The dusky woodswallows were active and twitchy, soaring into the sky to snatch at the last of the summer’s flying insects. In the upper bare branches of a dead gum they were joined by tree martins. The two species jockeyed for position, the martins coming off worst. When a woodswallow returned from a sortie, the smaller martins had to make way for it. Perhaps it was just me, but I sensed the two species were looking north as autumn got seriously underway, they certainly … [Read more...] about Chill winds call migrants north
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The road to recovery
A young currawong called Pea is out and about in the wide and wild world, spreading his wings. Occasionally he calls to his “foster parents”, the loving carers who set him on the road to recovery after he was found sick and abandoned, but Pea is determined to go it alone without human intervention. I heard about Pea a few months ago when Rachel Meyers of Southern Wildlife Rescue and Care emailed to say that among a batch of nestlings that she had been handed was a baby … [Read more...] about The road to recovery
Help for forty-spot nesters
The Tasmanian culture of the shack is taking on a new meaning on Bruny Island– it’s being extended to the holiday island’s population of forty-spotted pardalotes. Bruny residents of the non-feathered kind are being asked to support a scheme to supply the endangered birds with nest-box homes to see them through the breeding season. The program is being co-ordinated by a researcher who has joined the fight to halt the catastrophic decline of the Tasmanian endemic species … [Read more...] about Help for forty-spot nesters
Singing to a different beat
A little bird singing robustly in a park in London had something in common with a species singing just as loudly on the other side of the world, in Tasmania. Both birds had modified their songs so they could be heard above the roar of the traffic. As I wandered parkland surrounding the Royal Naval College in Greenwich last year, I was halted in my tracks by the beautiful bell-like song of the great tit. The bird might have been perched in an elm overlooking a busy bus stop … [Read more...] about Singing to a different beat
Following in Darwin’s footsteps
The bubbling, chortling song of the yellow-throated honeyeater drifted down from the stringybark gums as I stood at a special spot beneath Mount Wellington, trying to envision a similar sunny, hot day on February 11, 1836. I often stand at the location at the top end of the Waterworks Reserve when I retrace the steps of another nature lover 177 years previously. It’s no secret that Charles Darwin visited Hobart during the epic voyage of the Beagle, the nearly five-year … [Read more...] about Following in Darwin’s footsteps