Little Carpathians, Slovakia (Kleine Karpaten, Slowakei) (Kis-Kárpátok, Szlovákia) 05.2011.

At the beginning of May I spent a few days in Smolenice, in the Western part of Slovakia, in the Little Carpathians. These are an about 100 km long, rather low-lying mountain range, covered mainly by decidous forests and a few pine forests. The most famous attraction of the town is the Smolenice Castle, which was rebuilt by the Hungarian Graf József Pálffy in neo-gothic style. The surrounding forests have a rich insect fauna. Location: Smolenice. Date: 03-06.05.2011.

Nyírábrány, Hungary (Nyírábrány, Ungarn) (Nyírábrány, Magyarország) 04.2011.

In April I traveled to Nyírábrány in East Hungary to some moors and to some open sandy grasslands nearby to take photos. The flora and fauna of this area is typical of the Nyírség landscape area, which is an north-eastern part of the great Hungarian Plain. There were once extensive birch moors (the lands got its name after the Hungarian word for birch), swamps, lowland oak forests and open sandy grasslands here. Nowadays the land is mostly agricultural, but there are still many places for taking nature photos here. Several such areas are protected also. Location: Nyírábrány. Date: 07-16.04.2011.

Sebesvíz II., Bükk Mountains, Hungary (Sebesvíz II., Bükk-Gebirge, Ungarn) (Sebesvíz II., Bükk-hegység, Magyarország) 04.2011.

At the end of April 2011 I cycled up from Miskolc to the Sebesvíz brook in the Bükk mountain and Bükk National Park. This is one of my favourite places for nature photography, and it is definetly one of the most interesting brooks in Hungary because it is the steepest, it has a unique fauna and it is well hidden in the forest from most tourists. I was there at the beginning of April also, see that post here. Location: Sebesvíz-brook. Date: 23.04.2011.

Debrecen, Hungary (Debrecen, Ungarn) (Debrecen, Magyarország) 04.2011.

April is usually one of the best months for photographing plants and animals. I show some plants and insects that were photographed in gardens, parks and in the forest called Nagyerdő in Debrecen (some insects where collected when I did not have my camera with me and photographed later). Among the plants there will be quite common herbaceous ones that can be found all around Europe in ruderal plant communities - but I'll try to show them in a different perspective. Most people never notice how nice these common plants may be. And by showing some rare insects, I'd like to demonstrate that sometimes there is a suprising, hidden biodiversity even in cities. Sustaining a healthy environment in city parks and gardens (e.g. avoiding insecticides, leaving some decaying wood in parks, propagating native plant species, etc.) may be a great help for animal and plant biodiversity. Beside its intrinsic value, insect biodiversity has an economical value also: different bee and fly species pollinate different types of garden and agricultural plants; many insects prey on agricultural/horticultural pests; many help by accelerating the decomposition of dead organic material, etc. Location: Debrecen. Date: 09-22.04.2011.

Sebesvíz I., Bükk Mountains, Hungary (Sebesvíz I., Bükk-Gebirge, Ungarn) (Sebesvíz I., Bükk-hegység, Magyarország) 04.2011.

 

The brook Sebesvíz in the Bükk Mountains is one of my favourite places for nature photography. It is a short but very fast-flowing mountain brook, flowing into the brook Garadna. Sebesvíz and its surroundings are home to many interesting and rare invertebrate species, some of which occur only here in Hungary. Location: Sebesvíz-brook. Date: 02.04.2011.

Debrecen, Hungary (Debrecen, Ungarn) (Debrecen, Magyarország) 03.2011.

At the beginning of March, there are usually still only common spring insects that are active in lowland forests, like in the so-called Nagyerdő forest (part of the Natura 2000) at the northern edge of the city of Debrecen. Most beetles have not yet ended their winter hibernation and this makes them quite easy to find, if one knows where to look for them. The Nagyerdő has many different tree species - it is partly a park, so there are many alien trees as well. The most important tree species for the insects are the old Pendunculate Oaks that grow here in a large number. These trees support a suprising diversity of insects. Many wasps, ants, bugs and beetles require oaks: either they feed from the oaks, or they prey on the plant-eaters. Also, decaying oak wood is the sole food source for many endangered beetles. And in winter, many arthropods hybernate under the barks of old oaks. The majority of these is still inactive in March, and one can find many rare species under the pieces of bark. Some other trees like pines and sycamores host an entirely different collection of arthropods under their barks. Location: Nagyerdő, Debrecen. Date: 03.2011.

Debrecen, Hungary (Debrecen, Ungarn) (Debrecen, Magyarország) 01.2011.

In January, there's usually not much to photograph (in Europe), mostly not when one spends his time in a city. But there are some opportunities to blow off the dust on the camera. In winter I regularly collect small pieces of moss from house walls or from tree barks so that I can search for microscopic animals in them later. For that, I use a stereo-microscope and if I find something, I take photos of it. Location: Debrecen. Date: 01.2011.