Don Knowler

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

Far away, the Summer Olympics in Rio were in progress but a little closer to home I reveled in my own version of the green and gold. The silver wattles – closely related to the golden wattle, the Australian floral emblem which inspires our sporting colours – had burst into flower somewhere between the exploits of our swimmers and the start of the athletics program which followed. And like an Aussie athlete striking gold, I had my own triumphant moment when I caught sight of … [Read more...] about A triumph in green and gold

I entered the not-so-glamorous world of the seagull on a chilly winter’s afternoon recently as part of a survey of birds many people call “rats with wings”. I’d never describe Tasmania’s three species of gull – the silver, kelp and Pacific - as such but I must say to study them does make demands on the observer to get down and dirty. As part of BirdLIfe Tasmania’s annual survey, gulls are counted across the state to determine if their number is increasing or decreasing, and … [Read more...] about Getting down and dirty with gulls