Dancing on the Edge of the World
Everyone has a story about birds. They are all about us and are our contact point with nature. The birds I see are usually in an urban environment and so I concentrate on these in my writing. I don’t pretend to be an expert but birds of the city and suburb are also the ones that most people identify with, the species you do not need a compass and binoculars to seek out. A scarlet robin singing in a garden is just as exciting as a swift parrot in an ancient forest and is worth just as many words in my On the Wing writings, which appear weekly in the Sunday Tasmanian.
By Don Knowler
High above the Raptor Refuge at Kettering a wedge-tailed eagle sat atop one of the aviaries. I took a double-take, thinking for a moment that one of the eagles undergoing rehabilitation had escaped. No, this eagle was truly a wild specimen, taking a time-out from riding the thermals to view his kin … [Read More...]
Filed Under: On The Wing
By Don Knowler
Masked lapwings might run the gauntlet of traffic and dogs when they nest in towns and cities but they are at least free of their age-old foe, the swamp harrier. Or so a lapwing pair believed when they set up home on a patch of open ground along Blair St in Richmond. A swooping swamp harrier was … [Read More...]
Filed Under: On The Wing
By Don Knowler
Tasmanians have a reputation for being laid-back and friendly – and the same goes for our magpies. Although the national press at this time of year is always full of magpie attack stories and advice on how to counter aggressive birds, it’s a phenomenon largely absent from Tasmania. There’s no … [Read More...]
Filed Under: On The Wing
By Don Knowler
Tens of thousands of Australians are gearing up to take part in the Aussie Bird Count - the nation’s biggest citizen science project - which starts on Monday. During the event last year more than 60,000 people turned their eyes to the sky to tally an astonishing 3,608,545 birds, with the rainbow … [Read More...]
Filed Under: On The Wing
By Don Knowler
One of the greatest images of bird migration I’ve ever seen is of a flight of geese crossing a full moon, the birds in silhouette. Nothing could best portray the wonder of migration, in which many birds are guided by the moon and the stars on their epic journeys that can encompass the far ends of … [Read More...]
Filed Under: On The Wing
By Don Knowler
September 11 is auspicious for me not because it happens to be my birthday and the date of the infamous 9/11 terror attack on the World Trade Centre in New Year – it’s a day to watch for the arrival of our welcome swallows. They should have turned up in good number just before September 11 but any … [Read More...]
Filed Under: On The Wing
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