Birding in Hungary II
18 July 2026
Today, we decided to go to the famous 13th century fort at Visegrád, about 30km North of Budapest. This historic castle was where King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, ruled, from 1458 to 1490. As well as being king of Hungary, he was king of Croatia and Bohemia, and the Duke of Austria. This castle was the the venue for the Congress of Visegrád, in 1358. This congress, between the kings of Hungary, Poland, and Czechia, settled territorial disputes, established new trade opportunities and formed an alliance against the Habsburg Dynasty, which was centred in modern-day Austria.
The castle was a strategic location offering spectacular views, to this day, of the Dunakanyar (the point where the Danube turns and begins flowing South instead of East. For a while, King Vlad III of Romania, commonly known for being the inspiration for the character of Dracula, was held prisoner at Visegrád.
We parked about 15mins walk from the castle, so we had a nice walk thourgh the beech forests until the castle. On the way, we saw a Silver-washed Fritillary, some Long-tailed Tits, a Treecreeper, and several Nuthatches. On the way back, I also heard two distant Stock Doves, calling to each other.
We also saw a few butterflies, including a Scarce Swallowtail at the castle, and my lifer Cardinal butterfly, near where we had parked the car.
We then drove to Pomáz, near Budapest, where we visited my parents' marriage venue for the first time.
Bogacs
After that, we drove to Bogacs, near the Bükk Hills NP, in the North-East of Hungary. Bogacs will be our base for the couple days we are spending in the region, hopefully seeing some good birds in the time that we spend here.
In the evening, before watching the France v. England football match, I set up a makeshift moth trap, to see what species we could catch here.
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