My work in the Hungarian plains continues (see more here), in search of Great bustards and other iconic wild denizens of the place. The following set of images was made in October last year, and really embodies the local photography conditions: a great variety of lights, early morning fog, hares and roe deers in abundance, shy bustards, loud corvids. Follow the guide ;-)

​The Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) is an icon of Finnish wildlife. Now widespread throughout the country, it almost went extinct in the 1950s before a conservation campaign saved it. It's the national bird of Finland, and a crowd's favourite on my birding tours around Helsinki.

​​Spring is an interesting notion in Finland. For me, when days start getting longer, and sunnier, and the first migratory birds show up, then it's spring. Sure, there might still be ice and snow around, but there are signs of greater things to come.

Much of the Finnish culture and language has been shaped by nature and the rythm of seasons, so it's no surprise there's a bunch of sayings related to the arrival of birds. Here's one I learnt this year:

Kuu kiurusta kesään,
puoli kuuta peipposesta,
västäräkistä vähäsen,
pääskysestä ei päivääkään.

One month from the skylark to summer
Half a month from the chaffinch
A little from the wagtail
Not even a day from the swallow

You will probably not be surprised to hear that Finnish weather is wild... but did you know that, in Helsinki, we had 20 cm of fresh snow on April 23rd this year?

Every spring, we are fooled by one Fool's Spring (well, at least one), when it feels like we're turning the tide and cold/snowy/icy days are behind us. After it comes a Takatalvi, a returning winter. This cycle repeats for a while, until summer actually arrives, often in an abrupt manner (today is May 31 and we have 28ºC outside).
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So much snow on April 23rd is quite rare, but you get the idea. After a long winter, people are longing for warm days... but they are usually further ahead than we hope.

​However, I must say I enjoyed the last takatalvi episode. Maybe I was the only one, but I had a blast! You see, winter in Finland is a quiet time for nature: all water birds have left because their hideouts are frozen, all insect eaters are gone because insects have died... there's activity around bird feeders, snowy landscapes are magnificent, but it gets a bit boring.
However, when the last snow came this past April, there were lots of birds in the neighbourhood! They surely wondered what was happening to them, but I enjoyed photographing them in such unusual surroundings.

​If you've followed me for a while, you know there's a bird in Hungary I'm absolutely passionate about: the Great bustard (Otis tarda). This great "chicken", the heaviest flying bird in Europe, is a threatened species, but it's also an icon of the Hungarian Great Plains and is the subject of a preservation plan.
As I do for all my projects, I did some background research on the topic, and discovered something very interesting: in the south-eastern part of the country, there is a captive rearing program that collects eggs at risk, hatches them and releases the chicks into the wild.
Intrigued, I scheduled a trip there in August with my friend Marci.

​In May, I led my second (and probably last) floating hide photography workshop in Korgalzhyn, in the steppe of nothern Kazakhstan. If you're a regular reader, you've seen a few pictures already, but here is a fluffier gallery. Compared to last year, I spent more time in the water, and less time in the grasslands... and in hindsight, I wish I had done things a little differently. But in any case, through the fun and the hardships, I came back home with an exciting portfolio that showcases several aspects of life in the steppe.
Here we go!

 I regularly travel to Hungary because Vivien, my girlfriend, comes from there. Fortunately, her parents live near Kiskunság National Park, where the largest population of Great bustards (Otis tarda) of the country can be found. Needless to say, those endangered big chickens have become quite an obsession of mine!
In October, I had some fantastic days in the field which I want to tell you about. Ladies and gentlemen, follow the guide :D