A little bird singing robustly in a park in London had something in common with a species singing just as loudly on the other side of the world, in Tasmania. Both birds had modified their songs so they could be heard above the roar of the traffic. As I wandered parkland surrounding the Royal Naval College in Greenwich last year, I was halted in my tracks by the beautiful bell-like song of the great tit. The bird might have been perched in an elm overlooking a busy bus stop … [Read more...] about Singing to a different beat
Following in Darwin’s footsteps
The bubbling, chortling song of the yellow-throated honeyeater drifted down from the stringybark gums as I stood at a special spot beneath Mount Wellington, trying to envision a similar sunny, hot day on February 11, 1836. I often stand at the location at the top end of the Waterworks Reserve when I retrace the steps of another nature lover 177 years previously. It’s no secret that Charles Darwin visited Hobart during the epic voyage of the Beagle, the nearly five-year … [Read more...] about Following in Darwin’s footsteps
Eagles’ fatal attraction
Driving roads in the north of the state recently I was surprised by the number of wedge-tailed eagles I saw feeding on roadkill. I’d heard that “wedgies” are often seen on roadkill but I had only seen an example of this behaviour once – and that was on the Waterworks Rd close to my home in Hobart where early one morning a pair of wedgies with a youngster in tow had settled on Bennett’s wallaby carcass. The highways of the north were certainly providing a roadkill feast on … [Read more...] about Eagles’ fatal attraction
Swallows flee bushfire flames
A reader phoned at the height of the bushfires this summer to report that hundreds, possibly thousands, of welcome swallows had gathered at a single location in the HuonValley and he was puzzled why they were congregating in this way. It was too early for the start of the migration when both welcome swallows and their near relatives tree martins can be seen perching on telegraph lines, marking time before heading north to cross Bass Strait. When the reader called, smoke … [Read more...] about Swallows flee bushfire flames
Forest rings to the satin flycatcher song
The forests below Mt Wellington have been ringing with the song of the beautiful satin flycatcher during the summer. The species has proved elusive in the past but this year hardly a day goes by on my travels on the lower slopes of the mountain, or in its forested foothills closer to the city, I do not hear it either making its cheerful, rhythmic whistle, or a harsher note that sounds like the chirring of crickets. So familiar has the bird become that I can now identify … [Read more...] about Forest rings to the satin flycatcher song