Szabi is a 29 year-old Hungarian and a full-time illustrator and artist since 2001. Before this he was working with BirdLife Hungary and on CITES. Szabi's artwork has gained recognition internationally including British Birds' PJC Award and third place (twice) in Bird illustrator of the year. Check out his web page: www.kokay.hu
"Hungary is one of the last great strongholds of the Great Bustard in Europe. We have some 1200 individuals all over the country (mainly east of the Danube), and this number luckily seems to be stable. There's a LIFE project running at the moment on the protection of this species (you can read more about it on the following webpage: www.tuzok.hu). I'm lucky to live just one hour drive from Kiskunság National Park, which is the most important area for Great Bustards, holding almost half of the country's population. This is why it's possible to see flocks of 100 birds together, that is an increadible sight (mainly in autumn and winter).
April and May is the displaying time, and I've spent 2-3 days in the last month trying to sketch them. There's a tall bird hide in the middle of the protected area, where I could get very good views of a flock of some males. This Monday I was really lucky, as some 30 males found shelter from the wind and heat under some Robinia Trees 3-400 meters from this hide. The wind was so strong that I had to do the sketching from the protection of the hide, looking through the gaps between the slats. That was not the most comfortable position, my back was acheing at the end of the day."
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