Antoine van der Heijden (1976) became involved with study of dragonflies and damselflies through a dragonfly project by the Nederlandse Jeugdbond voor Natuurstudie (NJN), mid 1990’s. This project kindled a fascination for these spectacular insects that never faded away.
In 1996, Antoine created a website about the European dragonfly species, which he maintained until 2005. By then, the quality of pictures made by digital cameras had surpassed that of scanned slide films. The website was taken offline and an effort was made to re-photograph as many species as possible, with digital SLR cameras. Feeling the collection was complete enough to share with anyone interested, a new site was finally made and launched in spring of 2019.
Special interests:
- Conservation and protection
- Distribution of species
- Recognition of species
- Ecology and behaviour
Activities include:
- Chairman of the Dutch dragonfly society NVL (from 2016)
- Validation of observation data at waarneming.nl and observation.org
- Presentations, guided field trips
Some publications (co)authored by Antoine van der Heijden can be found on ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Antoine-Van-Der-Heijden
If you wish to comment on my website or get in touch with me, feel free to fill out and submit the form below. Have you seen a photo on my site you want to use for a publication or educational purpose? Let me know and I’m sure we’ll get to an agreement.
In the media:
- An item about dragonflies and drought in 2018, co-appearance with KD Dijkstra in Vroege Vogels, Dutch national television.
- An interview about Libellentuintelling 2023 (an initiative to count dragonflies in private gardens to increase understanding of species distribution on a national level) on Omrop Fryslân (regional radio and television station in the Dutch province of Friesland)