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Donald Knowler

Dancing on the Edge of the World

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On The Wing

Passport to birdland
Birdland is a magical place where it’s possible to escape all the pressures and stresses of the environment of the city created and inhabited by one species – humans – and immerse yourself in a less one-dimensional world. Birdland is nowhere in particular, and does not have to be special or noteworthy. It could be in the wildest of wild forest, or in suburbia. It could be a pristine beach, a few hectares of eucalypt woodland, or a neatly manicured city park. It could be a backyard. That’s the magic of birds; they bring beauty and wonder to every corner of the planet, wild or untamed, and my On the Wing writing is their celebration.

Lyrebird sings of its own demise

August 24, 2025 Don Knowler

My best birdwatching moments tend to come out of the blue, totally unexpected. So it was with my first-ever sighting of a superb lyrebird this winter. As I drove along the Lyell Highway, a lyrebird walked across the road in front of me. Although constrained by the car, and not being able to follow the bird for a better sighting, there was no doubt about what I had seen. Slow, stately gait, a big bird about the size of a chicken, and that long tail shaped like a harp, the … [Read more...] about Lyrebird sings of its own demise

On The Wing

Coots spring into romance

August 17, 2025 Don Knowler

The coots on the twin Waterworks reservoirs were behaving in a dilly, odd way. Chasing each other furiously, coming face to face and then shaking their heads, dunking bills into the water and sending up a spray of droplets. Suddenly I realised that there was a reason for the madness. Spring was in the air. Although in the dying days of July it was a little early for the season of rejuvenation and romance, the sun strong warm and hard after days of torrential rain. The … [Read more...] about Coots spring into romance

On The Wing

Gold at the end of the birding rainbow

August 10, 2025 Don Knowler

A pair of French “twitchers” happily photographing a tawny frogmouth in the Waterworks Reserve gave weight to a news item I had just read reporting that birdwatching tourism was pumping billions of dollars into the Australian economy. Usually the wave of international birders comes in spring and this pair of enthusiasts had arrived later, in autumn, still hoping to find the 12 endemic species that makes Tasmania special. They found six in the Waterworks, along with a … [Read more...] about Gold at the end of the birding rainbow

On The Wing

Black-headed honeyeaters back in town

August 3, 2025 Don Knowler

The black-headed honeyeaters are back. All winter I’ve been hearing their “peep-peep” call after they fell silent in recent years. Once they had provided the background sound of my garden, the song also accompanying me along the routes of my favourite walks on the lower slopes of kunanyi/Mt Wellington. During the annual bird walks I lead for my local Landcare group, the honeyeaters had also proved a talking point if other birds had failed to show. Even without seeing … [Read more...] about Black-headed honeyeaters back in town

On The Wing

Goose almost cooked but it’s been saved

July 27, 2025 Don Knowler

Tigers, lions and a gorilla named Guy. There was much to hold a schoolboy spellbound in the London Zoo. The schoolboy’s focus, though, was firmly on a curious goose, grey in feather with a striking green patch of bare skin on its beak. The label attached to the wire of the wildfowl aviary revealed the goose had a place in the zoo collection just as important as the bigger, more dramatic bird and animal exhibits representing the wide world of nature. The goose from a … [Read more...] about Goose almost cooked but it’s been saved

On The Wing

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PUBLISHED BOOKS

The Shy Mountain

shy mountain

Silent and brooding, the Shy Mountain does not have to speak her name. We know she’s there, watching … [Read More...]

The Falconer of Central Park

Although written more than 30 years ago, The Falconer of Central Park has remained popular ever … [Read More...]

Riding the Devil’s Highway

Tasmania might be known internationally as the home of the Hollywood cartoon character, Taz, based … [Read More...]

Dancing on the Edge of the World

Dancing on the edge of the World by Donald Knowler

Dancing on the Edge of the World is a collection of essays that had their genesis in the “On the … [Read More...]

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Recent Posts

  • Lyrebird sings of its own demise
  • The Birdbath
  • Coots spring into romance
  • Gold at the end of the birding rainbow
  • Last stop on the shimmering way
  • Black-headed honeyeaters back in town
  • Goose almost cooked but it’s been saved
  • Pardalotes warm to the idea of a Tasmanian winter
  • Ballet on the mudflats as the world rushes by
  • Birdlife varieties a feather in city’s cap

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