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
A shimmering azure sky pierced by darting white shapes, far out to sea and coming closer. Greater crested terns on the wing, hunting fish in the calm, silky waters of the Derwent off Long Beach, Lower Sandy Bay. It was a delight to see them bowing their heads to spot fish just below the surface of … [Read More...]
Filed Under: On The Wing
By Don Knowler
The magnificent world of Tasmania’s birds is portrayed in a new book by noted birdwatcher and photographer Els Wakefield but this is not just a work featuring exotic and rare species. Els with her photography and insights give equal weight to those species that are familiar and common. The silver … [Read More...]
Filed Under: On The Wing
By Don Knowler
A seven-year-old boy singing the praises of his favourite bird, the eastern rosella, has become an internet sensation. When Miles Phillips decided to write a song about the beautiful bird that had landed on the deck of a holiday resort he had no idea that a video of him performing the catchy tune … [Read More...]
Filed Under: On The Wing
By Don Knowler
Tasmania has a group of birds found nowhere else on earth and winter is an ideal time to go in search of them. When winter arrives some nature-lovers I know put away the binoculars and go into hibernation, sitting out the colder months to await the arrival of migrants in spring. But sitting by a … [Read More...]
Filed Under: On The Wing
By Don Knowler
In the same way birds open a window on the wider world of nature, a giant sea creature taking up residence at Seven Mile Beach has introduced nature-lovers to the wonders of the ocean environment. Neil the elephant seal has proven a social media sensation this winter after coming ashore in the … [Read More...]
Filed Under: On The Wing
By Don Knowler
The winter solstice may be the shortest day of the year but it was long in birdwatching excitement. A bird I rarely see on my home patch turned up on the Lower Pipeline Trail that runs above my home in the Waterworks Valley. The scrubtit is one of those species birders call LBJs - “little brown … [Read More...]
Filed Under: On The Wing
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