Sasriasztó 2011

We held the „Sasriasztó” / ”Eagle Alarming” event between the 9th and the 11th of September 2011, for the 22nd consecutive time at the Vásárhelyi and Csanádi Plains.

The Sasriasztó / Eagle Alarming venue’s short history and description

The origins of this traditional meeting dates back to 1989 when the first venue was held at the foothills of the Vértes Mountains. This friendly and non-formal event is traditionally organized by MME/BirdLife Hungary’s Raptor Conservation Working Group, and held at different locations each year. Initially, only 5-10 participants were present however, nowadays the venue hosts a total of 50-80 field conservationists and activist. The weekend programme constitutes of field trips and informal discussions on the given year’s experience and peculiarities happening in field.

The 22nd Sasriasztó / Eagle Alarming

In 2011, MME/BirdLife Hungary and The Körös-Maros National Park Directorate co-hosted the event within the scope of the project „Conservation management and animal health monitoring of natura 2000 bird species” (CONSN2KBIRDS - HU-SRB/0901/122/120) of the IPA Cross Border Co-operation Programme.

A total of 80 enthusiasts from 4 countries (Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia) from 6 to 89 years of age participated at the event. Participants enjoyed field excursions to various sites within the Vásárhelyi and Csanádi Plains.

On the first day, attendees admired the over 100 Red-footed Falcons swirling in to their evening roost-site at the Királyhegyes Plains. The second day brought a long field excursion to the key sites of the 17 year long Red-footed Falcon conservation efforts at the Vásárhelyi Plains, while in the afternoon everybody had good close-up views of the vast variety of raptors migrant through the area.

The evening continued with talks on field experiences, traditionally prepared food and the concert of the Tátorján band.

The last day brought a field excursion to the Csanádi Plains, visiting all key conservation sites within the area. A record breaking number of birds was seen during the weekend (1 Black Kite, 28! Long-legged Buzzards, 10 Imperial Eagles, 7 Lesser Spotted Eagles, 4 Short-toed Eagles, 2 Montagu’s Harriers and 2 Saker Falcons).

We express our gratitude to Levente Viszló, Attila Feldhoffer and Attila Bereczky for their marvelous culinary sevices and for the Tátorján band for the great music!