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The metallic “eg-ypt, eg-ypt”  contact call of the crescent honeyeater and the descending rapid twitter of the eastern spinebill might announce in my garden the arrival of autumn and winter, but as a Pom I long for another sign of the changing seasons. That is the vivid colours of the dying leaves on deciduous trees as they turn from green in summer to autumnal shades of red and gold. To get my autumn tree “fix” I usually stroll the streets of South Hobart which are lined … [Read more...] about Autumn in its glory

Turning over the page of my Australian Geographic wall calendar on May Day a picture of a pair of my favourite birds – yellow-tailed black cockatoos – announced the approach of winter. Although in fact the calendar said we were starting the last month of autumn, the coming of winter was confirmed a day later when I saw the first snow of the year on kunanyi/Mt Wellington. The May page of the calendar was adorned with a hand-coloured lino-cut by wildlife artist Vida Pearson, … [Read more...] about Black cockatoos herald winter

While swift parrots have been darting through the great ironbark forests in their wintering grounds in Victoria and southern New South Wales this autumn one of their favourite trees in Tasmania has fallen victim to the chain saw. Letter writers to the Mercury have lamented the loss of a giant blue gum in the grounds of the Anglesea Barracks in Hobart. Although there appears to be nothing untoward or underhand in the destruction of this towering tree - it had succumbed to … [Read more...] about Swift parrots lose a favourite tree

I always think I am among friends when I walk the Waterworks Reserve on cold, overcast autumnal and winter days. The “friends” are vast flocks of sulphur-crested cockatoos making this beautiful location their home during the time of nature’s shutdown and a lack of food out in country areas where the cockies spend the summer. The cockies become incredibly tame during the winter months – probably because people feed them – and on my walks they surround me, perching on fences … [Read more...] about Cockie clowns with a sense of fun

“The young one’s left the nest,” the proprietors of my local garage announced excitedly when I went to fill the tank of my Jeep Wrangler. I often receive progress reports on birds nesting in gardens or local parks – it comes with the turf when you write the On the Wing column – but this bird story was a little different. These nesting birds were not in Hobart, or even this state or country. They were a pair of American bald eagles happily raising a family in western Florida … [Read more...] about The eagle has landed