Blog

Forget the Melbourne Cup, the other race that stopped the nation in mid-November was Australia’s Bird of the Year contest for 2019. Unlike the horse race won by Vow and Declare, the bird contest was not decided by a short head. The black-throated finch led the field from the start when voting opened, dominating the initial 50 starters and then clinching victory when the contest was decided in a second round of 10 finalists. The finch scored 11,153 votes, with the next … [Read more...] about Rare finch sets the pace

A swamp harrier soared high above the Waterworks Valley, painting the blue sky in circles against a backdrop of streaks of white cirrus cloud. It was a rarity for my neck of the woods and my good friend Brian “The Flute” Owens had seen it first, pointing skyward and then identifying the raptor. Focusing my binoculars, I thought it might be a brown falcon at first, more common in my valley, but with naked eye Brian spotted the bird of prey’s distinctive feature, a white rump … [Read more...] about A harrier in tune with the wild

You can’t keep an old birder down and so it was during the last week of October when I took my binoculars and crutches up to the Waterworks Reserve near my home to participate in the Aussie Backyard Bird Count. No matter I was only six days out of hospital after undergoing total knee-replacement surgery. The birds and Australia’s army of birders demanded I do my bit to participate in the annual census of our feathered friends. I wasn’t being quite as brave, or foolish, as … [Read more...] about A home in mankind’s world

The most harried and hindered bird of our beaches – the hooded plover – looked remarkably relaxed when I found a family of them one summer’s afternoon, strutting under a bright blue sky, gentle waves lapping at the shoreline close to their nest. In the past I had only seen the tiny plovers amid throngs of people, the “hoodies” on their short, stout legs trying to keep clear of not just the human beach users, but their dogs, horses and on several occasions, four-wheel-drives … [Read more...] about Hoodies find paradise lost

Many years ago when I found a young bird which had fallen from a nest I was confronted by the dilemma many of us face at this time of year – what to do with the little bundle of feathers, flesh and bone lying at our feet. In my case the bird happened to be a kestrel in my native Britain and it crossed my mind to keep it, and perhaps use it for a fledgling interest in falconry I had at the time. I was young then, in my teens, and no doubt influenced by a classic British film … [Read more...] about A bird in the hand