The weather forecast predicted a dull and overcast day for the annual Tasmania gull count this year, an apt metaphor for birds that always seem to be under a cloud. Lots of people do not like gulls, particularly silver gulls which hang around the fish punts on the waterfront, always seizing a chance to steal a chip or two. The gulls are, in fact, called “rats with wings” in some quarters and I always think this is an unfair appellation for them. Amid the squawk and squeal, … [Read more...] about A blaze of reflected light
In the shadow of Scoop’s William Boot
William Boot, the bumbling war correspondent in the satirical novel about journalism, Scoop, and I have much in common. Or so I have been told by readers of the “On the wing” column. Although I’ve tried to develop the image of a cool, jet-setting journalist – at least during my younger days – I’ve never quite escaped the shadow of William Boot, the nature writer for the Daily Beast who found himself sent to Africa to cover human conflict by mistake. Notebook in hand, … [Read more...] about In the shadow of Scoop’s William Boot
The pecking order of protection
Birdwatchers often avoid hunting for the little brown birds, or “LBBs”, which are often hard to identify and offer little reward in terms of beauty and spectacle. It now appears the LLBs are being overlooked on a wider scale – in the pecking order of birds to be saved from extinction. This very issue has come to the fore in recent weeks with questions being asked in the Federal Senate about two unremarkable birds on King Island – the King Island thornbill and scrubtit – … [Read more...] about The pecking order of protection
Albatross with a legacy
A giant of a bird called Grandma is a legend at the Royal Albatross Centre near the New Zealand city of Dunedin. Although I visited the centre recently with the intention of possibly seeing the birthplace of some of the royal albatrosses observed in Tasmanian waters, I came away instead with a notebook full of facts on one long-lived individual. Not only did Grandma live to the age of 62, in her final year she managed to add to her long line of offspring spanning six … [Read more...] about Albatross with a legacy
Tamar on the ball with wetlands reserve
The great white egret gave me a menacing stare on the boardwalk which runs through the Tamar Wetlands Reserve in Launceston. The egret, standing more than a metre tall, had flown with slow, lazy flaps of his giant wings from his feeding ground in shallow water to roost on the boardwalk at mid-day. The late autumn wind blowing in from the south had eased, and the beautiful egret with lacy, pure-white plumage wanted to soak up the sun which had just broken through the … [Read more...] about Tamar on the ball with wetlands reserve