The songbirds of the southern suburbs of Hobart had to be on their guard this summer – the brown goshawks and collared sparrowhawks had returned in force. I’ve never seen such numbers of this winged army intent on causing mayhem and panic in the bottlebrushes and grevilleas. I know the dark secrets of birds which prey solely on the fairy-wrens, robins and silvereyes so beloved of our gardens can appear cruel but the raptors are only going about the business they were … [Read more...] about Goshawks out in force
Archives for March 2016
The Falconer of Central Park
Although written more than 30 years ago, The Falconer of Central Park has remained popular ever since, with one of its chapters included in Central Park: an anthology published by Bloomsbury America in 2012. The success of that book has prompted Donald Knowler to republish The Falconer of Central Park as an ebook, with an updated introduction. For an entire year, in 1982, Knowler visited Central Park daily to record not only its wildlife but the fascinating variety of … [Read more...] about The Falconer of Central Park
Striated pardalotes fall silent
Autumn had arrived and I could feel it in my bones, in my soul, and the striated pardalotes could feel it, too. All spring and summer their incessant “pick-me-up” triple-syllable song had bounced across the garden and through my home. Now the pardalotes had fallen silent and were on their way to wintering grounds on the other side of Bass Strait. Autumn always arrives quietly, almost imperceptibly. There’s no fanfare as in spring, when the sun suddenly shines strong and … [Read more...] about Striated pardalotes fall silent
The dark side of crows
The forest raven swayed back and forth on the upper branches of a wattle, its body twitching and turning to maintain balance, but its head as steady as its intense stare. The raven looked straight at me, concentration rippling its facial feathers, trying to make sense of this human, stretchered, wired and dripped in a hospital bed. I, in turn, was trying to make sense of a raven fascinated by the comings and goings in a Hobart orthopaedic hospital ward. I should have been … [Read more...] about The dark side of crows
Coots on the move
Like the ebb and flow of the tides, the coming and going of the seasons, birds are in constant movement. We know of the great migrations and the migration routes which criss-cross the world but even birds which appear at first glance sedentary and resident in a specific area are often moving from one location to another. The latest news from the bird world in Tasmania is that coots are on the march. A reader wrote late last year to say he had noticed coots – members of the … [Read more...] about Coots on the move