An eastern rosella sang from a high perch atop a rope ladder in Legacy Park on the Queens Domain. The children’s park was established a few years back as a nature-based play space and the singing rosella was a powerful affirmation of what the Hobart Council had achieved with its design. Children and their exposure to nature had been very much part of my focus this year after I read about the “playground revolution” that the Age newspaper in Melbourne said was sweeping the … [Read more...] about Children in nature’s wonderland
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.
Tide turns for threatened albatrosses
The tide is turning for endangered albatrosses in their fight for survival on the high seas. Birdlife International reports that the loss of millions of these magnificent seabirds in longline fishing grounds is being checked by the increasing use of bird-friendly fishing techniques. It is a dramatic turn-around from a situation which once saw one albatross being killed every five minutes as bycatch in trawler operations. The longline fishing industry and governments … [Read more...] about Tide turns for threatened albatrosses
Yellowthroats highlight the north-south divide
I travelled north on a birding excursion last month and was immediately confronted by the great north-south divide. This had nothing to do with prejudice real or imagined against southerners or where a proposed Tassie footy team should be based, in Hobart or Launceston. Instead of a divide, this was more of a debate about whether the yellow-throated honeyeaters in the north sing a different song to those in the south. Listening to a chortling, chuckling yellowthroat at the … [Read more...] about Yellowthroats highlight the north-south divide
A welcome sight emerges from the heat haze
In the far distancer across the mudflats and saltmarsh of Orielton Lagoon the distinctive shapes of 12 eastern curlew emerged through the heat haze. The birds were resting at high tide. A few years back it would have been no big deal to see curlew in the lagoon and the wider Sorell coastal area. After all, the curlews had been so common they were once shot for the pot, particularly during the hard years of the depression in the 1920s and 1930s. These days, however, the … [Read more...] about A welcome sight emerges from the heat haze
Hunt is on for swift resolution
Somewhere waiting to be found is a painting of a swift parrot which could provide the final piece of a puzzle, a mystery that has left bird-watchers and the art world guessing for three decades. The story of the painting could read like an Agatha Christie mystery. It started the day Susan Lester was commissioned to produce a portfolio of paintings for a limited-edition, two-volume book to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Examiner newspaper in Launceston. Susan … [Read more...] about Hunt is on for swift resolution