GUIDES

My name is Zoltán Pabar, I am a freelance wildlife photographer and tour guide. I have been organising and leading the Hungarobirds wildlife watching and photography tours since 2007. I started as a birdwatcher, but I realised that photography is a great hobby, so now I lead both types of tours: I enjoy the birdwatching  as much as the photography tours. I try to do my very best as a guide because I believe  the most important thing is to make sure that all my guests are happy. I’m careful not to disturb or harm  the wildlife we photograph – we are an ethical business. I use Canon cameras myself but I’m familiar with  Pentax, Olympus and Nikon systems too. I am mostly interested in bird photography, but I also like macro photography and wild bear photography.  I am open to guest’s  ideas and suggestions  for new photographic subjects or techniques – if you have a specific idea we can talk about it before the tour and, if  it’s feasible can make preparations before you arrive.

My tours are based in Kisújszállás, a town located in the eastern part of Hungary. From our base here we work in the two nearby national parks: Körös-Maros NP and Hortobagy NP which are both close to the town. Our guest accommodation  is the luxurious  Villa Aquila (www.villa-aquila.hu).

My wildlife photography work has been shown at a number of exhibitions. I recently won an award at the Hungarian National Wildlife Photographer competition for an image of a wild lynx hunting a deer. I’m also often invited to give presentations and talks, but  the thing I like best is to  be in my  hides photographing the wildlife

Béla Dékány was born in Túrkeve, a village near Kisújszállás in eastern Hungary, and has been  a bird watcher  since his childhood. Over the years Béla has got to know the wildlife of the area very well.

He graduated from the University of Sopron in 2011 with a degree in forest engineering. While at University, he worked and studied in Scotland for a few months. After graduation, he worked as a forest planner, surveying and  and mapping the forests of the Great Hungarian Plain region, where many of Hungarobird’s tours take place.

Béla and his wife Ditta  have created  a small  farm in Túrkeve  and work there together growing vegetables, fruit and trees. Béla is also collecting heritage fruit and vegetable varieties for the garden.

In his free time he watches birds in the local area and enjoys trips with his wife into  the local countryside for  birding and collecting wild crops, such as mushrooms.  Bela likes to study the history of flora and fauna  in the surrounding environment whenever he can. As he says: “Nature is not a museum, but a living, changing environment where man can live a complete life”.

Béla has worked  as a tour guide with Zoltan since 2018 and is a highly valued member of the Hungarobirds team.

beledekany