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The “court jesters” came calling with a song and a dance to brighten my mood on a bleak winter’s day. As soon as a party of 12 black cockatoos arrived I knew I was in for an afternoon of entertainment. A Covid-19 alert had confined me to home after discovering I was a secondary contact with one of my son’s friends who had tested positive for the virus. But the antics of the yellow-tailed black cockatoos saved the day and gave me something to smile about Although the … [Read more...] about ‘Court jesters’ put on a show

Powerful, elegant and beautiful, the Tasmanian masked owl towered over admirers in its giant “cage” on Parliament House Lawns in Hobart during Dark Mofo. The paper-and-wooden owl was roosting before taking flight on silent wings at the end of the winter festival. The owl was the focus of the ogoh-ogoh showpiece at the event, honouring an ancient Balinese-Hindu purification ceremony. In this the “fears” of participants are written on pieces of paper and placed in a basket at … [Read more...] about Masked owl’s future clouded in fear

The battle to save the critically endangered swift parrot has switched to the forests of the south-east mainland these chilly winter months. Birdwatchers have been fanning out across country Victoria and New South Wales to count numbers of migrating parrots in their wintering grounds. The swift parrot breeds exclusively in Tasmania before crossing Bass Strait as winter grips their home state. The population of the parrot is undergoing a catastrophic decline, with numbers … [Read more...] about Swift action need on migratory parrots

The turf wars have returned to my garden with the onslaught of winter. The ravens and currawongs are once again engaged in battle over the scraps of food I leave out for them each morning. And this year another protagonist has joined the fray – a grey butcherbird. The resident forest ravens have the garden to themselves before the raiders arrive at about the time of the official start of winter on June 1. Grey currawongs might be seen all year but their numbers start to … [Read more...] about Butcherbirds win out in the turf wars

A wedge-tailed eagle soared across the sky in front of me. High above South Hobart it rose and fell, twisted and turned, a silhouette against the backdrop of kununyi/Mt Wellington, which was bathed in soft sunlight in the first week of winter. My focus should have been on the “wedgie” – the fourth largest eagle in the world – but on this occasion I was bowled over by the mountain itself. The day previously it had hidden behind low cloud. Kunanyi is a mountain of many … [Read more...] about Drawn to a mountain bathed in soft sunlight