Don Knowler

A quiet Sunday afternoon in the suburbs surrounding Prince of Wales Bay.  People walking dogs, a man fishing from a boat, children playing in a playground at the water’s edge. It could have been any suburb, any Sunday, until something remarkable happened, an event which could only occur in a city where the human and natural worlds come together and share common ground. A fur seal made an appearance, drawing human onlookers to the foreshore and sending anxious black swans … [Read more...] about Seal of approval in the suburbs

A great white egret gave me a menacing stare on the boardwalk which runs through the Tamar Wetlands Reserve in Launceston. The egret, standing more than a metre tall, had flown with slow, lazy flaps of his giant wings from his feeding ground in shallow water to roost on the boardwalk at mid-day. The late autumn wind blowing in from the south had eased, and the beautiful egret with lacy, pure-white plumage wanted to soak up the sun which had just broken through the … [Read more...] about The north versus the south

The eastern rosellas were in full voice, chattering in the white peppermint gums as I followed the narrow road to the deep north one sunny afternoon last month. I borrow the title of Richard Flanagan’s epic novel simply because my journey was inspired by the author himself. Long before he had been awarded the Man Booker Prize I attended the launch of The Narrow Road to the Deep North and asked Flanagan he if he would sign a copy for me. His inscription said I’d “find some … [Read more...] about The voice of Tasmania

I scouted the wetlands and mudflats as part of Birdlife Tasmania’s summer wader count and my observations – or lack of them – confirmed alarming statistics that numbers of migratory shorebirds are in freefall not just in Tasmania but right across Australia’s coasts.  In fact I did not record one visitor from the northern hemisphere but I am happy to report that others were seen in the wetlands survey around Tasmania’s coasts. Not in the vast numbers seen in past years, … [Read more...] about Waders fail to show

I thought that the falcon wars were only being fought in the skies above Tasmania but I’ve learned that in Britain pigeon fanciers and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds are locked in a battle of their own.  The wars centre on what I consider the greatest flying creature, the peregrine falcon, and its relentless hunt of prized racing pigeons. Although peregrine falcons are protected in Tasmania, and are considered to do more good than harm with their pursuit of … [Read more...] about Falcon wars blight our skies