Hi all,
My name is David Broek and I am a recently graduated student Wildlife Management (VHL Leeuwarden) with a big interest in reptiles and amphibians. Even when I was a young boy the fascination of these animals already existed. As a teenager this mainly resulted in me keeping a wide array of species in captivity. During the years my collection changed and more special species were added. Occasional field visits were also made, but weren't very successful at that age because of a lack of knowledge and experience in field herping. During my study, the fascination of searching for herpetofauna in the wild increased. During internships I had the ability to do a lot of field herping in different areas in the Netherlands and abroad. Also in my free time I spend many hours in the field, for instance by participating in a smooth snake (Coronella austriaca) monitoring program. Not only the herps but also other species groups, like birds, fish and dragonflies get my attention. Since the Netherlands only has a low number of reptile and amphibian species, I try to visit other countries as well. During last years I made trips to Sardinia, Poland, Germany and Costa Rica. In particular my trip to Costa Rica of almost half a year did yield a high number of species and was an amazing experience. Last year was spend mostly in the Netherlands because I was working on my thesis project. Nevertheless I saw lots and lots of herps because I was studying reptiles and amphibians on wildlife corridors (which we have plenty in the Netherlands). Because I now have finished my study and days are getting longer I planned some herping trips abroad again. Within four days I will be flying to Israël for a ten-day journey and in April I planned a week in Spain. I hope I can use this forum to expand my knowledge, get some inspiration for new trips, meet new people and share my own trip reports ofcourse!
Cheers,
David