Don Knowler

Constitution Dock, at the very heart of the Hobart waterfront, might seem an unlikely location to watch birds but over the years it has provided me with some magical birding moments. It seems fitting, therefore, that BirdLife Tasmania volunteers seize the opportunity when the biennial Wooden Boat Festival comes around to take exhibition space to promote the conservation work they do. The emphasis at the information stand this festival earlier in the month was threatened … [Read more...] about Seabirds make way for boats

Out on Lygon Street in the oppressive summer-heat of Melbourne I saw what could be the shape of things to come when it comes to urban wildlife. A raven, panting with beak open, tip-toed across a hot tin roof to drink putrid water trapped in a gutter above a restaurant and in the only park within sight, a magpie-lark stabbed at souvlaki wrapping. I forsake the woods around my home In Dynnyrne once a year for the urban environment of inner Melbourne, usually to spend a few … [Read more...] about A raucous urban future

Australian flags flapping in the warm, summer breeze. Australia Day at the Waterworks Reserve but I was not taking part in the celebrations and festivities. In my diary, the priority on the day marking the arrival in 1788 of the First Fleet is not to break out the BBQ snags and steaks. It is the time in late summer when I take stock of the breeding success or otherwise of the birds on my home turf. Although one of the Knowler flock, John Knowler, earned his passage by … [Read more...] about Satin flycatchers lead the celebration of summer

The currawongs found competition for the fruits of the native cherry this summer – I was determined to get to this bounty before them. For years I have waited patiently for the berry fruits of these beautiful trees – with fine, filigree foliage – to ripen so I can sow them in my garden. The currawongs, however, have always beaten me to my favourite tree at a site in the foothills of kunanyi/Mt Wellington. It wasn’t exactly a New Year’s resolution to take on the marauding … [Read more...] about Fruits of the forest

I was listening for the summer-song of the boobok owl, a soothing, warm sound which carries far through the dry woodlands of Tasmania as soon as the sun sets. Instead I heard the frightening, screeching call of the masked owl. It sounded as though someone was being murdered out there, in the foothills of kunanyi/Mt Wellington. I was at one of my favourite owl-watching and listening posts, the Ridgeway recreational oval, a mysterious and lonely place at the best of times … [Read more...] about Owls darken a summer’s night