Don Knowler

A flock of hooded plovers scurried across a deserted beach like clockwork toys, their tiny bodies reflected in the glistening sand washed by an outgoing tide. They had the crescent-shaped beach all to themselves, save for a couple of silver gulls. The way it should be. No people in sight, no dogs, no four-wheel-drives or horses. No plastic being washed ashore by the waves. As beach-nesters, the hooded plovers are among the most threatened birds in Australia. They have … [Read more...] about Helping hand for hooded plovers

I have a love-hate relationship with the kookaburras that hang about my garden, a little like the antipathy I have for the new housing development that arose a couple of years back beyond my garden fence. In their own way, they make me feel a little uncomfortable at times, but I have learned to live with them. By some quirk of fate, both are strangely drawn together. The new development of 10 units caused great ire in the neighbourhood and led to objections before the … [Read more...] about Kookaburras unsettle the new neighbours

A cassowary in the rear-view mirror of my car. It’s one of my most bizarre bird experiences, almost as incredible an encounter with the bird itself. The southern cassowary sighting occurred while I was leaving Mission Beach in far-north Queensland after abandoning a search for the elusive species. After hours of hunting, I had drawn a blank in areas known for cassowary sightings and decided to head back to Townsville, where I lived at the time. No sooner had I hit the … [Read more...] about Cassowaries dodge traffic – with help of AI

The morning television news reported gangland violence in Melbourne and Sydney. Closer to home, trouble stirred in my own backyard. A family of magpies – pushing out black-and-white breasts like in-your-face Collingwood supporters – had arrived in the ’hood. To say they had caused a flurry of feathers would be an under-statement. The usual standover merchants in the neighbourhood, the forest ravens and grey currawongs, resisted at first but then stood aside. The magpie army … [Read more...] about Magpie trouble in the ‘hood

They say familiarity breeds contempt and each spring I certainly feel a little antagonistic towards the masked lapwings which prove a nuisance on my walks. It’s a familiar story. We all know in the suburbs and outer suburbs what it is like to be buzzed by the lapwings, commonly called plovers in Tasmania. In fact the birds, despite having yellow spurs on their wings, are incapable of causing injury, it just appears that way when they swoop with noisy menace if people stray … [Read more...] about Lapwings ruffle feathers in spring