Archives for February 2021

A pink robin moved ahead of me through the wet forest, hopping from shrub to shrub under the towering canopy of swamp gums in the Styx Valley. By coincidence the route of the robin, and mine, was marked out by ribbons in the same magenta hue as the robin’s breast The circular route about a quarter of a kilometre in length was the centre-point of a day of celebration for what are termed the “big trees” of Tasmania, the biggest being the world’s tallest flowering plant, the … [Read more...] about Heaven and hell in the forest

First kelp gulls dropping mussels from dizzy heights to crack them open, now cormorants learning there can be rich pickings when humans go fishing. Last year I mentioned seeing the street-smart gulls dropping shells on the concrete of the inter-city bike track at Cornelian Bay and now my mail contains evidence of some other smart learned behaviour. A reader says that when out fishing from a boat off Hog Island in Frederick Henry Bay, she and her family had always noticed … [Read more...] about Cormorants catch on for a quick feed

Red Chapel Beach, within the sound on a still summer's night of the chimes of the Hobart Post Office clock, has residents who go about their business in a quiet, undemonstrative way, in keeping with the fashionable suburb of Sandy Bay. The residents, in fact, have been so unobtrusive over the years, their presence has largely gone unnoticed, except perhaps by a handful of nosey neighbours keen to observe their lifestyle in a corner of the bustling city where sea melds with … [Read more...] about Penguins under pressure

It was a glorious day on the Tasmanian wetlands. Golden plovers – an increasingly rare sight – lolled on the saltmarsh and the piping call of pied oystercatchers was carried on a salty breeze. The calm and tranquility was only briefly broken by a passing flash-winged little falcon, or hobby, causing consternation among a flock of tiny waders, red-necked stints, and putting them to flight. On such a day, under an azure sky, you could forget there was a cloud on the … [Read more...] about Golden moment on the saltmarsh