The call of the bunyip echoes from Tasmania’s ancient past. A low-pitched boom resonates on balmy, summer nights from wetlands fringed with reeds. Unsettling and unnerving, it’s no wonder that Aboriginal peoples across the country feared the sound, believing it evoked malign and sinister spirits. But these days the bunyip has been unmasked. It’s now accepted the bunyip of Aboriginal folklore is the bittern, a nocturnal member of the heron family that skulks in … [Read more...] about The mysterious bunyip unmasked
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.
A cool Pacific gull takes life in its stride
A penny for your thoughts, I’m saying to a Pacific gull. I’m intrigued. I’ve watched this lone gull for months. I can’t make him out. Where he comes from, where he goes? All I know is that every time I go to the Waterworks Reserve, I see him basking in the sun on an embankment overlooking one of the twin reservoirs. At first, in the early days, I thought the Pacific gull might be sick or injured. But he always looked in great shape, crisp-white plumage which he obviously … [Read more...] about A cool Pacific gull takes life in its stride
Extinction lessons from the past
Although Mauritius and Tasmania are thousands of kilometres apart, they share a connection that can only be described as ironic. The islands have extinct species as unofficial symbols of identity – Mauritius the most famous bird to vanish, the dodo, and Tasmania, the most famous extinct mammal, the fabled Tasmanian tiger or thylacine. The tiger may be long gone but it still appears as a logo for government business, and is featured on our car number plates. In Mauritius, … [Read more...] about Extinction lessons from the past
Tasmania a vital refuge for at-risk waders
Two little heads poked out above the sand dunes on Bruny Island. Rounded shapes, with sooty black heads, two little birds watching the beach-goers passing by, between undulating sand and a shoreline washed with waves. The hooded plovers had made an appearance just as I knew they would. Unlike many other beaches in south-east Australia, the tiny, largely white waders can always been seen among the dunes at the back of the beach, or hidden among wrack on the sands. By … [Read more...] about Tasmania a vital refuge for at-risk waders
Beauty on the mudflats
The unsung beauty of the grey teal – a species often overlooked and neglected – shone from the mudflats. A cluster of teals was grouped above the tideline at Cornelian Bay, sleeping with heads buried in the feathers of their backs, awaiting the tide to turn and feeding grounds to be flooded. As the name suggests, grey teals lack the spectacular, often iridescent plumage of many of the ducks. In shallow waters they are overshadowed by a more common and popular small duck, … [Read more...] about Beauty on the mudflats