Archives for December 2022

“You’ve got to get them young,” Linley Grant said as she spread out the paraphernalia of birdwatching on a desk at Campbell Street Primary School. There were feathers and old nests, binoculars, identification charts and brightly coloured maps showing bird migration routes. There were cards to be handed out displaying Tasmania’s 12 bird species found nowhere else on earth and to top it all, a stuffed masked owl and wedge-tailed eagle, the latter towering over the children … [Read more...] about Birds fly high on the school curriculum

Shrieking gulls wheeling high in the sky broadcast there was tension in the air. Looking about me, I noticed the flotillas of Pacific black ducks and coots were behaving strangely on the open waters of the smaller of the two reservoirs at the Waterworks Reserve. The ducks and coots were huddled together in a tight circle, whereas usually they are spread out across the expansive waters. I soon discovered what was causing concern on a beautiful spring day – a white-bellied … [Read more...] about Sea eagle stirs ripple of fear

The soothing song of a grey butcher bird serenaded the Hobart bushcare community as members gathered last month for their annual year-end barbeque. Even in celebration with beers and wood-fired pizzas, a couple of hundred bushcare volunteers could not escape the call of the bush which sees them contribute, collectively, many hours of hard but enjoyable toil each year to help maintain our city’s wildlife wonders. The song of the butcherbird provided a fitting endorsement of … [Read more...] about Birdsong the call of the wild