The Hungarian Farm
The most famous farm in Hungary has to be the one of Bence Máté.
The farm in Pusztaszer has gained widespread fame for its extraordinary commitment to wildlife conservation and the remarkable achievements of its owner.
Nestled in the heart of the Hungarian countryside, this farm has become a sanctuary for various species of birds, making it a haven for wildlife photographers.
Bence Máté, an acclaimed Hungarian wildlife photographer and conservationist, established the farm with the aim of providing a safe and nurturing environment for birds.
Through his tireless efforts, he has transformed the farm into a thriving ecosystem that attracts an incredible array of bird species.
One of the farm's most notable features is its ingeniously designed photo hides carefully crafted by Máté himself.
The 25 different hides enable photographers to capture breathtaking images of birds in their natural habitats without disturbing them as you shoot through one-way glass windows.
Furthermore, the farm's location in Pusztaszer adds to its allure. The area boasts a diverse range of landscapes, including wetlands, meadows, and forests, providing an ideal setting for a rich variety of birdlife.
Visitors to the farm are treated to a mesmerizing spectacle of birds in flight, nesting, and engaging in their daily routines.
I first visited the farm in 2017 and was blown away by the photo opportunities. However, it took six years before my strong desire to return came through in May 2023.
Travelling to Hungary
On my first trip to the farm of Bence Máté in 2017 I went by car from North Zealand in Denmark. It was a long drive of 1,500 km each way so this time I decided to take a flight.
From Copenhagen I had a short stop in Frankfurt before my next flight to Budapest and arrived at the airport hotel IBIS around midnight. Next day at noon the group of 14 Swedish photographers and I met and were transported to the farm in Pusztaszer by two minibuses – a 1 ½ hour drive.
I got the “Otter Room” in the newly build part of the farm. It was a very nice single room with a view to a small pond in front of the window. Occasionally, birds like great egrets and grey herons would come by and I could even use my room as a photo hide.
Following lunch, we had our first photography session in the afternoon. I had been paired with Lars Lindahl who would be my photo hide partner for the whole week. He was a really nice guy who knew a lot about wildlife photography and we had a great time together throughout the week.
Our first session was in the famous “The Theatre”. An amazing hide with armchairs, air-condition and floor heating. You are sitting comfortably at eye-level with the water surface and the birds.
Outside the hide we had herons, egrets and a black stork. I even had the luck to get an image of a pair of red-crested pochards preparing for the next generation.
Red-crested pochards from the first session at the Theatre Hide
At 20:30 we returned to the farm where I had the privilege to meet Bence and talk about all his new developments since my first visit. Then, a nice meal was served to the group in the garden and we were informed about next day’s activities.
Ground squirrels and Drinking Station
It was a late start at 6 o’clock on the first morning. We had to photograph ground squirrels and the hide is just beside the farm.
Entrance to the Ground Squirrel Green hide
This was the Ground Squirrel Green hide with grass in front of the window and we were sitting underground to get eye level with the charming little rodents.
However, after two hours no squirrels had turned up and I was thinking about returning to the farm to get some breakfast.
Then, all of a sudden, the first one came and the show started. Several squirrels appeared and we had two hours of great action.
Ground squirrel in the grass
Having ground squirrels on the farm is a very special story. A few years ago, ground squirrels had become a threat to the air traffic at Budapest Airport as they attracted too many birds of prey. Thus, they had to get rid of them for security reasons.
When Bence Máté heard about this, he arranged for hundreds of them to be brought to his farm. Now, they are to be counted in thousands and have become a great pleasure for all the wildlife photographer visiting the farm.
The afternoon was spent in the forest by Drinking Station Large. We left the farm at 13:30 and were in the hide for five hours until pickup at 19:00.
Conditions were not great as the birds mostly came to the left side of the hide with a not so pleasing background. After all, I still got a few nice images including a green woodpecker in backlight at the far end of the drinking station.
Green woodpecker from Drinking Station Large
Once again, we were able to enjoy the nice warm weather having dinner in the garden.
