In Quest of the „Flying Flowers”.

Summary and recommendation: 9-12 days long Hungarian circle, twitching and photographing butterflies. Moth-trapping will be arranged every night. Twitching, photography and exploration are in focus.

"...You enquire, what is the use of butterflies? I reply to adorn the world and delight the eyes of men: to brighten the countryside like so many golden jewels. To contemplate their exquisite beauty and variety is to experience the truest pleasure. To gaze enquiringly at such elegance of colour and form designed by the ingenuity of nature and painted by the artist’s pencil, is to acknowledge and adore the imprint of the art of God..." (by John Ray)

Destination country: Hungary. Arrive and depart in Budapest.

Note: Due to illegal butterfly-collecting activities, I am not giving out more specific itinerary for this tour.

Next schedule:
- 4-12, June 2012

Duration: 9 days + extensions.

Price: Ask! We are sorry, but exchange rates are so hectic, that we can't give fix prices here. Price includes: accommodations and meals (lunch is typically picnic!), drinking water, vehicle hire with fuel and driver guide, park entrance fees and ranger guides. The price exclude: bank transfer loss, international flight, visa, tips, drinks, personal travel insurance and any other activities of personal request e.g. laundry, toalet fees, phone calls, etc.

Accommodation: Three-star hotels with all rooms en suite.

Numbers: Min. 3, max. 6 tour participants.

Transport: 4WDs.

Please note, this is a fundraising tour, 20% of the profit is donated to Hungarian Heritage Trust, to buying lands for the benefit of butterflies, under the auspices of Butterfly Conservation, UK, European Interest Group.

Photos:
- False Ringlet pictures, click here!
- Freyer's Purple Emperor pictures, click here!
- Iolas Blue pictures, click here!
- 4 Large Blue pictures, click here!
- Zephyr Blue pictures, click here!
- Woodland Brown pictures, click here!
- Poplar Admiral pictures, click here!
- False Comma pictures, click here!
- For some other butterflies, click here!
- For some rare moths, cick here!

Description: "...Hungary has about 175 butterflies with many superb species, incl. Hungarian Glider, Southern Festoon, Lesser Clouded Yellow, Large Blue, Iolas Blue, Zephyr Blue, Large Copper, Freyer's Purple Emperor, Poplar Admiral, Scarce Fritillary and many more. On this trip we visit the finest butterfly habitats of the country and in case of relevant weather our target list may cover more than 120 species. Dragonflies, birds, other animals, culture and history will be always in focus too..."

Top species: European Common Swallowtail, Scarce Swallowtail, Mountain Small White, Lesser Clouded Yellow, Danube Clouded Yellow, Berger's Clouded Yellow, Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow, Hairstreaks, Small Copper, Large Copper, Purple-shot Copper, Scarce Copper, Sooty Copper, Lesser Fiery Copper, Purple-edged Copper, Short-tailed Blues, Alcon Blue, Large Blue, Iolas Blue, Chequered Blue, Zephyr Blue, Geranium Argus, Mountain Argus, Chapman's Blue, Amanda's Blue, Turquoise Blue, Adonis Blue, Nettle-tree Butterfly, Purple Emperor, Freyer's Purple Emperor, Lesser Purple Emperor, White Admiral, Common Glider, Hungarian Glider, Poplar Admiral, Southern White Admiral, Camberwell Beauty, Large Tortoiseshell, Cardinal, Pallas's Fritillary, Dark Green Fritillary, High Brown Fritillary, Niobe Fritillary, Marbled Fritillary, Lesser Marbled Fritillary, Twin-spot Fritillary, Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Glanville Fritillary, Knapweed Fritillary, Spotted- and Lesser Spotted Fritillary, false Heath Fritillary, Scarce Fritillary, Nickerl's Fritillary, Assmann's Fritillary, Marbled White, Woodland Grayling, The Hermit, Dryad, Great Banded Grayling, Woodland Ringlet, Oriental Meadow Brown, Dusky Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Pearly Heath, False Ringlet, Woodland Brown, Skippers.

Habitats: Buda Hills, Pilis Hills, Vértes Hills, Bakony Mts., Zala county, Õrség NP, Danube-Drava NP, Mecsek Hills, Mt. Szarsomlyo, Kiskunsag NP. Extension: Bükk NP., Aggtelek, NP, Nógrád Hills, Mecsek Mts., Szársomlyó Hills, Danube-Drava NP.

Trip outline 1.
The short Hungarian butterfly-circle.

Day "0": Pre-extension.

Day 01: Arrival. Search for butterflies around Budapest, upon time.

Day 02: Visit to the world famous Butterfly-mecca of the late XIX. century: Peszérpuszta in Kiskunsag NP. Sandy oak forests and other sandy habitats.

Day 03: Bakony Mts. Explorations at the dry limestone and dolomite plateaus of Várpalota, Öskü and Veszprém.

Day 04: Bakony Mts. Visit to Kab-Hill wet and dry meadows and the vicinity of Herend. Porcelain museum of Herend.

Day 05: Visit to the Bakony lowland forests and marshy meadows of Zala county. To Õrség NP.

Day 06-07: Õrség NP. The area is one of the premier Hungarian butterfly habitat (the others are Bakony Mts. and Aggtelek NP). Here we will have two days for extensive exploration.

Day 08: To Budapest, en route stops in Balaton-Upland NP and Vértes Hills.

Day 09: Depart or post-extensions.

Extensions:
-Pre-extension: Budapest sightseeing possible with Danube Bend and Szentendre. 1-3 days upon request.
Extension:
-Post-extension 1.: Northern Hungarian butterfly-circle to Nógrád Hills, Bükk- and Aggtelek NP. 3-5 days upon request.
-Post-extension 2.: Southern Hungarian butterfly-circle to Mecsek Mts., Szársomlyó Hill and Danube-Drava NP. 3 days.

Black square=Budapest
Yellow dots=Base-trip stations
Wine-red dots=Post-extension 1.
Red dots=Post-extension 2.