Greater Boston, USA (Boston und Umgebung, USA) (Boston és környéke, USA) 05.2016.

I've spent the month of May 2016 in Cambridge, MA. Occasionally, I had my camera with me and took photos of the surprisingly diverse local wildlife in the Greater Boston area. Location: Greater Boston. Date: 01-31.05.2016.

Atlantic Ocean at Cape Cod, USA (Atlantischer Ozean bei Cape Cod, USA) (Atlanti-óceán Cape Cod-nál, USA) 05.2016.

We visited the Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts in May to photograph the annual spawning of the horseshoe crabs, ancient-looking members of the Merostomata class. We had a beautiful sight at the ocean and came across many interesting species. Location: Provincetown and Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Date: 07-08.05.2016.

Bükk Mts., Hungary (Bükk Gebirge, Ungarn) (Bükk-hegység, Magyarország) 10.2015.

In October 2015 I visited the Bükk Mts. to collect some leaf litter material to photograph the tiny invertebrates that live under the fallen leaves. I managed to find a very high diversity of invertebrates in terms of species and also higher taxnomic categories. Location: Ómassa and Mályinka. Date: 24.10.2015.

Nyírábrány, Hungary (Nyírábrány, Ungarn) (Nyírábrány, Magyarország) 04.2015.

In April I visited the lowland hay meadows and alkaline fens of the Teleki Pasture and the ash-dominated riparian mixed forests of the Kis-Mogyorós Forest, Natura 2000 sites in Nyírábrány, South Nyírség Region. Location: Nyírábrány. Date: 26-28.04.2015.

Silica Ice Cave, Slovak Karst, Slovakia (Silica-Eishöhle, Slowakischer Karst, Slowakei) (Szilicei-jégbarlang, Szlovák-karszt, Szlovákia) 10.2013.

During our trip to the Slovak Karst, we visited the Silica Ice Cave (that got its name from the nearby village, not from the chemical compound) that lies at 503 m a.s.l., making it the lowest-lying ice cave in the temperate climate zone. We did not enter the protected cave, but made some photos outside. Location: Silica. Date: 23.10.2013.

Domica Cave, Slovak Karst, Slovakia (Domica-Höhle, Slowakischer Karst, Slowakei) (Domica-barlang, Szlovák-karszt, Szlovákia) 10.2013.

We took a short trip to the Slovak Karst National Park (a world heritage site together with the Aggtelek Karst) this autumn with a permit to take photos of the local cave fauna. We managed to find many interesting arthropods in two segments of the Domica cave - a dry one open for tourists, the another closed, with a brook. Location: Domica Cave. Date: 23.10.2013.

Létrási Cave, Bükk Mountains, Hungary (Létrási-Höhle, Bükk-Gebirge, Ungarn) (Létrási-vizesbarlang, Bükk-hegység, Magyarország)

We visited the Létrási Cave in the Bükk National Park this October. This cave is altogether 3500 m long and can only be visited on a guided tour. It is regularly flooded but this time it was quite dry, so I could take some photos of the local fauna. Location: Létrási Cave. Date: 13.10.2013.

High Tatras, Poland (Hohe Tatra, Polen) (Magas-Tátra, Lengyelország) 08.2013.

In August 2013 we spent some days in the High Tatras at the border of Slovakia and Poland. On the Polish side, at a glade called Łysa Polana, the Białka mountain brook provided a great opportunity to photograph the aquatic animal life of the Tatras. Location: Łysa Polana. Date: 19.08.2013.

Kács, Hungary (Kács, Ungarn) (Kács, Magyarország) 08.2013.

Last week we traveled to the small village of Kács in the southern part of the Bükk Mountains. This village is known for its historical buildings and small lukewarm thermal springs. These springs and the Kács Brook are the only remaining habitats of the Black Nerite Snail (Theodoxus prevostianus) in Hungary. This primitive snail was once a bit more common in the Carpathian Basin, however, nowadays it is only found in 3 other locations (in Austria and Slovenia) and nowhere else on the planet.

