A trip dedicated to the photographers.
PHOTOGRAPHIC TOUR: BENCE MATE'S HIDES - HUNGARY
A trip to photograph the wild Hungarian spring at it's best.
DURATION: 8 days
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 7
DATE: 29 April – 6 May 2023
ACCOMMODATION: Lodge
TRANSPORT: Van – Car
MEALS: Restaurants
DIFFICULTY: Easy – Support from local expert guides
PRICE: € 2990
INFORMATION: SKUA O ffice: info@skuanature.com – +39 0141 918349
With the arrival of May, Hungary is blessed by spring and bird migration.
Rollers and hoopoes defend the cavities chosen for nesting, bee-eaters begin to dig their nests, herons and spoonbills occupy the pools of water during the day and at night the same water ponds are occupied by otters and night herons. Sparrowhawks and goshawks return to the drinking pools to refresh themselves; the black woodpecker makes its drumming resound on the trunks around the nest and the prairie dogs come out of their dens to venture into the meadows that begin to bloom.
In Hungary there is no better place than the Bence Mate’s reserve to photograph the wonder of nature!
Bence Mate, winner of several international photography competitions and internationally recognized as one of the best wildlife photographers in the world, has opened his hides to the public and we could photograph more than 30 species in 25 hides that allow perfect photographic conditions.
Accompanied by an expert photographic guide, we will visit this little paradise for nature photographers and we could have 3 photo sessions a day, freely choosing which hide use… an adventure that can not to be missed!
Price: 2.990 €
The price includes
- – Unlimited access to the hides
- – Drivers and guide expert in birdwatching, nature and photography
- – Free Wi-Fi
- – Transfers to and in the reserve
- – Accommodation
- – All meals and non-alcoholic beverages
The price does not include
- – Round flights
- – Travel insurance
- – Tips
Itinerario in breve
Budapest – Pusztaszeri – Budapest
Day 1
Landed at Budapest airport, in the early afternoon, we will move towards the Pusztaszeri reserve where we will stay for the rest of the week. Once settled in the rooms we could already try the first photographic session in the afternoon and then return to the lodge, located inside the reserve that will host us with every comfort, where we will recover our energy from the long journey and get ready for the intense photographic week that awaits us.
Day 2-3-4-5-6-7
In these days we will fully experience the reserve and we will venture into a morning session, an afternoon session and, for those who want, a night session. We will have the hides of the reserve at our disposal and thanks to the local guides we will be able to choose the most active ones to better enjoy the Hungarian spring. From the semi-submerged hides we will be able to photograph spoonbills, herons and otters at the lowest possible prospective and in incredible light conditions. From the hides near the nesting areas we will see little owl, roller, hoopoe and bee-eaters at the top of their activity and the friendly prairie dogs will not fail to amuse us in captivating photo sessions among the meadow flowers. Many raptors also arrive in the area this season: kestrels, sparrowhawks and goshawks are the main protagonists of the photo sessions at the drinking pools.
The night shelters are best equipped to photograph in the best possible conditions but the use of a flash is strongly recommended. The solutions developed to photograph at it’s best the nocturnal animals will not fail to satisfy even the most demanding photographer.
Day 8
On this last day we will do one last photo session to satisfy the lasts unexpressed wishes of this journey. We will leave before lunch to reach Budapest airport in the early afternoon where we will say goodbye, waiting for the next adventure together!
Roller, Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Little Owl, Sparrow Hawk, Goshawk, Black Woodpecker, Great White Egret, Grey Heron, Spoonbill, Night Heron, Otter, Ground Squirrel, Barn swallow, Kestrel
Bring variable clothes as the weather may change during your stay. April and May can be chilly in the morning. In rainy weather the temperatures may fall to 10° C in April and 15° C in May.
Take comfortable shoes for short field walks, or light boots.
Since 2021 no disposable plastic bottles are used at the farm, you are kindly required to bring a flask to fill it with beverages. If you forget it, we are selling stainless steel bottles at the farm.
The best focal lens you may bring is between 200-500 mm lens.
There are 25 hides altogether at Bence’s. Photographers can use their own tripods in 21 of them and the remaining 4 (Theatre, Cinema, Drinking Station, Kingfisher) hides are equipped with such built-in tripod heads: https://ballhead.com/ For this reason, it is recommended to bring ‘Arca Swiss plates’ which will be useful to install them to these tripod heads.
It is also a great idea to bring REMOTE CONTROL DEVICES for your cameras. This is useful mainly in the kingfisher hide because those little creatures are very swift, and it is easier to use the device instead of crouching on the bench and clicking the camera button for hours.
As all the 24 hides have one-way glass you will have a panoramic view from the hides. However, inside the hide everything should be dark coloured, as there might be some reflections recognised by the birds. For this reason, please bring only dark coloured, preferably black clothes (shirts, Tshirts etc.). Prepare a black cover for the white (Canon) lens (e.g. cut a piece of socks).
Ethical issues We are very much concerned about minimising the disturbance of animals, as the photo season is the breeding season.
We ask all our guests to keep in mind the following simple rules: – Minimize the number of getting in and out of the hide if a nest with a breeding bird is situated nearby. – Avoid speaking loudly. – Set your mobile phone to silent mode. – Do not wear bright-coloured clothes
Also recommended:
- flash
- headlamp
- boots (preferably waterproof)
- mosquito repellent (We can also provide, but you might prefer your own brand.)
- waterproof jacket
CAMERA
- Memory card(s) (make sure you have enough memory!)
- Battery(ies)
- Battery charger
- Manual (please download on your device before leaving home so that it is accessible from the start)
- Batteries for flash
- Flash extender (a.k.a. “Better Beamer” )
- Off-camera flash bracket
- Off-camera flash cord
- LENSES & RELATED
- Longest focal length you’ve got
- Check the possible documents required following the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Travel insurance is required.
- We strongly recommend booking flights that allow for refunds in the event of cancellation or re-routing.
- On some international flights you have to fill in forms to declare where you are staying. This proves to be useful in an unfortunate case your luggage is lost and a forwarding address is required: 6646 Tömörkény, Újmajori dűlő 2. Contact person: Fanni Farkas (+36 20 3365731).