Bee-eaters and the Cinema
Next morning at 5 o’clock we were four photographers going to a location with bee-eaters. It was a 30-minute drive to a stud farm having a huge population of breeding bee-eaters.
Due to the long distance, we were supposed to stay all day until being picked up again at 19:00.
At the stud farm we had access to a lounge area and a kitchen as well as two rooms where we could take a nap.
Outside there were a lot of bee-eaters and two hides. My fellow photographer Lars and I had the hide with backlight in the morning and frontlight in the afternoon. A bit disappointing as I prefer the soft morning light directly on the birds.
It doesn’t look impressive but you can get some great images of bee-eaters
Also, it was a bitterly cold morning and the wind was strong. Thus, there were no photo opportunities of bee-eaters passing butterflies or other insects to each other.
My beloved 500mm lens seemed to be a bit too long although I still got a few nice close-up images.
For some time, I tried to photograph bee-eaters when they came flying in to the set-up branches. Quite a challenge due to a cross wind. Only occasionally they would come directly at me.
This bee-eater has just landed on a branch in backlight
Bee-eater in its natural environment
After a couple of hours, the soft morning light had gone and we decided on a break. At the stud farm it was very cold and not very comfortable sitting for several hours waiting for the light to improve. Therefore, we called the guide and asked to be picked up already.
Back at Bence’s farm we had the nice daily soup and dessert cake for lunch and decided not to return to the bee-eaters.
Outside the Cinema Hide in the evening
Instead, we went to the Cinema hide in the good company of Swedish wildlife photographer Brutus Östling who had organized the trip.
The Cinema hide is in walking distance from the farm and just as amazing as the famous Theatre although a bit smaller.
In the evening you have backlight and the birds are much closer than at the Theatre.
Still, I was stubborn and used my 500mm lens for the whole session which is not the best choice. Obviously, you can make some nice closeups but generally you need something wider.
One advantage of having my 500mm lens was when I saw some great egrets flying to and from some reeds by the lake far away. That allowed for some nice backlit images.
Backlit great egret in the soft evening sun
Kingfishers and Hoopoes
One of the newly developed hides was the one with kingfishers. It is of walking distance from the farm and made as a small artificial water reservoir nearby a running stream. In a wall beside the reservoir is a nesting hole used by a pair of kingfishers.
Diving kingfisher
My hide partner Lars had been using the hide last winter and therefore had some experience with the set-up.
Once in a while a kingfisher would come to the branch in front of the hide. Sometime, it would arrive with a fish before entering the nest.
Also, a kingfisher could land on the branch with the purpose of diving for a fish. There is a small tub just below the branch and before we entered the hide our guide arranged for some fish.
Thus, we could pre-focus on a point in the water where the kingfisher would break the surface to get a fish. Then, it was just a matter of being ready with the remote trigger as the kingfisher left the branch – although not as easy as it sounds!
During our time in the hide from 6 o’clock in the morning until we left at 10:30 we only had three kingfisher dives. And although it was possible to pre-focus on the water tub with the fish you still need some luck to get the eye sharp. Also, the dive of the kingfisher happens so fast and your reaction time is crucial.
You have to use a very high shutter speed to freeze the action when the kingfisher dive into the water. To get enough light for a shutter speed of at least 1/4000 sec. without increasing the ISO too much, artificial lighting is installed outside the hide. It definitely serves the purpose but the downside is a red/yellow color cast.
To capture the diving kingfisher, I used my Canon R5 with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens at 200mm and having 20 frames per second in electronic mode allowed for a couple of decent sharp images.
Wet kingfisher after a bath
I love photographing kingfishers and this new hide was a real bonus compared to my first visit in 2017.
In the afternoon, we went to the Hoopoe Hide 4 for some backlight photography.
Hoopoe in backlight
Outside the hide was an artificial nesting box where the female was incubating the eggs. Our aim was to get images of the male when he would bring food to the female.
A few branches were set up outside the hide for the male to land on before flying to the nest. Some huge bushes made the background but I would have liked them a bit further away to get a more pleasing blur.
Four times the male came to the nest with food and I managed to get some images.
