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
Cuckoos only doing what comes naturally
The strident, piercing one-note call came from within the vines sweeping away from the Frogmore Creek winery to the Coal River estuary in the distance. It was a song I had not heard for a number of years and I went in search of its source, standing at the edge of the lawns surrounding the winery’s restaurant to gaze deep into the rows of vines, lush and green after good spring rains. “Horsfield’s bronze-cuckoo” I said to myself, and then cursed the fact that I had not … [Read more...] about Cuckoos only doing what comes naturally
Carrier pigeon flies from the past
The discovery of a dead World War II carrier pigeon – still with its coded message strapped to its leg – has made headlines around the world but the story also carries a strange echo from another age to current-day Hobart. The pigeon was found in the chimney of an old house being renovated south of London and WWII historians say it might have been flying home from British units in France about the time of the Normandylandings in 1944. The news story, appearing in newspapers … [Read more...] about Carrier pigeon flies from the past
The theatre of screams
I am lying in a bunk bed, a Tasmanian devil gnawing on a pademelon carcass under the floorboards, and I am trying to think of a song. Only I can’t remember how it goes. I’m sure it’s something to do with a star. I try to hum the tune in the hope that words will reveal its title, and I don’t care if the devil hears. I’m trying to think of this song to stay awake; to ward off nervousness and apprehension. I’m a city animal and I am out here in the environment of the devil, as … [Read more...] about The theatre of screams