A Láthatatlan Madárfotós

We're at Hungary's western gateway. The landscape is ruled by the representatives of economy: motorways, cities, industrial parks, wind farms, as well as the hydroelectric power plant commissioned exactly 20 years ago. But something hides among them. A giant alluvial fan with small, island-like villages, forests, wetland fields, reed beds, all of which are encircled by countless small and big watercourses and prongs. This inland delta is unique in Europe, and was created by the Danube coming out of the mountains. But today the river is not as free to move as once. Seeing the grip of the built environment, the question arises: Can the wildlife retain its former richness and beauty?

The viper. The word alone fills most people with dread. It calls to mind some kind of huge, writhing monster, lying in wait to bite. The Hungarian meadow viper (Vipera ursinii rakosiensis) however, is not large and doesn’t attack. It is rather small and it would rather flee. It’s venom is deadly only to grasshoppers and crickets. It almost disappeared because it’s habitats were plowed under and drained. It’s not easy being legless in a world ruled by four-wheeled machines and two-legged creatures. The survivors retreated to the sand dunes of Kiskunság National Park. This is where our story’s protagonist, 2K366/08, entered the world. This is her story.

Trees are very special creatures. They grow very slowly and hence they live for very long. Simply by existing they provide shelter and food for thousands of other creatures. Trees are so different from other life forms that sometimes they look as if they were out of this world. They spend their time on a different scale. For them, a day is like a moment. A season is like an hour. And a year is like a simple single day. This story is about an oak tree. A giant, which have been standing in the same place for centuries now, still, a lot of interesting things happened to it.