A pair of black swans with three cygnets splashed about a wet paddock bordering the Huon River, oblivious of my interest in them. The paddock was coated in frost after a cold snap at the start of spring had dumped snow on the distant Mt Wellington. The swan family did not seem to mind, however. There was plenty of new-growth grass to chew on, and the rising sun was burning off the frost. Soon summer would be here. Black swans are some of the most beautiful, elegant birds on … [Read more...] about Beauty in black and white
Archives for November 2012
A natural attraction
I scattered the berries of native cheery in my garden at the start of winter in the hope they would grow, not realising at the time that I was making a fashion statement of sorts. Gardens come in many shapes and sizes – or should I say styles – and I have never set out to make radical change to the ones I have inherited over the years when I have changed homes. I’ve been content to leave things as they are. All the same I have made a study of the history of gardening, and … [Read more...] about A natural attraction
A flight through psychedelic skies
Pigeons frighten me. They are the stuff of nightmares. They don’t come in the dead of night, pecking, cooing and fluttering, bobbing their heads; waking me. The spectre of the pigeon comes by day in Hobart, strutting in the shopping mall, in alleyways and lanes. I’ve been a bird-watcher all my life but the feral pigeon is one bird I can’t get to grips with. When I see pigeons in the city, I wonder why I am a bird lover at all, they make me recoil in horror. Perhaps it’s the … [Read more...] about A flight through psychedelic skies