superb shots from the Mongolia Snow Leopard tour, courtesy of Chris Hutchinson.

08/08/2024

Balazs is back from Mongolia: "It is a real honor to work in such an environment, with so many lovely people, including our clients and fellow guides. After more than 20 years in this business, I still can't believe our job is to organize holidays where people can simply relax and enjoy nature, a new country, a different culture, and food. It is truly satisfying to believe that we succeeded in making a truly memorable trip. I am very thankful to Speyside Wildlife for being such a professional partner for many years. Their commitment to quality and good organization makes them one of the best partners to work with! This small group and their guide Sally were such a delight, full of laughter, flexible, and very easy to work with. By the way, they were also very lucky with some of the sightings.
Look at this Snow Leopard; it thinks its a kitten
—we almost saw it taking down another sheep right after a bit of self-guided training exercise with the carcass of one it had already caught. It was truly hilarious footage (although somewhat blurry as I forgot to switch to 8K resolution mode when recording)."
More info about next year’s tour in the comments 👇

04/06/2024

Exciting Update from Slovenia! 🇸🇮 Milan is currently in Slovenia with a wonderful group from Art Safari, exploring the stunning landscapes, observing the diverse wildlife, and capturing the beauty as they immerse ourselves in the natural wonders of Slovenia. https://ecotourswildlife.co.uk/wildlife-holidays/general-wildlife-holiday-slovenia/

12/03/2024

We had a brilliant short break in Hungary. We saw two different Long-eared Owl roosts with close views of the owls during the day. We saw two different Ural Owls, both in the scope for prolonged views. We also saw Little Owl perched during the day.
We recorded all the woodpeckers available at this time of year. We saw a Black Woodpecker excavating its nest hole, a drumming White-backed Woodpecker joined by the female and then chased off by a Grey-headed Woodpecker. We saw several drumming and calling Syrian Woodpeckers.
We saw many Imperial and White-tailed Eagles in the Hortobagy and also had good perched views of a Greater Spotted Eagle. We watched a Saker Falcon hunting in the Hortobagy and had several Marsh and Hen Harriers.
Our first day in the Hortobagy brought 6 species of geese with good views of a Red-breasted Goose, several Lesser White-fronted Geese, a Tundra Bean Goose and a surprise Barnacle. We saw Garganey, Ferruginous Duck and Smew.
Wallcreeper performed very well, we watched it for over 20 minutes feeding at almost eye level in the huge quarry while Peregrines were mating at the top of the quarry. We saw lots of Hawfinches, good views of Rock Bunting, several Great Grey Shrikes, male Great Bustards already doing some display, a cracking Fire Salamnder, mating Common Toads, Tree Frog and some early butterflies.
The guesthouses were both very accommodating and the food at both places was special.

06/08/2023

First photos from this year's Snow Leopard tours!
The first group has seen the cat on day 1, resting for hours then eating its prey it has hidden in the crags. The second group has seen 3 cubs at the den, and then the female too when it returned. These are low res photos since the internet is not so good at the Altai camp but we are very excited to share them with you. More photos and videos to come!
Info about the tour: http://ecotourswildlife.co.uk/birding-holidays/asia/mongolia/snow-leopards-and-amazing-birds

15/07/2023

We are at the Global Birdfair again! Visit us in Swallow Marquee Stand 27.

23/06/2023

We had a great wildlife holiday with Art Safari in Slovenia. Butterflies, bears, beautiful landscapes and painting en-plein-air .
For more info about our birding tours and wildlife holidays in Slovenia see the link in the comments.

24/12/2022

All of us at ECOTOURS Wildlife Holidays wish you a Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year!

21/10/2022

We lead four Snow Leopard tours to Mongolia this year. All of them were succesful in seeing Snow Leopards. One of our groups had a mother with two well grown cubs catching a marmot and eating it while we were watching them having fantastic views through the telescopes. We also had great views of Saiga Antelope, Siberian Ibex, Mongolian and Goitered Gazelle, Tarbagan Marmot, Corsac Fox and lots of cute small pikas, gerbils, voles and jerboas. Of course birds were also spectacular with almost daily views of Lammergeier, Steppe Eagle, Saker Falcon, Upland Buzzard. We had great views of Mongolian Ground-Jay, Pallas’s Sandgrouse, Altai Snowcock, Pallas’s Gull, Demoiselle Crane, Brown Accentor and Guldenstaedt’s Redstart among others.
More info: http://ecotourswildlife.co.uk/birding-holidays/asia/mongolia/snow-leopards-and-amazing-birds

21/10/2022

We had a short Hortobagy trip for a UK group consisting three generations of a family. We enjoyed fabulous weather and saw specatcular gatherings of Common cranes, geese and Long-eared owls. We also had great views of Saker falcon, Imperial and White-tailed eagle.
„Thank you again for such an amazing tour! We so enjoyed understanding more about birds- there’s so much to learn! There’s a world out there! You were so patient with us and caring. The food couldn’t have been better and we all loved the accommodation. These few days are all fixed in our memories and you helped make our mother’s dream to share her beloved Hungary come alive. Thank you!”

