Ornitravel

Ornitravel - Birdwatching Holidays

Pied Avocet, © Laszlo Bècsy HUNGARY in the autumn
Cranes and Geese in the Puszta
Hungary has established itself as one of Europe’s best birding destinations and with good reason. The endless expanse of East Hungary with its wetlands, marshes and fish ponds provides natural habitats for many bird species that have become rare in our regions: Saker Falcon, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Pygmy Cormorant, Lesser White-fronted Goose, Ferruginous Duck, Great Bustard, Corncrake, Ural Owl, Aquatic Warbler and nine speciesof woodpecker. more details

Birding Tour Black Forest - Pygmy Owl and Black Woodpecker

UPCOMING BIRDING TOURS!
Eastern Black Sea Coast
Stunning Raptor Migration
Northern Turkey and Bosporus
‘Vulture rocks’ (Tour 1) and bird migration (Tour 2)

Lake Bafa, © Wilder

"Magical Lake Bafa", Report by Andrew Wilder,
September 2006

As a family we have always taken our holidays in the Greek Islands, but with the kids living away from home and having just retired we were open for other alternatives. Since joining Ornitravel last year my wife had mentioned Lake Bafa to me on several occasions. By chance, when browsing through a second-hand bookstall I came across “South from Ephesus” by Brian Sewell. The book fell open at a page where he described a visit to Lake Bafa in South-western Turkey.

“I cannot explain the hold that Heracleia has; the cella of a small temple to Athena perched on a rock overlooking the lake, the grand Byzantine castle, the city ramparts running high into the wild hills behind, the Sir Walter Scott air of the offshore island ….” I had found our ‘somewhere different’!

As my wife is a keen birdwatcher and I am trying to learn to watercolour paint Ornitravel seemed to offer an ideal combination of peace and quiet, exotic wildlife and beautiful locations.

© Wilder

Travelling by TRAIN!

Train

Our birding tours in Germany and
Holland can easily be reached by train from London.

In only 6 hours / Price p.p. from £110
Holland/Rhine Valley
Geese, Ducks and Waders
In only 8 hours / Price p.p. from £170
Birding Tour Black Forest
Owls and Woodpeckers

Ornitour Lake Bafa - Smyrna Kingfisher and Krueper`s Nuthatch

Picture taken by Daniel Montanus, who spent one week at
our holiday resort at Lake Bafa in May 2008.

Tour reports birding Lake Bafa:
Ornitour Lake Bafa, 15.-28.04.07
Birds at Lake Bafa and surroundings, 15.-29.05.06
Birds at Lake Bafa and surroundings, 10.-23.10.05

HUNGARY - NATIONAL PARKS AGGLETEK, BÜKK & HORTOÁGY
Nature Tour also suitable for children from ca. 7 years

Have you ever dreamt of a holiday that would take you through hills covered with vast deciduous forests and filled with outstanding geological wonders, ecological rarities and cultural delights unknown to the every day traveller? Look no further, this tour is for you! On this 9 day journey you will visit World Heritage sites in three different national parks. In Europe it is hard to find such a relatively small area boasting so many different landscapes with such an abundance of rare and protected plants, butterflies, dragonflies, birds and mammals. This top itinerary to the wild and unspoilt part of eastern Europe is a great experience for the all-round naturalist. more details

Dates: Sat., 26. Jul. 2008 - Sun., 03. Aug. 2008

Hello to all visitors of the Ornitravel homepage!

Rose Butter

My name is Rose Butter and I am a British National. I came to Germany many years ago just for a visit and somehow I got hooked. My home area is very near the magnificent Black Forest so I can offer inside information about this beautiful region with its vast vineyards, fairy-tale castles and quaint country villages. In contrast, just a short distance away, a visit to the exclusive spa town of Baden Baden with its thermal baths and famous casino or Heidelberg with its marvellous castle.

As those of you whom I had the pleasure to meet at the Birdfair in August will know we started in the UK last year mainly offering tours to Turkey and Germany. We promised that our programme would be extended as soon as possible to include not just our world wide birding tours but also other holiday categories. To date we have already added several birding destinations as well as nature/walking/biking tours and there is more to come so keep up-to-date by checking our homepage regularly.

Annie Wilder Hearing and reading so many articles describing magical Lake Bafa I decided I must see it myself. In September, accompanied by Annie, my counterpart in London, and her husband, Andrew, we flew to Izmir heading for Lake Bafa. This magnificent spot of untold beauty more than lived up to our expectations. I will never forget my first panoramic view of Lake Bafa with the Latmos Mountains reflecting on the water in the early morning sun. It was just so beautiful. Andrew has put a few words and pictures on our homepage describing the areas we visited. I hope you find it enjoyable and informative thus making your decision to visit this wonderful resort an easy one!