THEY stand sentinel over the Huon Valley, perched on fence posts along the long and winding road that drops down from the high country to Huonville and beyond. I always see brown falcons on this route and they bring a welcome distraction from what might well be an extraction at the dentist’s down the road. My dentist has a surgery in Huonville – having transferred there from his previous base in Sandy Bay– and for my visits to him at least I have the probable sight of the … [Read more...] about Extraction distraction
The great cassowary hunt
THE search for one of Australia's rarest birds, the southern cassowary, started excitedly one steamy, sultry afternoon at Mission Beach in far-north Queensland – and ended with a shock. The cassowary is a species that every birdwatcher worth his or her salt inAustralia must see at some time in their life and on a summer holiday in tropical climes I decided I would be reacquainted with this remarkable bird after seeing it briefly when I lived in Townsville a decade … [Read more...] about The great cassowary hunt
Feeling the heat
“Phew, what a scorcher” is a headline that came to mind, the sort of thing I would have written during my days as a wordsmith on a tabloid daily newspaper in London. It was the hottest day on record in Hobart – a staggering 41.8 degrees Celsius – and I headed to Mt Wellington in search of cool air, and birds. I was disappointed to find that the Pinnacle Road up the mountain was closed because of the extreme fire risk and settled instead for a sheltered and moist gully … [Read more...] about Feeling the heat
A myna inconvenience
A sulphur-crested cockatoo in a pet shop across the road from the newspaper where I started out as a young reporter gave me my first “scoop” when it was banished to a back office for using insulting language to customers. Neither the shocked owner of the pet shop nor my editor was to know it but I and my young colleagues had been responsible for teaching the “cocky” the bad language in the first place. We were merely introducing the bird to some of the interesting … [Read more...] about A myna inconvenience
Woodswallows complete the summer picture
The final piece of the summer jigsaw was put in place over the Christmas period when a party of dusky woodswallows came into view in the Tamar Valley. It proved to be a magical day, sealing what had been a magical year in a setting that only Tasmania could offer. The round of family visits had taken us first to the Eastern Shore in Hobart and then north to Launceston. As usual, I had kept an eye open for birds on my family’s travels: musk lorikeets in Howrah and sooty … [Read more...] about Woodswallows complete the summer picture