HUNGARY
Hungary has many areas with abundant bird life; the Hortobágy and Kiskunság National Parks are in the top league in Europe.
Hortobágy
The Hortobágy National Park is not only a UNESCO World Heritage site, it’s also a veritable treasure trove to bird photographers. On the whole, the park is still an age-old grassland biome, the puszta, and part of the Eurasian steppe that is a habitat for many bird species. Hortobágy is especially famous for its Red-footed Falcons and Great Bustards as well as huge crane flocks that gather in the autumn.
In winter there are good opportunities for blind photography targeting White-tailed Eagles, Imperial Eagles, and Common Buzzards. In the Hortobágy area you can also photograph Little Bitterns, Pygmy Cormorants, Ferruginous Ducks, Middle Spotted Woodpeckers, European Rollers, and European Bee-eaters.
Kiskunság
Even after 12 years as a bird photographer, and having photographed in more than 15 countries, I can still say that my favorite location is the region where I have lived since I was born. The Kiskunság National Park has one of the most varied avifaunas in Europe. Seasonal changes give each month some particular phenomenon that makes it easy to plan many different types of photography projects.
Hortobágy is well known for Red-footed Falcons (Falco vespertinus)
Canon EOS-1D Mark III, 500mm f/4.0, 1/500 second, f/4.0, ISO 1600, one-shot focus with a central focusing point, Gitzo tripod, Manfrotto 501 video head, blind. Hortobágy, Hungary, May 2008.
Great Reed-Warbler fishing (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)
Nikon D700, 300mm f/2.8, 1/60 second, f/8.0, ISO 640, manual focus, Gitzo video head, floating blind. Pusztaszer, Hungary, 2010.
It’s possible to see and photograph more than 40 species at the drinking station blinds. European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris)
. Canon EOS-1D Mark III, 300mm f/2.8, 1/1600 second, f/2.8, ISO 1600, prefocus, Gitzo tripod, Manfrotto 501 video head, blind. Pusztaszer, Hungary, May 2008.
I organize photography trips in the Kiskunság area, where I have renovated an old farm into a nature photography center. We’re about 140 km (87 mi) southeast of Budapest in an area with forests, wetlands, and steppes. The distances between the locations are short. High season starts around April 20 and slows down in the second week of June.
In the past couple of years I have built numerous photo blinds in the area; the best include the following:
Six forest blinds with drinking ponds, each of which gets about 15–20 species and between 100 and 1,000 individuals on a daily basis. The most interesting species are Eurasian Sparrow Hawk, Northern Goshawk, Common Nightingale, Hawfinch, European Turtle Dove, European Green Woodpecker, and Black Woodpecker.
A tower blind in the farmyard with good opportunities to photograph Common Kestrels and European Rollers that nest in boxes mounted near the blind. Other species that frequently visit the tree canopies next to the tower are Common Cuckoos and Eurasian Golden Orioles.
There are excellent opportunities in Kiskunság for almost all European egret and heron species. Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus).
Nikon D300, 300mm f/2.8, 1/3200 second, f/4.0, ISO 640, manual focus, Gitzo video head, floating blind. Pusztaszer, Hungary, 2009.
Eurasian Hoopoes can be discreetly observed and photographed at close range from the blinds (Upupa epops)
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, 500mm f/4.0 plus 2x extender, 1/640 second, f/10.0, ISO 500, one-shot focus with a central focusing point, Gitzo tripod, Manfrotto 501 video head, blind. Pusztaszer, Hungary, May 2008.
Hungary is ideal for photographing one of Europe’s most colorful birds, the European Roller (Coracias garrulus)
Nikon D200, 300mm f/2.8, 1/750 second, f/4.0, ISO 400, manual focus, Gitzo tripod and video head, blind. Pusztaszer, Hungary, 2007.
Two shore blinds by a lake with the largest egret and heron colony in Central Europe. About 500–1,000 pairs of Eurasian Spoonbills; Great and Little Egrets; and Squacco, Gray, Purple, and Night Heron pairs nest on the lake. The blinds have big windows with almost unrestricted views to the birds; the glass is semireflective, so the birds can’t see the photographer.
Two blinds near two nest boxes built for European Rollers. They are ideal for Roller photography.
Two blinds near two separate Eurasian Hoopoe nest holes. The pairs raise one or two broods each year. You can also pitch tent blinds in the farmyard, where I have a small nesting colony of about five to seven European Bee-eater pairs.
You can find more information at www.hidephotography.com.
Flight shots of egrets and herons are possible from a semiopen tower blind near the breeding colonies. Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea).
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, 800mm f/5.6, 1/2500 second, f/8.0, ISO 1250, continuous focus with an extended central focusing point, Gitzo tripod, Manfrotto 501 video head. Pusztaszer, Hungary, June 2010.