Ómassa, Bükk Mts., Hungary (Ómassa, Bükk Gebirge, Ungarn) (Ómassa, Bükk-hegység, Magyarország) 10.2011.

During winter I made some microscope and macro photos of the tiniest animals that live in the forest soil and leaf litter that I collected during last autumn in the Bükk mountains. For that, I simply have keeped the probes wet, and I took out a bit of these into a Petri dish filled with water to find the small worms and mites using a stereo microscope. These minute animals - annelids, rotifers, nematodes, water bears and minute mites are otherwise invisible. Despite their microscopic size, these stange creatures are important parts of a healthy forest ecosystem and they are also a significant part of a habitat's biodiversity.

Bükk Mountains, Hungary (Bükk Gebirge, Ungarn) (Bükk-hegység, Magyarország) 10.2011.

In October, I made a very short trip in the Bükk mountains and I also found some spiders there. The places I visited: Közép-Garadna, where I searched for spiders under stones, and Jávorkút, where I found some under the fallen leaves in a mixed forest.

Aggtelek National Park, Hungary (Aggtelek Nationalpark, Ungarn) (Aggteleki Nemzeti Park, Magyarország) 09.2011.

In Jósvafő, an iconic village of the Aggtelek National Park, I have only spent about an hour. I walked up to a small lake called Tengerszem, because one of my favourite places for finding interesting arthropod species is there. There are big stones everywhere in a small valley up the lake. Turning each stone results in finding many rare spiders, harvestmen and other animals. From here I cycled to the train station near Perkupa. The terrain is nicely descending on this part of the road.

Kelemér, Hungary (Kelemér, Ungarn) (Kelemér, Magyarország) 09.2011.

In the middle of September I went on a cycling tour to the Aggtelek National Park in north-eastern Hungary. I took all my photography equipment with me, because I wanted to take some pictures in the unique peat bogs of Kelemér and at a little lake in Jósvafő. I started my tour in the town of Putnok and cycled up towards the peat bog. There are two such bogs close to each other near the village called Kelemér, and both of them are strictly protected. There are very few peat bogs in Hungary and these are the easternmost ones. The bogs are hidden in a dense forest and inside them so many trees (Downy Birches, willows, poplars) are growing that it is quite easy to walk past them without even noticing them. That is probably one of the reasons that these bogs remained quite intact throughout the ages. They are truly unique habitats in Hungary, where climate and the lack of high mountains do not favour the persistence of such bogs (see here).

South Nyírség, Hungary (Süd-Nyírség, Ungarn) (Dél-Nyírség, Magyarország) 08.2011

On the last day of August we drove out from Debrecen eastwards, towards Újléta, to a characteristic sandy habitat surounded by lowland forests and agricultural landscape. On the way we stopped at the Fancsika lakes where we searched for insects and spiders using a sweeping net in the patches of swamp habitats and the cattail vegetation by the water. Even here numerous spectacular species were found that I've never seen before, but the real sensation was found during the night-lamping.

Debrecen, Hungary (Debrecen, Ungarn) (Debrecen, Magyarország) 06-08.2011.

During the summer of 2011 I photographed many peculiar animals in Debrecen (in East-Hungary) and in its surroundings. Here are some of them.

Balmazújváros, Hungary (Balmazújváros, Ungarn) (Balmazújváros, Magyarország) 08.2011.

In the second half of August we drove to the Keleti Canal, near the town Balmazújváros (at the edge of Hortobágy National Park) for night-lamping. Countless biting and non-biting midges were swarming near the water and the lamp attracted many other insects. Only common moth species came, but from other insect groups a couple of rarer species showed up.