There's a picture of me (Vincent van der Spek) with bins in one hand, and a plastic toy gun in the other. I must be around six years old. Birding and playing were very much intertwined these days. And they still are today! Even when I gather data for scientific or conversational purposes, field work is fun! It's fun, and I like to share that enthusiasm for it with others.

As a birder I'm pretty much allround. I did my fair share of bird censuses, spent countless hours at one of the finest bird migration points of the country (De Vulkaan, Den Haag ), I enjoy scanning through flocks of, well, whatever, occasionally twitch a rare bird, travelled all continents in the pursuit of birds and I cherish my bike rides to my local patches in the dunes of The Hague and the harbour of Scheveningen. I participate in several ringing projects, though consider myself a birder with a permit, rather than a ringer, like I'm not a bird photographer, but a birder with a camera.

I wrote numereous articles and reports on censuses, breeding birds, rare birds, identification and travelling. Since 2015 I'm a member of the Dutch rarity committee.

Basically almost every day out in the field brings something good. If you want to go out for some nice and relaxed birding, if you're after specific birds, or want to see as many species as possible, I will be able to help you out. The only thing is that having fun during the ride is obligated!

Vincent joined the Birding Netherlands team in December 2017.

Check out Vincent's website "Turnstone" to see what he's been up too lately