birdwatching on aruba
birding on aruba
birding tour on aruba
Bio
Michiel Oversteegen
I was born and raised in The Netherlands. After finishing my studies “Mechanical Engineering” and “Business Management” in 1995, I moved to Aruba. Shortly after my arrival I discovered Aruba has more to offer than sun, sea and entertainment; one of its relatively unknown features is its diversity in wildlife both on land and in the water, magnificent fauna, stunning landscapes and peerless moon rises.
Around 2012 I started to take pictures of those moments that most of us do not get to see when in Aruba. No images of the beaches, not the malls, not the casino’s but photos taken in the middle of nature. For me, the birds carry a special place in the heart. By far most of my time spent outside, is with observing and photographing birds. Thanks to a precious network of local and international experts, ornithologists and biologists I learned what I know now. More importantly, because of these friends I have access to what I still do not know!
(Online) Publications
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During the past years I posted a photo of Aruba’s wildlife on a (almost) daily base on my Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/BirdwatchingAruba
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In the Site and Field Guide “Birds of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao” by Jeffrey and Alison Wells. In this book you will find lots of my photos.
Photo contributions
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Dutch Caribbean Species Register; an initiative of Naturalis Biodiversity Center, the national research institute for biodiversity (https://www.dutchcaribbeanspecies.org)
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The Macaulay Library; the world’s premier scientific archive of natural history audio, video, and photographs (https://www.macaulaylibrary.org/)
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eBird; the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science project, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed each year by eBirders around the world (https://ebird.org/home)
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Many contributions with photographs (for educational purposes) to schools, foundations, NGO's and government departments.
Gear
Camera's:
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OM-1 Mark II
Lenses:
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M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-600mm F5.0-6.3 IS
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M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm F4.0 IS PRO
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M.Zuiko Digital ED 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS
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M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm F2.8 PRO II
Birding-, Nature and Photography Tours
During the past few years I hosted many private nature tours. Due to my personal affection for birds and nature photography -in addition to knowledge of the island- I got specialized as a guide for birdwatching and wild bird photography tours. My tours offer participants the opportunities to enjoy the wonders of Aruba’s nature under expert guidance. As important, my service’s philosophy is to raise public perception of the value of Aruba’s natural environments and to help preserve them for future generations.
