Don Knowler

On the surface it’s a mere, dusty track climbing into the heart of my local reserve. I can never ignore it, though. It calls to me, lures me, seduces me, and I always feel compelled to explore the magical world beyond its leafy margins. The track leads from the far side of the lower lake at the Waterworks Reserve and its crushed mudstone glows golden in sunshine. After rain, it is clothed in a more restrained shade, that of tarnished copper. To the refrain of golden … [Read more...] about Track opens window on the world of nature

Swift parrots were zinging around the treetops of the gums surrounding the Mt Nelson Oval, a location virtually guaranteed to see them after the migratory parrots have arrived from the mainland in spring. I had struck lucky after failing to find them a few weeks earlier. Blue gums in the area were not in flower – as happens some years – and so I thought the “swifties” had given the location a miss this season. But an American birder I chatted to at the Waterworks Reserve … [Read more...] about Operation flock and awe to see our ‘swifties’

High above the Raptor Refuge at Kettering a wedge-tailed eagle sat atop one of the aviaries. I took a double-take, thinking for a moment that one of the eagles undergoing rehabilitation had escaped. No, this eagle was truly a wild specimen, taking a time-out from riding the thermals to view his kin whose lives on the wing were less fortunate that its own. The refuge’s owner and operator, Craig Webb, said the sighting was not unusual. A wedgie or two came every day to perch … [Read more...] about Keeping an eagle eye on our birds of prey

Masked lapwings might run the gauntlet of traffic and dogs when they nest in towns and cities but they are at least free of their age-old foe, the swamp harrier. Or so a lapwing pair believed when they set up home on a patch of open ground along Blair St in Richmond. A swooping swamp harrier was soon to disrupt their suburban bliss. Not only a harrier invaded their idyll, but a brown falcon The remarkable three-way tussle between lapwing, harrier and then the brown falcon … [Read more...] about No hiding place for lapwings

Tasmanians have a reputation for being laid-back and friendly – and the same goes for our magpies. Although the national press at this time of year is always full of magpie attack stories and advice on how to counter aggressive birds, it’s a phenomenon largely absent from Tasmania. There’s no doubt magpies prove a serious problem on the mainland, from swooping posties on their rounds, to terrorising schoolchildren on their way to school. There’s plenty of advice in the … [Read more...] about ‘Chilled’ Tassie magpies give peace a chance