Don Knowler

The pink robins of the Waterworks Reserve have been able to take a breather during the Covid-19 pandemic from the groups of international and mainland birders who give them a hard time in the spring. The beautiful robin is either absent from most of Australia or hard to find so it is high on the checklist of birds to be spotted in a reserve so close to Hobart, where it is common. The problem is the use of mobile phone apps of bird songs which can lead target species to … [Read more...] about pink robins sing song of their own

My spring ritual of lying in wait at the Waterworks Reserve for the first welcome swallows to arrive has been thrown into disarray this year. During the winter I had already seen swallows at the Queens Domain and at Howrah on the Eastern Shore. I am not alone in my winter swallow spotting. BirdlLife Tasmania reports there have been many swallow sightings in the months when the swallows should have been in their wintering grounds on the mainland. The swallows leave in late … [Read more...] about Swallows brave the winter

New Holland honeyeaters form the Neighbourhood Watch for the community of birds on my street. With rapid tweets they are quick to warn of the menace of the sparrowhawk and it is not only the other honeyeaters who know their call. The fairy-wrens and scarlet robins also seek shelter in the thickly-packed grevilleas out of harm’s way when they hear the alarm call. My citizen science observations tell me there are two distinct honeyeater alarm calls – soft, short tweets that … [Read more...] about Honeyeaters on neighbourhood watch

The frosts came late to my home valley this year, but they prompted the same response when I saw the white coating on the lawn and an icy sparkle on the street beyond our drive: “What am I doing here?” As I warmed my hands by the log fire, I lamented not joining the Tasmanian migration to Queensland to enjoy some warm weather there. The mournful, melancholy winter song of the resident silvereyes coming from the frozen, rigid bottlebrushes seemed to be saying the same … [Read more...] about Silvereyes leave winter behind them

Being an animal carer can have its rewards, as a nature-lover who lives in my neighbourhood discovered when a magpie she had cared for came to call. Not just the magpie but her first off-spring. The female magpie had been reared to adulthood after it was brought to the carer as a fledgling. It had been found lying on the ground, and the person finding the skinny ball of feather and bone could not determine if it had fallen out of a nest, or had left the nest too early … [Read more...] about Magpie flies in to say thanks