When the sun started to set and the background bushes became dark, I even got an image with a dramatic rim light effect.
Not the most exciting session but the hoopoe is a fine bird and we would get another chance in a few days.
The Theatre and more Kingfishers
We were leaving for the Theatre hide at 4 o’clock in the morning to get there before sunrise.
After a 6 km drive, we arrived in good time for the guide to load some fish into the small closure of the lake in front of the hide. Then we were ready for an amazing morning!
The Theatre hide is a huge underwater construction with floor heating and air conditioning. Before entering the photography part of the hide through a tunnel there is a kitchen with a fridge and a microwave. Even three sleeping rooms are available mainly used in winter.
The hide got three armchairs pointing to the west and three others pointing to the east. This morning we used the ones to the west for front light photography.
It didn’t take long before a lot of birds arrived for their breakfast. Grey herons, spoonbills, great egrets and black storks were in front of us in huge numbers – and the light was fantastic!
Spoonbill catching fish in the first light in front of the Theatre Hide
The beautiful soft and colourful light by sunrise was just what you hope for as a wildlife photographer and we even had a lot of exciting birds in front of us.
We were supposed to be picked up again at 11 o’clock but after a couple of hours most birds had disappeared and the light was getting harsh. Therefore, we called the guide and arranged for him to collect us at 9 o’clock.
Just as we were starting to pack our gear a black-winged stilt arrived and as it went out into the water, I managed to get some very nice images with a soft background.
Black-winged stilt photographed from the Theatre Hide
This turned out to be a great morning session at the Theatre. We were blessed with a lot of birds and the most beautiful light you could wish for.
Following another nice lunch with soup and cake we once again had to use the Kingfisher Hide.
This time I had decided on using my 500mm lens to get portrait images instead of the ones of a diving kingfisher as most others do. After all, I had a nice diving image from the first session already.
It turned out to be a good decision as we only once had a kingfisher diving for fish. Instead, five times a kingfisher came to the branch in front of the hide having a fish in its beak.
At first, I got some images with a soft green background due to some trees in the far distance.
Kingfisher with fish before flying into the nest
Later, as these trees came into shade, I tried to get a totally black background. This was possible due to the outside spotlights on the kingfisher.
I even had the fortune to get images of a kingfisher shaking off water after a bath when having delivered a fish to the nest.
Kingfisher shaking off water in the shade
Bach at the farm for a hot evening meal in the garden after sunset with the rest of the group ended another great day in Hungary.
Ground squirrels and Little owl
We had a 4:50 start in the Tower Hide just outside the farmhouse.
The hope was to get an image of the kestrel that nested in a box on the tower. The female is always flying out when someone use the stairs to get up into the hide. After a few minutes she returned but it was impossible to get a decent image.
Ground Squirrel Hide Brown with lots of sand
It turned out that the Tower Hide was not worth the visit. There is really nothing interesting to photograph and the trees outside the hide make any background a mess.
Thus, we soon left for the main session this morning to photograph ground squirrels in a sandy environment.
The Ground Squirrel Hide Brown is also in walking distance from the farm and we entered the hide at 7 o’clock.
Just as the other morning when in the Green hide the squirrels started to show up at exactly 8 o’clock – obviously they are sleeping late!
The activity was not great but we had ground squirrels coming frequently during the next five hours. However, you had to be fast shooting as they tend to leave quickly. Maybe they are feeling more exposed in the sand compared to when we photographed them in the grass.
I tried to get images of the ground squirrels when they run with some of the laid out food and succeeded a few times.
Ground squirrel running off with some food
After lunch I was supposed to go to the Cinema Hide. However, something had happened with the pumps regulating the water level in front of the hide so I needed an alternative.
I knew that there was a Little owl in a nesting box nearby the ground squirrel hide from the morning session and according to the guides no one used the hide this afternoon. Therefore, I decided to give it a go.
Little owl - huge eyes!
On arrival, I found another photographer already in the hide. Ulf had been there for four hours without anything happening but I decided to stay with him for a while.
Suddenly, after having waited for an hour, a Little owl came flying directly into the nesting hole.
