THE folk who live on the mountain at Fern Tree pride themselves on being a little different from the rest of the denizens of Hobart. They are tougher, hardier and their closeness to the whims and moods of nature ensures they band together in times of adversity, watch out for each other when blizzards or bushfire threaten. They all have a story to tell, and tell it frequently and loudly. I’m not talking about the human residents of Fern Tree, although much of what I have … [Read more...] about Song of the mountain
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Flight back to childhood
LIKE the seasons, a human life comes full circle. The seasons have a symmetry and I’ve found that life too often follows a pattern, events and experiences that had gone before are apt to return, even if in a slightly different form shaped by the passing years. On a rainy and windswept morning when commonsense should have found me at home I came across a lone Cape Barren goose at the Waterworks Reserve and immediately I was transported back to memories of my childhood and … [Read more...] about Flight back to childhood
Goshawk caught off-guard
THE black duck was in panic, a loud quack becoming a sort of strained screech. She had gathered her tiny ducklings around her, tucking them under her wings, and was ready for war. Minutes earlier I had seen the duck family merrily waddling down a culvert of the Sandy Bay Rivulet. First I had seen a single, downy chick not long out of the nest, scurrying ahead of the rest, the mother calling to it. The mother and the other chicks came into view and when they saw me standing … [Read more...] about Goshawk caught off-guard
Lilt for Tasmania’s secret soul
Secretive and superbly camouflaged to merge into its leaf-litter domain, the Bassian thrush goes about its business out of sight and out of mind. Trekking through the wet forest you would never know it was there, except for its song that somehow penetrates the dense foliage of such places and fills any open space it can find with a beautiful melody. The song is like sunlight in the forest, brightening dark places, but in my experience song and sun never go together. Other … [Read more...] about Lilt for Tasmania’s secret soul
Sandstone wall of terror
It was a battle of life and death, staged right in front of me, in a low sandstone wall at the entrance to the Waterworks Reserve. A tiger snake had located the nest of a striated pardalote hidden between cracks in the drystone wall and was trying to get at the pardalote’s young. The snake had squeezed at least half of its considerable length into the wall’s crevices and its tail wagged wildly as it thrust itself even further into the gap. I could hear chirping and … [Read more...] about Sandstone wall of terror