I was hoping to make an important announcement at the Waterworks community’s annual lantern parade which each year marks the end of winter. “The fan-tailed cuckoos are back,” I was hoping to shout to cheers as I sipped a mug of mulled wine. It was not to be. Usually the fan-tailed cuckoos, my harbinger of spring, turn up towards the end of August but this year they let me down although another early migratory species, the striated pardalote, had already arrived in good … [Read more...] about Migrants delay their celebration of spring
On The Wing
Passport to birdland
Birdland is a magical place where it’s possible to escape all the pressures and stresses of the environment of the city created and inhabited by one species – humans – and immerse yourself in a less one-dimensional world. Birdland is nowhere in particular, and does not have to be special or noteworthy. It could be in the wildest of wild forest, or in suburbia. It could be a pristine beach, a few hectares of eucalypt woodland, or a neatly manicured city park. It could be a backyard. That’s the magic of birds; they bring beauty and wonder to every corner of the planet, wild or untamed, and my On the Wing writing is their celebration.
Macho blackbird gets a shock
A persistent, noisy tapping on a window of my home woke me at daybreak. “Tap, tap, tap”. I followed the sound as I searched the rooms of the house before finally coming to the window of my study overlooking the leafy back garden. There I saw a male blackbird banging its beak against the window pain. As I approached it flew off, startled, but it was soon back. After I had retreated to the bedroom to go back to sleep he started up again. He was at it all morning, all … [Read more...] about Macho blackbird gets a shock
Lyrebird sings of its own demise
My best birdwatching moments tend to come out of the blue, totally unexpected. So it was with my first-ever sighting of a superb lyrebird this winter. As I drove along the Lyell Highway, a lyrebird walked across the road in front of me. Although constrained by the car, and not being able to follow the bird for a better sighting, there was no doubt about what I had seen. Slow, stately gait, a big bird about the size of a chicken, and that long tail shaped like a harp, the … [Read more...] about Lyrebird sings of its own demise
Coots spring into romance
The coots on the twin Waterworks reservoirs were behaving in a dilly, odd way. Chasing each other furiously, coming face to face and then shaking their heads, dunking bills into the water and sending up a spray of droplets. Suddenly I realised that there was a reason for the madness. Spring was in the air. Although in the dying days of July it was a little early for the season of rejuvenation and romance, the sun strong warm and hard after days of torrential rain. The … [Read more...] about Coots spring into romance
Gold at the end of the birding rainbow
A pair of French “twitchers” happily photographing a tawny frogmouth in the Waterworks Reserve gave weight to a news item I had just read reporting that birdwatching tourism was pumping billions of dollars into the Australian economy. Usually the wave of international birders comes in spring and this pair of enthusiasts had arrived later, in autumn, still hoping to find the 12 endemic species that makes Tasmania special. They found six in the Waterworks, along with a … [Read more...] about Gold at the end of the birding rainbow