The Remotest Island is the only book I have written in English.

 

In Dutch I wrote the follwing books:

 

1995 In de voetsporen van Shackleton

1997 Het waterhoentje van Tristan da Cunha

2005 Het begon met het Naardermeer

2007 MijnVogels

2013 Eilanden

2015 De grutto

2019 De bergeend

 

In de voetsporen van Shackleton (in Shackleton's footsteps) is about my adventures as a penguin researcher on Elephant Island in the austral summer 1988-1999, and King George Island in 1999-1991. I did nothing like Shackleton and never had ice in my beard. But Elephant island is a legend because of the Shackleton story. I stayed there with a small group of Brazilian biologists, and we were sure that at night we heard the footsteps of Shackleton's ghost. The book won a prize nomination.

 

Het waterhoentje van Tristan da Cunha (the moorhen of Tristan da Cunha) is about the history of the extinct flightless moorhen of Tristan da Cunha. The remotest Island is an extended remake of this book. I have now been to Tristan da Cunha 14 times, usually as a lecturer on expedition cruise ships. The book won a prize nomination, and another prize.

 

Het begon met het Naardermeer (It all started with the Naardermeer) is about the oldest nature reserve in The Netherlands, the Naardemeer, a lake east of Amsterdam. It was saved from destruction in 1905, the year that Natuurmonumenten was founded, now the largest private nature conservation organisation in the country. They now posses many large protected areas, but it all started with the Naardermeer.

 

Mijn Vogels (My birds) sums up my experiences with a large number of bird species, arranged in alphabetical order.

 

Eilanden, van Andøya tot Vuurland (Islands, from Andøya to Tierra del Fuego) treats about 90 islands all over the world, in alphabetical order. The book won a prize nomination.

 

De grutto (The Black-tailed Godwit) is a monography about this bird, based on my experiences during twenty years meadow bird research. The book won the prestigious Jan Wolkers Prize, for 'best book about nature in the Netherlands' for the year 2016.

 

De bergeend (The shelduck) is a monography about this species, going back to 1969, when I spent a year on the Wadden island Schiermonnikoog, to study the shelduck for my masters degree in biology.

 

Together with two of the best bird photographers in The Netherlands, Oene Moedt en Danny Ellinger, I produced the Ecologische atlas van de Nederlandse weidevogels (Ecological atlas of the Dutch meadow birds) in 1995. In which I wrote most of the texts.



Back to main menu