Archives for October 2022

Alarm bells were ringing in the first few weeks of spring when a migrant bird beloved by visitors to the Waterworks Reserve failed to show in big numbers. I was one of a number of birders eagerly monitoring the sandstone culverts below the car park at the entrance to the reserve where striated pardalotes can always be seen in spring and summer. The species is dubbed the “tiny bird with the big voice” and its pick-it-up, pick-it-up call usually begins to ring out in the … [Read more...] about Striated pardalotes arrive at last

Gazing up at the twinkling stars on Sunday night it was hard to imagine that light pollution was emerging as a major menace to birds across the world. The Milky Way meandered across the sky and I was confident that bright and piercing light would not disrupt the journeys of birds travelling to southern Tasmania. It’s not the same in most other cities which are blighted by artificial light. Birds navigate by a combination of the stars, the position of the sun and the … [Read more...] about Migratory birds hit a wall of light