Don Knowler

Bruny Island might only be 362 square kilometres in area but in recent times it has laid claim to being the “birdwatching capital of Australia”. Such a title might seem a little fanciful until it is realised north and south Bruny islands are home to all 12 of Tasmania’s endemic species. No other area of the same size in Australia can claim to have such a large number of birds found nowhere else on earth. To promote not just the birds but the other scenic and wildlife … [Read more...] about Bruny Island stands tall as its forests

The ascending, tinkling song of the grey fantail had been missing all winter.  And now I could hear it all around me, as though it was dripping from the wattles and eucalypts like an early-morning mist. Not one but a whole party of fantails had arrived overnight on favourable, north-westerly winds and in the foothills of kunanyi/Mt Wellington I revelled in their sublime beauty. The song of the fantail – which also incorporates whistles and squeaks – is one of the most … [Read more...] about A swish of a geisha fan

Dead on time, the swallows returned to Hobart in the first few days of spring. I always say to those anticipating the end of winter, swallows turn up during the first weekend of September; they arrived a little earlier this year, on Friday September 2 to be precise. I only saw one bird, swooping and soaring in the Waterworks Valley to the south of the city but my spies said more were about. They were still absent, though, from my favourite place to view them – the … [Read more...] about One swallows makes a spring

Spring fever had taken hold.  After hearing the first of the summer migrants in mid-August, I was out and about on kunanyi/Mt Wellington and its foothills seeing what other early arrivals I could add to the fan-tailed cuckoo I had seen on a sunny day previously. My target was another bird which experience has taught me also arrives on warm northern winds in August - the striated pardalote. With its sharp, staccato “pick-it-up” song, the pardalote competes with the … [Read more...] about Pardalotes arrive on time

The mournful, descending trill of a fan-tailed cuckoo rang out across the Waterworks Valley signalling that winter was finally in its death throes. The cuckoo was a little early – August 15 to be precise – but northerly warm winds had clearly carried the first of the migrants from the mainland. Although the swallow is the traditional harbinger of spring, I always time my seasons by the arrival or departure of two other species, more often heard than seen. These are the … [Read more...] about Cuckoo call spells pain and chaos