English

Here I present my personal Bird Diaries (Vogeldagboeken). These are sent to (more than 4,000) nature lovers by e-mail three or four times a week. My website is visited 300 à 400 times every day.

The Bird Diaries focus on birds, yet I write about everything I see and experience in nature. My intention is to show people the beauty that is present in one of the most densely populated areas of the world. What has always been preserved in this area is now seriously threatened by new development plans.

'My spot' is located on the western part of the so-called Green Heart of Holland, an area between Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam and The Hague.

It's old peat-land. Peat-land was created by draining and reclaiming large marshy areas, which today are used for grazing dairy cattle and sheep. Under the lush grass, however, peat is still present. In the west of Holland fields are more often separated by water-filled trenches or ditches than by barbed wire.

Peat digging was a widespread phenomenon in the past and as a result the landscape sometimes shows a labyrinth of waterways and ponds among plots of farmland, rivers and typical old-style Dutch villages.

The Bird Diaries are succinct summaries. Experiencing nature is more important for me than notching up species. Of course, I like spotting rarities as they are the raisins in nature's-yoghurt. On occasion I make trips to different nature areas, sometimes linked to a holiday.

After beginning the Bird Diaries in 1999 without pictures, I have been photographing more and more over the years. This of course gives an extra dimension to my Vogeldagboeken: I try to capture everything I see.

As a former journalist it is in my blood to explain and clarify. Often I provide additional descriptions of flora and fauna so that readers themselves can identify the differences between male and female species, juveniles, summer feathers, etc.

Unfortunately, I cannot spare the time to translate the Bird Diaries into English. With the pictures, I put in the English names as well, though. Through the Search button (Google) the website can be searched for English names of plants and animals.

Hereby a short explanation of the information available behind the buttons present on the homepage:

Intro - Some personal information, including pictures of the corn mill where I was born and lived for 25 years.

Vogeldagboeken - Bird Diaries: A chronological summary of all published bird diaries.

Aanmelden - Subscribe: Here you can subscribe to receive the Bird Diaries into your e-mail account for free. First you receive an activating-link to confirm your subscription. To discontinue this service, you can click on the line at the bottom of each Bird Diary.

Fotoarchief - Photo archive: All published photographs can be found here, sorted alphabetically by Dutch, scientific and English names.

Foto's desktop - Wallpapers: - Several high-resolution pictures can be found here which can be used as wallpaper.

Natuurkaart - Nature map: - A detailed sketch of the sights located between Starrevaart and Spookverlaat (so you can 'follow' my trips).

Vogelringen - Bird rings: Ringed birds I spotted.

Recencies - Book reviews: Reviews of (mainly) Dutch nature books.

Natuur & Kunst - Nature & Art: Every month an artist presents two of his/hers nature paintings. (I stopped this rubric temporarily.)

Natuur & Wet - Nature & Law: A column by expert Jan Hurkmans on law-related subjects and happenings (like hunting) encountered in wildlife.