SWALLOWS may be the winged wonders of spring but they can test our patience when they choose to nest over a window or door. Cleaning up the mess from their droppings can be frustrating for even the most avid wildlife lover and it’s the price we have to pay for the joy of watching their antics as they swoop after insects on summer nights. There’s also the joy of watching the breeding cycle, the courtship displays, nest building and the rearing of young. Unfortunately, I … [Read more...] about Unwelcome nests hard to swallow
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.
Hunted harrier now farmer’s friend
The swamp harrier, so long the victim of persecution on farms along with other birds of prey, is now being billed as the “farmer’s friend”. As farmers prepare for a new season of planting and reaping, the value of the harriers in rodent control is being promoted by the Agricultural Contractors’ Association of Tasmania. It is advising farmers that if they want to increase their yields, they should exercise “due care and protection” when dealing with the harriers. Since the … [Read more...] about Hunted harrier now farmer’s friend
‘Mission impossible’ to find tiny parrot
Birdwatchers on the mainland have been conducting what can be described as a “mission impossible” this winter to track down the last of the orange-bellied parrots. The coastlines of Victoria and South Australia have been the subject of the search to locate the mere handful of the parrots that have migrated from their breeding grounds in southern Tasmania to spend the winter on mainland coastal saltmarshes. There are believed to be fewer than 50 orange-bellied parrots alive … [Read more...] about ‘Mission impossible’ to find tiny parrot
A wing and a prayer
A STRIATED pardalote is hopefully winging its way back to Bruny Island after receiving a helping hand from conservationists there last breeding season after it fell from a nest. The pardalote received some tender, loving care from Wildcare volunteers at the historic Bruny Island Quarantine Station after they found it in trouble just before Christmas. Volunteer caretakers at the quarantine station on South Bruny, Lyn Donald and Kel Callaghan, said “a little ball of fluff’’ … [Read more...] about A wing and a prayer
Summer comes early
The song of summer floated across the valley where I live last month, even though there was snow on Mt Wellington. The song belonged to a fan-tailed cuckoo and I awoke with a shock. The avid birdwatcher is very attuned to bird song and it is not the first time that I have been woken from my slumbers at first light when, subconsciously in sleep, I have hard something strange and exotic. But a cuckoo in the middle of winter – July 24 to be precise – had me scurrying into the … [Read more...] about Summer comes early