There I was, lying in bed with the world’s worst hangover. It was New Year’s day after all and I had overindulged the night before. And then it started. A regular tap on the bedroom window at first, and then a loud banging. I knew immediately what was making the noise, though, exacerbating the pain in my head – an angry grey shrike-thrush. A few months ago I wrote of a very loud shrike-thrush waking me in the morning with its strident “Joe Whitty” territorial song. Now … [Read more...] about Shrike-thrush creates hangover hell
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Poetry takes flight
It was one of those sparkling mornings on the eve of the holiday season which needs the power of a poet to describe it. Hobart poet and academic Pete Hay sprang to mind with his Fragrance of the Morning. The strolling breath of the day opens to the presence of morning, her wild, come-hither laugh The summit of kunanyi/Mt Wellington high above me had been capped with snow just a few weeks previously, but now summer was definitely in the air. The warm rays of the … [Read more...] about Poetry takes flight
Black cockies fly with optimism
As the black cockies came down from the mountain, a howling gale took hold and I was filled with foreboding. My wife and I were driving to the East Coast for a wedding on the sands of Spring Beach and with the yellow-tailed black cockatoos signalling a warning about the weather, we were fearful that the nuptials would be ruined. It would not be just the wedding cake in tiers. Although there’s an old saying in Tasmania that cockies coming down from the high country forecast … [Read more...] about Black cockies fly with optimism
No happy ending for pink robins
The seasons of nature’s rebirth – spring and summer – are always celebrated with both joy and a little pain. Although each year when spring dawns I grow excited at its prospect, at the thought of which breeding birds and nests I will discover, my enthusiasm is tempered by the thought it will not always have a happy ending. The story of the pink robin family I wrote about last month is a case in point. As I mentioned in the earlier column, this spring I was ecstatic to come … [Read more...] about No happy ending for pink robins
Parrot demise no laughing matter
Although it’s only a little, swift-flying bird – barely 25 centimetres in length from the tip of its beak to the end of its long tail – it has the ability to steal hearts and minds. And the means to deny Tasmania the global certification for its timber industry the state so desperately needs. The swift parrot flies through our consciousness like no other Tasmanian bird. It has a certain cache in wildlife terms and when it comes to talking endangered species, it leaves others … [Read more...] about Parrot demise no laughing matter