My name is Wouter van der Ham. Born in Voorschoten and raised as a birdwatcher in the surrounding wet grasslands, forest ‘De Horsten’, and the dunes of Meijendel around The Hague and Wassenaar. For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by everything in nature. As a young child I would crawl around the garden searching for woodlice and beetles. Later, birdwatching became a significant part of my life, and with the wet grasslands and beautiful dunes nearby, it was a perfect match! I joined the JNM – Youth in Nature, where I traveled all over the country. This broadened my interests, and I started looking at other species groups as well.

Currently, I work as a freelance ecologist, mainly conducting plant fieldwork across the country. Nowadays, I live in Zeist, from where you can easily cycle into the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. The marshy areas around Tienhoven are also quickly accessible. There is plenty to explore in the province of Utrecht! Additionally, I often visit the island of Schiermonnikoog for birdwatching.

On this website, I will regularly post identification articles about birds I encounter. I take many photos of rare or unusual birds myself and always try to learn something from them. By starting this blog, I hope to challenge myself to continue deepening my knowledge. Hopefully, you will find it useful too!