South-Nyírség, Hungary (Süd-Nyírség, Ungarn) (Dél-Nyírség, Magyarország) 06.2013.

We took a short trip last weekend to the southwestern part of the Nyírség, a region of the Great Hungarian Plain, where it borders the Hajdúság Region. We visited a partially flooded meadow to take photos of the Marsh Helleborine orchids.

High Tauern National Park, Austria (Nationalpark Hohe Tauern, Österreich) (Hohe Tauern Nemzeti Park, Ausztria) 06.2012.

The last place we visited in Austria was the High Tauern National Park, an UNESCO World Heritage site. The High Tauern is the highest mountain range in Austria, the country's highest peak, the Großglockner (3798 m) is located here. There is a famous mountain road, the Großglockner Hochalpinstraße, which is built to give the best panorama on the mountains of the Glockner-Group. The highest point of the road is at 2571 m, well over the tree line. Here, the mountains are composed mainly of crystallised rocks and schist, not of limestone, as in the Totes Gebirge. This allows the trees line to reach about 1800-2200 meters. The landscape is beautiful and the national park has a very interesting flora and fauna. First, I will show photos from the subalpine conifer forest areas we visited.

Kalkalpen National Park, Austria (Nationalpark Kalkalpen, Österreich) (Kalkalpen Nemzeti Park, Ausztria) 06.2010.

The next stop in the Alps was the river Reichramingbach at the edge of the Kalkalpen National Park, where we searched for spiders on a small meadow, in the spruce forest and also on the bank of this ice-cold mountain river.

Hohe Dirn, Austria (Hohe Dirn, Österreich) (Hohe Dirn, Ausztria) 06.2012.

During our spider field trip in Austria, the first mountain we visited was the Hohe Dirn (1134 m high) near the National Park Kalkalpen in Upper Austria. We found a beautiful landscape of forests and pastures here, with unbelievably many orchids.

Tropical houses in Vienna, Austria (Tropenhäuser in Wien, Österreich) (Trópusi házak Bécsben, Ausztria) 03.2012.

In Vienna I visited the Palm House of Schönbrunn and the Haus des Meeres, where I searched for pests and other accidentally introduced animals - some of which have tropical origins. Location: Vienna. Date: 03.2012.

Debrecen, Hungary (Debrecen, Ungarn) (Debrecen, Magyarország) 02.2012.

In the winter of 2012 I spent some time with photographing protists and microscopic animals found in samples of moss collected in Debrecen, Hungary. Here are some tardigrades, worms and ciliates (it's advisable to turn on HD for the videos).

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.

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) 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.

Bihor Mountains, Romania (Bihor-Gebirge, Rumänien) (Bihar-hegység, Románia) 09.2010.

Back in September, 2010 we took part on a trip organised by the university to the Bihor mountains, to complete the Galbena Tour in the Apuseni Nature Park, a quite strenuous one that lasted more than 10 hours to complete (for infos on this tour, see for example this page. It involves some climbing on cables!). As this trip was rather for hiking than for photography, I only took my Fujifilm HS10 (with the Raynox DCR-250 macro lens) with me and I made only a few photos. Nevertheless, the Bihor mountains proved to be a very exciting place with a remarkable fauna. This area is part of the Apuseni Mountains, a mountain range that is isolated from the rest of the Carpathians. The Nortern part of these mountains are fold mountains, the Southern parts were created due to vulcanic activity. Location: Bihor Mountains. Date: 25.09.2010.

Aggtelek Karst, Hungary (Aggteleker Karst, Ungarn) (Aggteleki-karszt, Magyarország) 08-09.2009.

In August and September of 2009 I visited the villages of Aggtelek and Jósvafő in the Aggtelek National Park in North-Hungary. Location: Aggtelek Karst. Date: 08-09.2009.