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The slender-billed curlew is no more and the birding world is in mourning. The curlew has just been officially declared extinct – the first known global bird extinction from mainland Europe, North Africa and West Asia. Although this curlew species has an historic distribution far from Australia, its demise has sent a shudder through the birding community here. Australian birders here see it as a portent for the uncertain future of the eastern curlew. This bird, which breeds … [Read more...] about A curlew dips its bill for the last time

“Gannets galore” read a headline in the Tasmanian Bird Report 2024 as bird-lovers celebrated the discovery of another gannet breeding colony in local waters. The new colony has been discovered close to an existing one on the Hippolyte Rocks, off the Tasman Peninsular, and the location is being mooted as a possible tourist attraction. The good news featuring the gannets was tempered, however, by concerns that a virulent strain of avian influenza which has decimated gannet … [Read more...] about Tide turns for Australasian gannets

It’s said that hiking is a reminder of how we leave a mark on the Earth. British sculptor Richard Long, as part of a series of works called A Line Made by Walking, wrote in 1967: “If you undertake a walk, you are echoing the whole history of mankind.” This quote came to mind when I walked the second section of the Darwin Trail on the Eastern Shore recently. Long’s words were a gentle reminder of how humankind has left such a far-reaching impression on the natural world since … [Read more...] about A wildlife walk that echoes history

A sooty oystercatcher uttered a high-pitched whistle from a layered bed of sandstone below the Bellerive Esplanade. I was undertaking what a previous visitor to this shore, Charles Darwin, had described as one of his “pleasant excursions” in the vicinity of Hobart Town. Darwin was not specifically looking for birds, as I was on a glorious mid-summer morning, but no doubt he would have seen the oystercatchers and heard their call, along with a white-faced heron fossicking … [Read more...] about A ‘pleasant excursion’ in Darwin’s footsteps

It was an offer too hard to pass up. A reader had what I consider the most stunning of all Australian bird nests – that of the grey fantail – literally on her doorstep in Sandy Bay. And what’s more, there were two tiny nestlings flexing their wings, ready to fly. The nest is notable for its shape. Incredibly it resembles a wine glass at first sight, a grassy bowl that tapers to a stem and flattened base. This one, tucked away among the lush leaves of a laurel tree metres … [Read more...] about A New Year’s toast to the fantails