The cormorant fixed me with a cold state, as icy as the ice-blue of its eyes. The bird had been drying its wings on a slab of rock, off the coast of Bruny Island, and seemed to resent the intrusion, shifting from webbed foot to webbed foot as the boat I was aboard approached. There was no fear in the cormorant’s eyes, however. More wariness, or curiosity, or even annoyance. Who was this strange creature invading its world, its space out there where Storm Bay merges with the … [Read more...] about Cormorant eyes frozen in time
Raven outsmarts the Pacific gull
Christmas Day at Cornelian Bay, and a Pacific gull is tucking into his lunch. Or at least trying to. Seafood is also on the menu for me as I tuck into festive fare at a restaurant on the bay. I have Tasmanian mussels on the plate, cooked with tomato, dill and vanilla salsa. The gull has still to prepare his meal, cracking open the mussel shell. The gull had been looking at the forest ravens along the inter-city bicycle track nearby. There the ravens pick up mussels, fly to … [Read more...] about Raven outsmarts the Pacific gull
A home built by master builders
The ongoing news of nervous residents enduring cracking and crumbling tower blocks in Sydney and Melbourne came to mind when I reviewed a construction project in the Waterworks Reserve. No problem of alleged inadequate design and poor building techniques here. Masters builders were at work, overseen by a master surveyor. It might not be a tower block of concrete, glass and steel, but the welcome swallows applied the basic rules of construction all the same: a firm, solid … [Read more...] about A home built by master builders
Struggle to save the Bali myna
THE Indonesian island of Bali is known to Australians as a holiday destination – especially at this time of year – but for birders it has been put on the map for an entirely different reason. The holiday island is also the scene of an epic struggle to ensure the survival in the wild of one of the world's most beautiful birds, the Bali myna. The pure-white myna with a face mask of bare blue skin is Bali's only native bird species but its status as the island's wildlife … [Read more...] about Struggle to save the Bali myna
Young robin sings his own song
The scarlet robin is young, new to this world. Only a week or two out of the nest, testing boundaries not contained in and constrained by the tight confines of the straw and twig nest. He – the youngster already has traces of the scarlet breast feathers which distinguish the male – sits on an exposed twig in full view of the denizens of the forest, calling to his parents for food. The pademelons and Bennett’s wallabies resting in the shadows of a forest glade do not give it … [Read more...] about Young robin sings his own song