My best birdwatching moments tend to come out of the blue, totally unexpected. So it was with my first-ever sighting of a superb lyrebird this winter. As I drove along the Lyell Highway, a lyrebird walked across the road in front of me. Although constrained by the car, and not being able to follow the bird for a better sighting, there was no doubt about what I had seen. Slow, stately gait, a big bird about the size of a chicken, and that long tail shaped like a harp, the … [Read more...] about Lyrebird sings of its own demise
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The Birdbath
AMID the flutter, the vibrancy of life, John Simmonds was thinking of death. If he believed the television screen in the corner of his room, life was all smiles and blue skies. It was spirited, lively, action-packed and fast-paced with happy endings. And here he was in a wheelchair, a paraplegic. John Simmonds, tired of television, would look out of his window at the birdbath positioned in the centre of the garden lawn. Over the years he increasingly looked to the … [Read more...] about The Birdbath
Coots spring into romance
The coots on the twin Waterworks reservoirs were behaving in a dilly, odd way. Chasing each other furiously, coming face to face and then shaking their heads, dunking bills into the water and sending up a spray of droplets. Suddenly I realised that there was a reason for the madness. Spring was in the air. Although in the dying days of July it was a little early for the season of rejuvenation and romance, the sun strong warm and hard after days of torrential rain. The … [Read more...] about Coots spring into romance
Gold at the end of the birding rainbow
A pair of French “twitchers” happily photographing a tawny frogmouth in the Waterworks Reserve gave weight to a news item I had just read reporting that birdwatching tourism was pumping billions of dollars into the Australian economy. Usually the wave of international birders comes in spring and this pair of enthusiasts had arrived later, in autumn, still hoping to find the 12 endemic species that makes Tasmania special. They found six in the Waterworks, along with a … [Read more...] about Gold at the end of the birding rainbow
Last stop on the shimmering way
A PEREGRINE falcon witnessed Stan Jones’ last journey on the 296 bus. A black cockatoo and a butcherbird were there, too; providing a fitting and appropriate send-off for a man who flew with them in his thoughts daily, at least until today. Stan Jones was retiring after a life on the road. It had been a good life because most days he drove the Opossum Bay bus out of Hobart. For 40 years the bus driver had told his passengers they were on the greatest, most beautiful, most … [Read more...] about Last stop on the shimmering way