Don Knowler

Noisy miners are known to be the bullies and ruffians of the Australian bird world and the miners along the waterfront of Melbourne’s St Kilda are stand-over merchants in a class of their own. The introduced Indian common mynas – with which the noisy miners are often confused – stood no chance in this battle of wits and street smarts one day as both species fought for fast-food discarded by the human-in-a-hurry inhabitants of Melbourne’s beach playground and the edgy … [Read more...] about Noisy bullies rule the hood

It seems only yesterday that I taught a parrot to swear - with repercussions for both me and my schoolfriends and the sulphur-crested cockatoo itself. The parrot story is one I often tell and now I have another: the tale of the potty-mouthed pollies, as they are being called across the twittersphere. A bird sanctuary in Britian is wrestling with the dilemma of a donation of five African grey parrots from an owner who can no longer look after them. Delight at receiving the … [Read more...] about I swear, these parrots are a smart bunch

All’s well with the world. The tawny frogmouths have returned to their favourite perch after vanishing at the start of spring. Although I was disappointed at first to discover they had flown away, I knew they would be back. That’s the way with tawny frogmouths, they are birds of routine. Predictable, solid, loyal to both partner and their environment, never straying far from home. Why I should find that reassuring I don’t know. Maybe it’s this increasingly troubled world in … [Read more...] about A cryptic bird for all seasons

Bill McDermott – the last in a long line of Tasmanian pioneers – was very much in my thoughts as I trod the rounded, flat paving stones leading into what was once his farmyard. A scarlet robin watched my progress and in the scattered blue gums a yellow-throated honeyeater called. On a sunny day the scene was very much as it would have been during days gone by before the McDermott association with this magical place in the foothills of kunanyi/Mt Wellington was to end in … [Read more...] about An echo from a pioneer past

Peter Marmion is a man on a mission to reveal the hidden wonders of Port Davey in Tasmania’s far south-west. This magical waterworld is not so much hidden, but overlooked and forgotten when it comes to the state’s tourist hotspots. I must confess I once viewed the area as merely the home of one of the world’s rarest birds, the orange-bellied parrot. That was until I was given the opportunity one summer to join a voyage to the region on a vessel operated by On Board … [Read more...] about Light shone on a secret wilderness