“Birds mean business.” A slogan like that sounds as though it comes from Madison Avenue, fresh from a script for Mad Men, one of my favourite television shows centred in the advertising world in the United States. The slogan was not penned, in fact, by a slick adman on the street of shame, but is being promoted by a group of New Yorkers whose natural habitat is situated as far away from the heart of the American advertising industry as you can get. “Birds mean business” … [Read more...] about Start spreading the word
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.
Passing the nest test
Some wild weather in early autumn with stronger winds than usual brought me up close and personal with some of nature’s most incredible creations. I’m talking birds’ nests or more precisely caliology, the name given to their scientific study. It seemed that one afternoon when high winds were rocking the trees above me on the lower slopes of Mt Wellington it was raining nests. The large, bulky structure of a grey currawong’s nest landed at my feet on a mountain trail, I came … [Read more...] about Passing the nest test
Beauty amid the bullets
“The larks are singing beautifully and today I saw the first swallow this season…” The words describe a magical moment that could be any spring day in rural Tasmania. They paint a vivid picture: a clear, impossibly blue sky, a fluttering skylark high above, its sweet song cascading from the heavens and drifting across field and paddock. And the swallows carry the promise of summer on their wings. The words were, in fact, penned by a 25-year soldier, Maurice Charles … [Read more...] about Beauty amid the bullets
Alarm birds keeps watch
I went in search of the hiding place of the notorious bushranger Rocky Whelan on Mount Wellington one crisp and clear autumnal morning and it was appropriate that a Tasmanian scrubwren should lead me there. In times past the scrubwren made its home among the bushrangers, the murders and thieves who terrorised Tasmania’s citizens, aiding and abetting them in their efforts to escape the law. The little bird was dubbed the “alarm bird” by the early settlers because it warned … [Read more...] about Alarm birds keeps watch
Dancing on the Edge of the World
Dancing on the Edge of the World is a collection of essays that had their genesis in the “On the Wing” columns first published in the Mercury. The essays were grouped in sections which presented a guide to birdwatching including how to identify different species of birds and where to find them. The book was nominated for the Tasmanian Literary Award in 2005, but is now out of print. As one reviewer said: “Birdwatching can be totally boring, but in this sparkling … [Read more...] about Dancing on the Edge of the World