The man in the bottlestore in Werribee on the outskirts of Melbourne had a shock when I told him what I was doing in town. Making small talk on a sunny Sunday afternoon, he assumed I was a tourist visiting the Werribee Open Plains Zoo or a former stately home in the town which now operates as an upmarket resort hotel. “No, just visiting the local sewage farm,” I replied matter-of-factly. The hobby of bird-watching can take the birder to all sorts of off-the-beaten-track … [Read more...] about Rich pickings at the sewage farm
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.
Gangsters in the ‘hood’
Thugs, muggers and bullies. The worst of Melbourne’s gangland violence may have passed but the standover men, and women, are still fighting their corner in the backstreets of St Kilda. I’m not talking here about the notorious gangland families – the Morans, Williams and Sunshine Crew – but the gangsters of the bird world: the mynas and miners, the crows and currawongs, the wattlebirds and the magpies. Added to the nefarious mix is a bird that hides its aggression behind … [Read more...] about Gangsters in the ‘hood’
Lament for the missing curlews
The air was thick with black coal smoke from a puffing, panting steam engine and a swirling mass of curlews. I pictured the scene over the Sorell wetlands, my imagination running riot as I hunted for waterbirds one late winter’s afternoon earlier this month. I always check the mudflats and wetlands surrounding Hobart in August, eagerly awaiting the first of the migrating waders arriving from breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere. The marvellous eastern curlew, the … [Read more...] about Lament for the missing curlews
Scarlet robin’s fiery feud
The air was still and calm, typical of winter, and the silence in the forests was made complete by an absence of birdsong. So the song of a robin came as a welcome surprise as I tramped a trail on the lower slopes of Mt Wellington. It’s often like that in late autumn and into winter. The chorus of spring and summer slowly dying as birds that have reared young do not have to be so protective of their territories, and broadcast the fact. Sometimes, though, when birds … [Read more...] about Scarlet robin’s fiery feud
Learning from the past
To look to the future we must look to the past but a recently released book, Mateship with Birds, tells us that when it comes to wildlife, humans do not necessarily learn from experience. The book by A H Chisholm was actually first published more than 90 years ago and it is staggering to note that his concern for the demise of bird species, particularly parrots, still has resonance today. With human history the mistakes of the past can be rectified. Colonialism, … [Read more...] about Learning from the past