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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

A great white egret glides across the still waters of Goulds Lagoon on the upper Derwent, a ballerina framed not by curtains on a stage, but by reeds. The egret has been standing motionless in the lagoon and now moves as if in slow motion. The long, spindly legs are lost in the reflections of the reed stalks, so only the bird’s crisp, white plumage and long, snaking neck forms a mirror image in the blue waters. Surreal, ephemeral, transient. I’m transfixed on a winter’s … [Read more...] about A ballerina in the reeds

The frost lay heavy and thick on the grassy embankments of the Waterworks Reserve, but it didn’t bother the sulphur-crested cockatoos. They were doing what they always do on winter days when over the years I have had the pleasure to walk among their noisy number on my late-afternoon keep-fit walks in the reserve. The cockies supplement a winter diet of seeds, nuts and fruits cadged, and stolen, in the suburbs with the juicy roots of grasses they dig up with their heavy, … [Read more...] about Cockies on a carpet of frost

My armchair birdwatching has reached new heights during the screening of The Kettering Incident on television. The Knowler family has long been used to my announcing what birds are singing in the background of TV shows, usually “cosy school” British crime programs like the “Midsomer Murders” series. “European magpie”, I’ll shout out with glee during a murder scene, or “song thrush” during the funeral of the victim in a village cemetery. The Kettering Incident, however, has … [Read more...] about The lazy-boy guide to birding