A streaker dashed across the pitch as Don Bentley and his colleagues watched cricket on television late one night in the newsroom, after the first edition of the Chronicle had been put to bed. “Haven’t see a streaker in years,” said the sports editor. Don Bentley wasn’t listening. He was thinking of a streaker from years gone by, long ago in the city of Johannesburg. After the next over, he told the story. “It was early in the morning, before the African sun had risen … [Read more...] about A shot of Mellowood
Cool reception for a new recruit
The editor and his deputy sat in the bar of Port Moresby airport. What was usually a chore, an obligation, had turned into something else – an outing, an escape from the office on an impossibly hot and humid day to the comfort of a lounge that offered impossibly cold beer. The bar of the Port Moresby airport was in fact known to be the only air-conditioned space in the whole of the country and the editor and his deputy had up until that point not recognised its … [Read more...] about Cool reception for a new recruit
Firetail steals the show
The sea eagles ruled supreme at Eaglehawk Neck, but it was the beautiful firetail that stole the show. The white-bellied sea eagles had thrilled a party of bird-watchers on one of BirdLife Tasmania’s regular outings with a display of aerial prowess over the fishing trawlers moored in Pirates Bay. The firetail simply let its stunning plumage do the talking. Before the firetail had turned up it had proven a pretty unremarkable birding trip, although a fine sunny day had put … [Read more...] about Firetail steals the show
Tension in the avian war zone
THE battle for the banksias and bottlebrushes takes place every autumn as soon as temperatures start to drop, and the smoke from wood stoves spills from household chimneys. The chill winds blowing off the high country carry with them the calls of the spinebills and crescent honeyeaters, the birds making their way down from breeding grounds to warmer areas closer to the coast. In the process, however, they clash with resident species like new holland honeyeaters, incensed by … [Read more...] about Tension in the avian war zone
A lesson in nature study
The excited chatter of schoolchildren could be heard from along the lane, drowning out the call of the scarlet robin and the crescent honeyeater. Two dozen pupils from Margate Primary School were on their way for a lesson on birds and the wider world of nature. It was a crisp, autumnal day, the sun burning off the last of the dew from paddock and hedgerow; the sort of day you can’t invent, a sparkling, magical day that would hopefully linger in the minds of a future … [Read more...] about A lesson in nature study