Archives for January 2021

Swift parrots come and go during the spring and summer, and you have to be as fleet of foot as they are fleet of wing to catch up with them. The usual happy hunting ground for a swift parrot fix is the blue gum forests of Bruny Island where they are common and easily seen. This year, however, the swift parrots have not shown up, preferring gums richer in nectar and pollen along the East Coast. The swift parrots are very much in the news this summer with revelations their … [Read more...] about Swift parrot flying to extinction

The heron fixed me with a wary, if calm eye. I was so close I could see the yellow of its irises as it stood motionless on a wooden fence post at the Waterworks Reserve. A lone heron, a lone walker. A meeting of minds. The heron and I appeared to be on the same path to self-discovery. I was attuned to a glorious summer’s day, finding a little “me time” away from the family. The white-faced heron seemed to have the same idea; coolly taking in the view, the goings on all … [Read more...] about A language without words

The muttonbirds that breed in Tasmania are known for their long-distance flights linking Australia to the far-north of Asia but one bird last year decided to go global in a different direction. In June, a muttonbird was found on a beach in Ireland, making it the first of its species discovered in Europe. The Irish bird-watcher who found the muttonbird – called the short-tailed shearwater beyond our shores – could not believe what he had stumbled across at first. Initially … [Read more...] about Muttonbird makes waves in Ireland

A new term has entered the bird-watching lexicon thanks to the coronavirus pandemic – home birding. The phrase has been coined by the internationally renowned Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornwell University in the United States to describe how nature-lovers worldwide have coped with lockdown and isolation. Prevented from going in search of birds, birders have looked closer to home. But the notion of birdwatching in the garden or even from the front window is not confined … [Read more...] about ‘Home birding’ takes off

The Pacific gull – in crisp black-and-white plumage with bright orange and yellow bill – has long been regarded as the most beautiful of Australia’s gulls. Because it is largely a marine species it has avoided the tag of “garbage gull”, a fate befalling the silver and kelps gulls which love to scrounge food at fish punts on Hobart’s waterfront. The Pacific gull might have a squeaky-clean image in Tasmania’s south but its behaviour in the Derwent Estuary seems to be at odds … [Read more...] about A new ‘garbage gull’ flies high