With a deadly strike, a heron speared a fish in a rockpool along the Sandy Bay Rivulet. I had been watching the white-faced heron from the bridge on Parliament St and was so close I could actually see the species of fish that had been swallowed whole by the hungry bird. It was a climbing galaxias (Galaxias brevipinnis). A hungry heron spearing a fish, nothing particularly unusual in that, a regular occurrence in the waterways of Hobart. But that morning I had read a report … [Read more...] about Tide turns on wonder of waterways
Hardhead headache for tixidermists
Out on the stippled waters of the one of the reservoirs at the Waterworks Reserve something a little different stirred. I could tell summer was making way for autumn because a seasonal traveller had arrived – a hardhead duck. The male was still in its breeding plumage and in the soft early-morning sunlight it looked a treat. Chocolate head on a textured brown body, blue-black beak with a silver tip and a distinctive white eye, which gives the species its second name, … [Read more...] about Hardhead headache for tixidermists
A splash and a dunk in cool waters
A splashing and dunking, a spray of water droplets sparkling golden in the late-afternoon sun. A passing parade of birds were taking a dip. In terms of a birding hotspot this bathing pool did not look much. The birds knew otherwise. A fallen wattle was spread across the shallow waters of the Sandy Bay Rivulet where the watercourse weaves its way through the foothills of kunanyi/Mt Wellington. The silver wattle’s twiggy, clustered upper branches trapped a pool of water and … [Read more...] about A splash and a dunk in cool waters
Woodswallows linger for a summer feast
Dusky woodswallows soared into the sky to snatch at the last of the summer’s flying insects. In the upper bare branches of a dead gum, they were joined by tree martins. The two unrelated species jockeyed for position, the martins coming off worst. When a woodswallow returned from a sortie, the smaller martins had to make way for it. Despite a late spell of summer weather, I sensed the two species were looking north, they certainly seemed to head that way after taking off, … [Read more...] about Woodswallows linger for a summer feast
Ley lines plot a flight of fancy
Over millennia, the rich diversity of birds inhabiting the Hobart area have followed ancient ley lines shaped by the landscape and the seasons. The first Tasmanians, the Muwinina people, and Charles Darwin in his ascent of kunanyi/Mt Wellington followed them, too. And even today the marathon runners participating in the Point to Pinnacle share the same route negotiated in spring by migrating crescent honeyeaters and eastern spinebills, moving from winter territories near … [Read more...] about Ley lines plot a flight of fancy