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).

Bükk Mountains, Hungary (Bükk Gebirge, Ungarn) (Bükk-hegység, Magyarország) 11.2011.

At the end of November, we traveled to Ómassa, a small village in the Bükk mountains to make a small trip in the beech forest. The temperature was -6 °C, here it is always a bit colder than in other parts of the Bükk. Different types of frost crytals covered the fallen leaves and stones on the ground...

Debrecen, Hungary (Debrecen, Ungarn) (Debrecen, Magyarország) 11.2011.

In the botanic garden of Debrecen University, on a nice November day, I made some pictures to represent the autumn mood. Also, I will show some microscope photos made of the tiniest arthropods of Hungary, also found in the garden.

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).