Hungary Birds of Prey 2023

birds of prey during winter in hungary

I went to Hungary at the end of January to add finish my Birds of Prey project. I wanted to photograph the three big European Eagles and in my book Hungary is the best place for the Eastern Imperial Eagle.

I have been to Hungary twice before with different results. Prior to this trip I understood that the hide had been moved with good result. Still the same hide with the opportunity to work with low angle photography. Last time I was unlucky and missed the Imperial Eagle but had plenty of Common Buzzard as well as a family of White-tailed Eagles.

Video: Eastern Imperial Eagle shaking in slow motion

This time around I cannot say anything else than it produced lots of opportunities. Over the last years I have started to record video more and more and you can see the result of one of my attempts above.

I like to do slow motion while sitting in a hide as you often cannot record the sound properly. It gives you the possibility to see the more minute things like the bouncing water drops in this video.

Each day in the Birds of Prey hide gave plenty of action. There where Eagles on site for all day round and they even used the hide as vantage point. At times I had eagles, both Imperial and White-tailed, just within meters of my lens. That is why I could take a picture like the one below.

a leucistic long-eared owl

I did not only spend time in the Birds of Prey hide. Without my knowledge a big rarity had roosted in a Owl colony nearby. A leucistic Long-eared Owl. It was white in apperance without the red eyes, so it cannot be an albino. They always have red eyes.

You find these roosting colonies all over Puszta and it was the first time I went to this particular city to see and photograph the roosting owls. They say you can find Short-eared owls as well, but I have never seen any during my different attempts.

what more on the menu

I know I might get the chance of photographing the Eurasian Sparrowhawk if I am lucky. It is a regular visitor to at least two hides that you normally can use during a Birds of Prey tour like this one.

This time around I got a appearance of a male with the orange-brown breeding plumage showing. This is probably not the oldest bird, but still nice to see them in this coloration.

second successful attempt

I have now tried this twice and succeeded both times. Kalvträsk always produce pictures of Golden Eagles for me and in Hungary I have been lucky to photograph both the Eastern Imperial Eagle and the White-tailed Eagle. It was done over a two week span going from northern Sweden to the Puszta in Hungary.

I will admit that it is a huge privilege to be able to do this with such a good result. I cannot say with 100% certainty that I will be successful the third time, but I think the chance is great.

Please enjoy the material from my Birds of Prey tour to Hungary and don’t miss out on my Golden Eagle album from Kalvträsk.

photo album: Hungary birds of prey 2023