Don Knowler

Thunder in the mountain, it sounded like the opening lyric of a Bob Dylan song. I should be seeking shelter, in a cave and not under a tree. I stood in the open, however, my eyes on the heavens. It was just the sort of storm front that would bring with it the mysterious and magical white-throated needletail swift. That or the rising hot air from a bush fire. The swifts breed in Asia and migrate to Australia for our summer, guaranteeing a supply of their flying-insect prey … [Read more...] about Swiftly through the skies

A sprig of cornflower – the intense blue of its flower illuminating the darkest of spaces on Melbourne’s rattling trams – accompanied me on a magical mystery tour of that city’s hidden corners last month. My trips to Victoria might not always be about nature but all the same I can’t resist pausing to watch bird species we don’t find in Hobart, like magpie-larks on grassy roundabouts at busy city intersections, or red wattlebirds chasing smaller honeyeater species away from … [Read more...] about A meadow in the city

Charlie the parrot came into my life during the summer holiday season, more by accident than design. I’ve never owned a pet bird, or even looked after one, so the prospect of being Charlie’s carer for a week or so was a daunting one. Great responsibility goes with looking after a neighbour’s pet, especially when it is the much-loved playmate of their children. I may know a great deal about birds flying wild and free but a captive one had me out on a limb. I’m not … [Read more...] about Charlie wants a holiday

A greedy cuckoo has found not one but two surrogate parents to raise him this breeding season. And most remarkable of all, they were birds of different species, black-headed honeyeaters and scarlet robins. Last summer I was shown a cuckoo chick being fed by honeyeaters at the Waverley Floral Park in Howrah, and this season I eagerly waited for my informant, Vern Hansson, to contact me with more sightings. Vern is a skilled finder of nests, and cuckoos, and I was grateful … [Read more...] about Cuckoo doubles up on parents

There I was out on the flat surface of Sphinx Rock half-way up Mt Wellington, looking down on the city spread out before me, contemplating life, and my place in it, as I often do from such a lofty position. Usually I prefer to be alone on my rambles in and out of the clouds tumbling from the mountain top but this time I felt another presence, not in a sinister or malign way, just another being out there seeking solace and perhaps a little silence away from the hubbub, the … [Read more...] about Spirit on the mountain