It was as though a grey fantail – singing a tinkling, thin song – had arrived on cue. Landcare volunteers were busy turning an old overgrown, log-strewn quarry into the latest addition to Hobart’s wildlife landscape. The members of the Waterworks Valley Landcare Group had already named their latest project Fantail Quarry and the fantail, flitting through the treetops above the volunteers’ heads, was giving their efforts a seal of approval. The work of the 13 Landcare and … [Read more...] about Fantail arrives on cue
‘Grey birders’ take flight
I’ve received a steady stream of mail from the “grey birder” fraternity following a column I wrote saying that bird-watching had been proven to slow the ageing process. It seems that many correspondents can confirm the finding by the American Institute of Ageing that for older people our feathered friends can be good for mind, body and soul. A reader in Claremont wrote to say in no uncertain terms that “bird-watching is great”, a view influenced in part by the sight of two … [Read more...] about ‘Grey birders’ take flight
Bird and human migrants know no boundaries
Migrating birds and migrating people have something in common. They know no boundaries. The thought occurred to me during the night of the winter solstice when I joined a wildlife walk in the Waterworks Reserve which had been organised for new arrivals to Tasmania. Environmental group Wildcare Tasmania organises wildlife experiences for people new to Tasmania under its “get outside’’ banner and I joined the first they had organised to study nocturnal birds and animals. The … [Read more...] about Bird and human migrants know no boundaries
It’s all in the stars
On the shortest day of the year, in the depths of winter, I expected the birds in my neighbourhood to be mute, saving the energy required for song until spring was on the horizon. But confounding this theory, the new holland honeyeaters, the eastern spinebills and golden whistlers were in full voice on June 22. Already the birds of the Waterworks Valley where I live were preparing to move from the territories they had established to see them through the winter and were now … [Read more...] about It’s all in the stars
Gulls the canaries in the coal mine
The proverbial canary in the coalmine sprang to mind when I drove the winding road to New Norfolk recently to help compile the annual census of Tasmania’s three gull species. The old coalmining concept of caged canaries warning miners of the presence of deadly methane gas had nothing to do with the debate about the Adani mine project in Queensland which has revived the canary metaphor in both cartoon and protest poster. Although the black-throated finch, whose habitat … [Read more...] about Gulls the canaries in the coal mine