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Before I go to bed each night, I pause for a few minutes to listen for the call of the boobook owl. It doesn’t happen often but if I am lucky I hear the onomatopoeic “boo-book” call carrying far and wide from the wet forest above my home in Dynnyrne. It’s special – especially if I stand on my drive and listen to the owls on star-lit summer nights – because I have always been intrigued by these curious birds. My knowledge of owls is lacking, however. As night hunters they … [Read more...] about Wisdom, knowledge flies on silent wings

Now the Southern Ocean is a lonely place Over troubled waters and restless skies You’ll see those mollymauks rise and dive. Wherever I go, I can’t escape birds. I was taking a time out from birding at a Festival of Voices concert when a song about seabirds featured on the program. It was not surprising really. I was enjoying a performance of sea shanties by a choir of old salts, The Stranded Wailers. Why don’t you ride the wind and go, white seabird Ride the wild and … [Read more...] about Mollymawks sing a sad song

Four young hikers stranded by bad weather at Melaleuca in the far south-west pondered how to spend their time before a delayed flight arrived to ferry them back to Hobart. They had run out of food and booze, and there was no internet connection. All they had was a pack of cards with pictures of birds. As they waited for the weather to clear, they set out to devise a card game of their own based on their knowledge of birds, coincidentally a game also in keeping with their … [Read more...] about Bird card game has hikers in a spin

For bird-watchers, winter is the time for caliology - that’s the study of birds’ nests in case you are wondering. During this time of year with trees and shrubs stripped of leaves, nests are easy to find. The nests of bigger sticks built by ravens and currawongs are also blown from trees in winter storms. The subject of nests came up when I was invited to appear on ABC Radio’s Afternoons with Joel Rheinberger recently, in their current daily segment devoted to … [Read more...] about Kelp gulls discover plastic for DIY homes

The winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and I’m in a hurry to complete my walk at the Waterworks Reserve before sunset at 4.43 pm. A pair of tawny frogmouths watching me go by are in no hurry at all - they have the longest night of the year to go about their nocturnal business. I always make a point of getting out for a long walk during the winter and summer solstices and the autumn and spring equinox. It’s at those times that we notice that our fragile planet … [Read more...] about Night to remember as frogmouths chill out