In 2012 we went to farm in southern Hungary that featured hides (blinds) for photographing birds. We had such a productive time that it had been on our bucket list ever since. Finally this spring we got back. When we first visited the owner was returning the farm to its natural state, and the rewilding process was in it early stages with the number of hides somewhat limited. Over the past 12 years the farm is well on its way to its natural state, attracting even more wildlife, and the number of hides on the farm (and in the nearby area) had increased to 24.
Most of the hides had a water theme and attracted a lot of water birds such as these Great Egret, Black Stork and Eurasian Spoonbill
Other water fowl we saw included a couple of herons, the grey heron
and the night crowned heron
One of our favorite birds is a kingfisher. These cute little birds are hard to photogaph, as they move amazingly fast. The saving grace is that they like to hunt from a favorite perch, and usually return to the same perch while hunting. Our farm had a hide designed to attract kingfishers and it gave us many opportunities to try to capture them feeding. And we were even successful a few time
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Fun sights were two birds that we have also seen in Africa. The first was the Eurasian hoopoe, an exotic looking bird that winters in Africa (where they are hard to distinguish from the resident African Hoopoe) and breeds in Europe. It is easily identified by its colorful crown
The second is the European bee-eater. While called European this colorful birds actually breeds in both Europe and southern Africa.
One of the more interesting hides was outside our room. Called the “Hotel Hide”, the pond was up against our room wall, and we could wait for birds while working on our images
Offsetting its convenience was that the birds were occasionally disturbed by the vehicle traffic of the farm. Nevertheless it was a productive location, for both us photographers and the birds.
While the hides featured birds, one also attracted River Otters, who enjoy the same fish as many of the birds.
While most of the birds we saw like to eat either seeds or fish, we saw one who liked other birds, the sparrow hawk.
In addition to food, the ponds in front of the water oriented hides also provided a place for birds like this Eurasian Jay to bathe.
On our way we top briefly in London and had a chance to see some of the sights, trying our hand at some travel photos:
And in a bit of nostalgia, Jon saw the place he stayed when he toured Europe with his family way, way back when. Lambeth Palace, where they stayed in the new wing built in 1774, reminded him of how old Europe was when America was founded.
Our next trip is back to Africa.