Don Knowler

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

There I was, lying in bed with the world’s worst hangover. It was New Year’s day after all and I had overindulged the night before. And then it started. A regular tap on the bedroom window at first, and then a loud banging. I knew immediately what was making the noise, though, exacerbating the pain in my head –  an angry grey shrike-thrush. A few months ago I wrote of a very loud shrike-thrush waking me in the morning with its strident “Joe Whitty” territorial song. Now … [Read more...] about Shrike-thrush creates hangover hell

It was one of those sparkling mornings on the eve of the holiday season which needs the power of a poet to describe it. Hobart poet and academic Pete Hay sprang to mind with his Fragrance of the Morning.  The strolling breath of the day opens to the presence of morning, her wild, come-hither laugh The summit of kunanyi/Mt Wellington high above me had been capped with snow just a few weeks previously, but now summer was definitely in the air. The warm rays of the … [Read more...] about Poetry takes flight

As the black cockies came down from the mountain, a howling gale took hold and I was filled with foreboding. My wife and I were driving to the East Coast for a wedding on the sands of Spring Beach and with the yellow-tailed black cockatoos signalling a warning about the weather, we were fearful that the nuptials would be ruined. It would not be just the wedding cake in tiers. Although there’s an old saying in Tasmania that cockies coming down from the high country forecast … [Read more...] about Black cockies fly with optimism

The seasons of nature’s rebirth – spring and summer – are always celebrated with both joy and a little pain. Although each year when spring dawns I grow excited at its prospect, at the thought of which breeding birds and nests I will discover, my enthusiasm is tempered by the thought it will not always have a happy ending. The story of the pink robin family I wrote about last month is a case in point. As I mentioned in the earlier column, this spring I was ecstatic to come … [Read more...] about No happy ending for pink robins