Our hide network

Our nature inbuilt hide network has been developed and constructed in various bird habitats in Eastern Europe focusing on the World Heritage Hortobágy National Park, Transylvania and the Danube Delta. The construction of such hides requires patience, given the various and rather dynamic life-cycle of the hides, which includes site selection, construction, adaptation, running, failure, resting, rebuilding, and reactivating or abandoning. Not only does a single hide have a dynamic life-cycle, but the entire network is flexible and dynamic. Shape and colour must blend in with its surroundings. In the network we have installed ground hides, aquatic hides and tower hides. Our hide network is based primarily on nature inbuilt fixed or static hides but we have mobile hides as well. Especially our main hide in the Danube Delta is a purpose-built boat which is highly mobile! We also use in situ pop up mobile blinds on all our tours if required. In the Danube Delta we have floating hides as well if there are more adventures photographers to try!

Innovations

1. Our hides are designed to get close to birds to be able to photograph them at a relative comfort.
2. The hides are built from natural substances in perfect harmony with nature and birdlife.
3. The unique glass window is covered with a specifically innovated layer. This is not a one-way glass but it does reflect the photon spectrum of natural colours of the environment. This system was invented by the young award-winning Hungarian nature photographer Bence Máté (www.matebence.hu) and most of the Sakertour hides were designed by him.
4. The large glass panorama windows make photography an unforgettable experience as you are integrated into nature and in the centre of all bird action. This way you are able to select the best time for your own artistic purposes and the movement of lens behind the glass does not disturb the birds.
5. This special glass layering does not interfere with the contrast and sharpness of the picture so you can get perfect results.
6. The incoming light quantity is decreased and 1.3 aperture value is lost, which is negligible when applying digital technology.
7. Most of our hides in the network are located in the world famous Hortobágy National Park, which is one of the most important sites in Europe for both breeding and migrating birds. The special atmosphere of this World Heritage Site can be experienced in a very different way in our hides.
8. We also have hides in Europe’ biggest wetland area in the Danube Delta in Romania and the adjacent Macin National Park.
9. We also created many hides in Transylvania for bear and bird photography!
10. Morover we have been working since 2020 to offer no glass photography possibilities but it is not available at all locations and subjects. Rare and shy species needs a lot of skills to be able to photograph without glass.

Hide comfort

Our nature inbuilt hides have wide photo-through panorama windows looking in one, two, three or four directions. If there are several photo-directions the inside of the hides are divided into mobile and flexible compartments by curtains so that the photo-through glasses can operate properly and effectively. Our nature inbuilt hides are spacious and comfortable enough to be used by up to up to three and some even by four photographers. Winter hides are heated and all hides are supplied with mobile toilet where necessery. Chairs with a back support and padding are provided for some of the hides, while other hides have mattresses. More information about each hide’s comfort can be found at their information page.

Hide regulation

Each hide has its own set of regulations, depending on the bird species and communities around. Species vary greatly in their tolerance of the presence of hides and photographers. Entering and leaving a hide can be very disruptive to some bird species and less disruptive to others. Usually it is preferable to enter the hide before birds revive or arrive at the site. Similarly, do not exit the hide until there is a break in their activity. Some photographers advocate having a second person walk with them to the hide and then leaving them behind, which gives birds the illusion that the intruder has left. However, a reasonable level of human activity is tolerated by birds at most of our nature inbuilt hides. Anticipate how much time you have to spend in the hide and plan accordingly. All these informations are given by our guides if not given at the various hides information. The diuretic and laxative effect of some beverages such as coffee is worth keeping in mind. Comfort is paramount as in a hide your muscles can soon get cramped. Make sure you have a sufficient supply of memory cards, batteries, etc. as once you are inside, you might have to stay for quite a long time. Noise will startle certain bird species. More information about each hide’s regulation can be found at their information page.

Bird are kept our hides

(in order of preference)

1. by applying the principle of nature inbuilt hides
2. by applying hides that are a part of the natural surroundings
3. by temporal and spatial obscuring of the photographer
4. by bird habitat creation with and around the hides
5. by developing natural bird hot spots around our nature inbuilt hides
6. by building, transporting and adapting the hides to natural hot spots
7. by creating island habitats around the aquatic or reed canopy hides
8. by constructing water pools in dry areas
9. by creating displaying grounds
10. by restoring natural feeding spots
11. by constructing perching habitats
12. by building feeding perches
13. by installing roosting perches
14. by installing pre-arranged fly-in perches
15. by restoring regular roosting habitats/grounds
16. by pre-arranged perches with bait-and-perch technique
17. by creating and integrating nesting habitats
18. by luring the birds to concentrate in a certain area
19. by baiting with food or water