BRAAKSMA S (1993) Recent history: Birds as a hobby and a source of livelihood. LIMOSA 66 (2): 70-78.

This article starts with a description of the role birds played in the early childhood of the author. Braaksma's growing interest resulted in ajob as an ornithologist of the State Forest Service from 1947 till 1986. In this function he paid attention to several scarce and threatened species like Bittern, Little Bittern, Crane, Corncrake, Ruff and Barn Owl. He played an active role in the establishment and management of marshland and grasland reserves and helped to establish sanctuaries for migrating geese and waders. He helped transforming destructive duck decoys into waterfowl reserves. His bird surveys and ringing activities formed a valuable contribution to conservation of the Waddensea-area. He counted breeding birds in the Mensinge-reserve during 30 years. Some experiments he carried out in this reserve resulted in interesting information on the behaviour of breeding birds when nestboxes were either provided or removed. The results of his bird counts suggest that part of the fluctuations was related to drought-periods in the Sahel-zone. His research work on Barn Owls started when he was investigating churchlofts in search of bats. He discovered that only very few owls survived the severe winter of 1962/63. He concludes the article by thanking the taxpayers for the fine job he had.

[free pdf] [dutch summary]