Don Knowler

Trimming a small deciduous tree in my garden, the tangled branches of a maple looking a little worse for wear without its leaves, I came across a grey fantail’s nest, one of nature’s marvels of engineering. It was a now discarded home which could win a master builder’s award for construction. The nest was built of strands of dry grass and moss and was anchored to a forking branch, low down in a dense part of the tree. The nest dangled downwards and had the appearance of an … [Read more...] about Fantails display skills of a master builder

The “murmuration” of starlings swirling about Hobart’s skies vanished with the arrival of spring. The starlings flock in their hundreds, sometimes thousands, during the winter months as they travel to and from communal roosting sites. The biggest roost in the Hobart area is on the concrete slabs and girders supporting the Tasman Bridge. There, clouds of starlings can be seen in the early morning or late afternoon, flying in tight formation to avoid the attention of the … [Read more...] about Starlings can get away with murmur

Two juvenile black cockatoos sparred with open beaks in the tangled branches of a hakea. The cockatoos – teenagers in the human measure of age – struggled to maintain their balance on a low branch. As the tree swayed under the weight of a large party of black cockatoos, it was difficult to determine if the young cockies were play-fighting or in competition for the tastiest nuts dangling in gnarly pods on the tree. Over the years the arrival of yellow-tailed black cockatoos … [Read more...] about You’d be nuts not to enjoy black cockies

Right on time, the migrant birds are returning to Tasmania for the breeding season. It’s as though their lives run like clockwork. The metaphor of the clock is not so far-fetched when you think time and timing is so vital to avian lives. As sure as the neighbourhood clockmaker in Sandy Bay puts out his “now open” sign on the pavement each morning and withdraws it at dusk, the birds attend to their daily rituals. These, of course, are not performed to the ticking of a clock … [Read more...] about Striated pardalotes on time like clockwork

A shimmering azure sky pierced by darting white shapes, far out to sea and coming closer. Greater crested terns on the wing, hunting fish in the calm, silky waters of the Derwent off Long Beach, Lower Sandy Bay. It was a delight to see them bowing their heads to spot fish just below the surface of the water, then tilting their long, pointed wings before dropping likes stones, hitting the waves with a splash and then emerging with a wriggling, silver fish, in their yellow … [Read more...] about Bird flu and a day of heartbreak