About ten minutes later it had the head slightly out of the hole before leaving again.
Ulf got a nice image where you could see one of its yellow eyes. Having a different angle to the nesting hole I could not get the shot myself.
Ulf was happy that five hours of waiting finally had paid off and left the hide as he did not expect the owl to come back.
The time was now about 19:00 and the sun would be setting within an hour. I decided to stay a little longer and now got a better angle to the nest.
45 minutes later the Little owl returned. And this time it looked out of the nesting hole for several minutes and I got a great image. Sometimes, patience pays off!
Hoopoes and a great Cinema evening
It was raining this morning and we were driving to Hoopoe Hide 3 at 6 o’clock. Others from the group rated this as the best hoopoe hide.
On arrival we noticed that the set-up was really good with a nice background but obviously we needed something to photograph.
Having waited for more than an hour a wet hoopoe male finally came to the spot with food to the female who was incubating eggs in the nest.
Wet hoopoe male
Male Hoopoe with food for the female
After four hours in the hide we were picked up again. Besides a lesser grey shrike and a European stonechat, we had the hoopoe male flying in about five times. Obviously, photographing hoopoes later in the spring when they have chicks may be better due to more feeding activity.
However, I got a few nice images of the male hoopoe. Also, when he was flying from a branch to the nest feeding the female. For this kind of image, I had great use of my 100-500mm lens and could pre-focus on his flight route.
Hoopoe male flying to the nest with food
In the afternoon Lars and I had to find an alternative to the scheduled session at a drinking station in the forest. As it had rained a lot the birds need not to come to the drinking station where the activity would be low.
Thus, we had to find available spaces with photographers in other hides. Although the standard is to have only two photographers sitting in a “normal” hide there is room for three persons.
I managed to get the last seat in the Cinema Hide and decided to use my 100-500mm lens this time.
At 3 pm I was ready to be taken to the hide by the guide but no one else where there. It turned out that they both had decided on other hides - although not because of me … ; - )
Thus, I was followed to the Cinema by the guide and got ready for the show – amazing to have this famous hide all to myself. And what a session it turned out to be!
Grey heron catching a fish in front of the Cinema Hide
I stayed for five hours until the sun had set and all the time there were birds like grey heron, great egret, little egret and my favorite night heron. I even had the luck to photograph two European pond turtles mating.
Mating European pond turtles from the evening in the Cinema Hide
Also, using my 100-500mm lens all the time was a great decision. It was ideal to be able to zoom according to the position of the birds instead of being restricted by my fixed 500mm lens as when visiting the Cinema Hide earlier in the week.
Two night herons standing juxtaposition creating an interesting effect
Generally, I may have used my bellowed 500mm f/4 prime lens too much on the trip. Although it is a fantastic lens the hide conditions are not in favor of this focal length.
Story goes that when Bence Máté started building his hides he only had a 300mm lens and obviously arranged the set-ups accordingly.
Grey heron shaking off water from the rain
Bach at the farm we had the traditional Hungarian goulash for dinner to finish off a great week.
Although it is possible to have a last photography session in the morning before travelling home, I had decided on sleeping late and have plenty of time packing.
Closing remarks
Back home having gone through all 30,000 images – yes, you take a lot with 20 frames per second – it is time to conclude on the trip.
No doubt, this is a paradise for any wildlife photographer. Not just because of the huge diversity of bird species but also due to the amazing hide set-up.
The old house of Bence’s Farm
Since my first visit in 2017 the Farm has undergone a great development with new hides and the extension of several very nice rooms.
Furthermore, the same professional and dedicated staff has been there for many years and is doing a tremendous effort in making your stay a success.
A huge thanks to the manager Andrea and the guides Csaba, Kokó and Fanni.
Also, a huge thanks to my “partner in hide” Lars Lindahl and the rest of the Swedish group of fellow photographers – you were all great company.
My second trip to the Farm was definitely worth waiting for and I am sure it won’t be long before returning on a third trip with Brutus Östling and his Fokus Fotoresor (www.fotoresor.nu).
