Dutch Birding volume 30 (2008) no 1

30 years Dutch Birding, part 1: 1979-83

This paper describes the first five years of Dutch Birding and the Dutch Birding Association (DBA), which were founded in 1979. It is the first part in a series that will cover the six five-year periods from the first year and volume to the current year, 2008 (volume 30). Dutch Birding was established by a small group of birders that aimed to share more information about (rare) birds and to create a platform to publish information (mainly) about the occurrence, taxonomy and identification of rare and scarce birds in the Netherlands and abroad. Dutch Birding started as a bilingual quarterly journal in black-and-white and was inspired by foreign examples, especially American Birding Association’s Birding. In 1979, the Dutch bird list held c 400 species. Birding became more popular and as a result, in the first five years (1979-83), 16 new species (and one subspecies) were added – including some that have not been recorded since (Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus, White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys and Yellow-browed Bunting Emberiza chrysophrys) or are still extreme rarities, such as Baird’s Sandpiper Calidris bairdii (now four records), Calandra Lark Melanocorypha calandra (now three), Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler Phylloscopus orientalis (now four) and Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea (now two). Organized Dutch Birding weeks in October to the Wadden Sea island of Terschelling, Friesland, paid off with many rare species and were the start of a tradition which still lasts – now bringing autumn crowds of birders mostly to Texel, Noord-Holland, and Vlieland, Friesland. The quality of production of Dutch Birding and of the content strongly developed in the first years and, by the end of the first five-year period, it had reached a firm position within the European birding community, with many foreign subscribers (and contributors) adding to the growth in numbers of Dutch and Belgian subscribers.
G J (Hans) ter Haar, Hollandse Hout 127, 8244 GD Lelystad, Nederland (hterhaarplanet.nl)

terug