13/09/2022

News from Mongolia! Attila just finished another successful tour. All 4 groups in this year have seen the elusive Snow Leopard and an amazing array of mammals and birds. More photos to come.
More info about the tour: http://ecotourswildlife.co.uk/birding-holidays/asia/mongolia/snow-leopards-and-amazing-birds

03/05/2022

16/03/2022

VENT’s annual tour to Hungary and the Czech Republic is among our most diverse and beautiful tour offerings. For two weeks in the early fall, participants en...

07/03/2022

We just finished a great Hungary tour with two English guests. We had a fantastic day in the Kiskunsag seeing Lesser White-fronted and Red-breasted Goose, Imperial and White-tailed Eagle, Goshawk, Saker Falcon, Rough-legged Buzzard, Hen Harrier, Great Bustard, Pygmy Cormorant and many other commoner birds. We had a quick visit to the Hortobagy to see Greater Spotted Eagle and then we spent 3 days in the Bukk Hills. There we had great views of Ural Owl, Black, White-backed, Middle Spotted, Grey-headed, Lesser Spotted and Syrian Woodpecker, Hawfinch, Rock Bunting and Brambling. Our guest enjoyed the Hungarian hospitality, tasty food and great local wines.
More info about our birding tours in Hungary: http://ecotourswildlife.co.uk/birding-holidays/europe/hungary

31/12/2021

We wish you all the best for the new year and hope to welcome you on one of our tours!

08/12/2021

We just finished another great Hungary birding trip with guests from the UK. The absolute highlight of the trip was watching 25 thousand Common Cranes flying into their roost at Szeged Fishponds. It was magical standing in the tower overlooking the ponds and seeing endless flocks of cranes flying in from all directions, constantly calling. The supporting cast was also fantastic with many birds of prey, woodpeckers, owls and geese. In the Bükk Hills we saw Wallcreeper, Black and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Hawfinch and Willow Tit. In Hortobágy National Park we had great views of Red-breasted and Lesser White-fronted Goose, Eastern Imperial and Greater Spotted Eagle and visited a day roost of lovely Long-eared Owls. In Kiskunság National Park we had several flocks of the magnificent Great Bustard and saw a wonderful array of raptors with Imperial and White-tailed Eagle, Rough-legged Buzzard, many Hen Harriers, Goshawk, Merlin and Saker Falcon. Pygmy Cormorant, Smew, Red-crested Pochard, Syrian Woodpecker, Bearded and Penduline Tit, Short-toed Treecreeper, Great Grey Shrike and Water Pipit were also seen well. Our guests loved the tasty Hungarian food and a good selection of local wines.

02/10/2021

After almost ten years of preparation - planning, data collection, data processing and analysis, writing, proofreading, the Bird Atlas of Hungary was completed, summarising the available knowledge on the population, distribution, population changes and conservation status of the 420 naturally occurring bird species in Hungary. The approximately 1,700 maps and graphs, produced by modern computer processing of 30 million data records collected by hundreds of surveyors, together with descriptions by 64 authors, provide the most complete picture possible of the status of Hungarian wild bird species. https://www.mme.hu/madaratlasz

29/09/2021

The ever popular mass crane migration is now enhanced with the unique opportunity for seeing cranes from few meters. Breath-taking experience with or without a professional camera. You can spend some time in a crane hide to watch or photograph cranes feeding and preening very close. You will hear them communicating between them, perhaps see them dancing in front of you, study every detail on their plumage - a real insight into their daily life.... In the evenings you can watch the 100 000 cranes flying into their roost low overhead. There are also Great Bustards, staging Dotterels, up to 40 Long-eared Owls on a day roost, many raptors, woodpeckers and good chances for Ural Owl.
During October we offer special crane trips for up to 8 passengers, photographers or birders. We take groups of 2-8 guests for 4-8 days with 1 or 2 bases. Contact us for more details!

The ever popular mass crane migration is now enhanced with the unique opportunity for seeing cranes from few meters. Breath-taking experience with or without...