The Inverawe Native Gardens were looking for their 100th bird species and I thought I’d get a feather in my cap by spotting it. My mission had started earlier in the year when I noted from the gardens’ newsletter that species 98 and 99 had turned up at the gardens at Margate and the owners, Bill and Margaret Chestnut, were excitedly anticipating what in cricket parlance would be a ton. I thought that with a little research, and hard work on the spot, I might record the … [Read more...] about A quest for birding fame
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.
When nature calls
I had my Local Hero moment in the lonely, sea-washed phone box at AdventureBay on BrunyIsland one morning, a phone call to the metropolis that became a communication with nature. For those who don’t know of the film Local Hero, it tells of a young American oil company executive who is sent to Scotland to persuade the residents of a remote, picturesque fishing village to sell up so a giant oil refinery can be built on their ancestral land. To take orders in secret from head … [Read more...] about When nature calls
New magpie kids on the block
There’s some new kids on the block in our neighbourhood and they’re causing a stir in the treetops. The new arrivals are a mob of young magpies who seem determined to throw their weight around in the Waterworks Valley where I live. I discovered one of the magpies early in the summer when I heard the unfamiliar flute-like magpie song. I say unfamiliar because the magpie is rarely seen in the largely wet forest of the Waterworks Valley, preferring the dry woodlands nearer … [Read more...] about New magpie kids on the block
Birdwatching days never wasted
The tawny frogmouth may not have featured on Tasmanian’s list of favourite birds when I published it during the summer but my phone and email ran hot when I wrote later that I had spent 13 years searching for this elusive and mysterious species at my local reserve. There were sightings aplenty in other areas of Hobart and one proved too irresistible to ignore. I was told by a reader of a family in easy view close to a viewing platform at the Knocklofty Reserve high above … [Read more...] about Birdwatching days never wasted
Cockney sparrow a barrel of laughs
Sitting in the Elephant and Wheelbarrow, an Olde English pub in Melbourne, on a hot summer’s afternoon I thought for a moment I had sunk too many pints of Tetley’s Yorkshire bitter. Perched on the back of the chair alongside me was a cockney sparrow, chirping merrily before swooping to snap up a few crusts of pastry that had spilled from my steak and kidney pie. As I have discovered at McDonald’s on Swanston St, the sparrows have learned that there are rich pickings to had … [Read more...] about Cockney sparrow a barrel of laughs