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
Raptors face poison menace
I know when goshawks are visiting my garden without having to actually see them. The alarm calls of the new holland honeyeaters announce the brown goshawk and the smaller collared sparrowhawk are in the vicinity and stalking birds in canopy and shrubbery. No raptor instills such terror in the honeyeaters and other garden birds than the goshawks which, unlike other birds of prey, generally kill by ambush in trees, although they will also pin both bird and small mammal to the … [Read more...] about Raptors face poison menace
Rare birds bounce back
At last there’s good news amid the doom and gloom surrounding falling numbers of Australian birds. Two rare birds exclusive to King Island which were believed to be on the brink of extinction have been found alive and well, if in need of a population boost. The news receiving wide coverage nationwide concerns the King Island scrubtit and the King Island thornbill. Previously, they had both been ranked as the Australian birds most likely to go extinct within 20 years. They … [Read more...] about Rare birds bounce back
Black cockie song of the mountains
The black cockatoos were moving from the high country, their far-carrying calls a keen for the close of autumn and the approach of the snows of winter. I was walking the Organ Pipes Track on kunanyi/Mt Wellington and a keen – an Irish lament – seemed an appropriate noun to be applied to cockatoo contact calls. Wisps of cloud tumbled down from the highest point of the Organ Pipes above me and the freezing mist promised snow. Hobart myth says the sight of yellow-tailed black … [Read more...] about Black cockie song of the mountains