I VENTURED into the secret world of the forty-spotted pardalote one fine morning, a harsh environment that confirms the tiny bird’s status as a Tasmanian battler. I had sponsored a nestbox as part of a pardalote conservation program but my trip to NorthBrunyIsland to monitor the pardalote “shack” did not prepare me for the uncompromising existence of these beautiful but endangered birds. Battles for nesting sites, plagued by parasites, a constant life and death struggle … [Read more...] about It’s a tough life for a tiny pardalote
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.
Boat owners all at sea over gulls
A FAMILY of kelp gulls has solved the problem of finding the ideal home for themselves and their offspring. Forget the first-home buyer’s grant, they have merely taken to the life of stowaways aboard a small boat plying the d'Entrecasteaux Channel off Margate. The fishing boat owners had got used to the kelp gulls roosting on their craft for a number of years, but were staggered one day last year to find that the gulls had built a nest on the upper deck, a large structure … [Read more...] about Boat owners all at sea over gulls
Zorro the eagle plays ball at the tennis
“We all have a story to tell about birds”. That’s the mantra of this column but I was determined to return from a week spent at the Australian Open Tennis Championships without one. A wedge-tailed eagle called Zorro changed all that. For once, I left my binoculars behind and was determined to concentrate on tennis. What’s more, I was among non-birding tennis-tragic friends and was well aware they found my talk of birds a little tiresome at times, especially at a sporting … [Read more...] about Zorro the eagle plays ball at the tennis
Duped by the cruel hand of nature
IT’S not a pretty sight for the emotional or faint-hearted, an outsized pallid cuckoo chick being fed by a pair of tiny black-headed honeyeaters. When I saw the spectacle close-up for the first time, it was worst than I had imagined. The cuckoo actually lunged at one of the honeyeaters after it had received a big juicy insect, and the quick-retreating “parent” had obviously learned to be wary of the cuckoo’s ferocious beak. In a half a century of bird-watching I had never … [Read more...] about Duped by the cruel hand of nature
A fan of green oases
There is a quiet and tranquil corner of Hobart I call Cranky Fan Alley simply because every time I wander there I’m escorted by a party of grey fantails. What makes the bird-watching spot special is that it is situated in the heart of suburbia and the Cranky Fans – as they are known in southern Tasmania - are just one of many bird species to be found in this leafy corner of the urban jungle. On my latest visit on a summer’s afternoon just after Christmas two endemic … [Read more...] about A fan of green oases