In the great gull hunt all roads lead to McDonald’s and the other fast-food outlets dotted around the Derwent. I had signed up for the annual count of gulls that BirdLife Tasmania organises each winter and had been assigned good gull country between the Tasman and Bridgewater bridges. Tasmania has three gull species and I knew where to look for the smallest, and most common of these, the silver gull. Any place where humans gathered to eat fast food would do. For the other, … [Read more...] about Super-sized hunt for gulls
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.
Fungi gives birds wings
I’m familiar with twitchers dashing around the world looking for rare bird species but I’ve learned that the esoteric world of fungi has its own globe-trotting fanatics. Fungi fans across the world will go weak at the knees at the mention of anemone stinkhorn and flame fungus, to say nothing of a species of fungi known as dead man’s finger. Tasmania, it seems, is a paradise for fungus freaks, or mycologists as they are officially known. I learned some fascinating facts … [Read more...] about Fungi gives birds wings
Tawnies to order
The tawny frogmouth stared at me intently, cocking its head to one side as I moved closer to it at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. How many hours had I spent searching for “tawnies” on summer nights under the summit of Mount Wellington without success, only to find one now right in front of me, perched metres above my head, flying free in a wildlife sanctuary and floodlit at that? Birds are like that, as I often write. They turn up in the most unlikely of places. On … [Read more...] about Tawnies to order
Tide turns for hooded plover
The arc of a rainbow spread across the Southern Ocean as a family of hooded plovers scurried across the sand. The wind blew fierce and strong off CloudyBay at the tip of south BrunyIsland but the plovers were not to be deterred from their seashore business. It was good to find them on the beach on this autumnal day washed with rain, sun and rainbows. The hooded plover has vanished from many of the beaches of south-eastern Australia where it was once common. On BrunyIsland, … [Read more...] about Tide turns for hooded plover
Lapwings on the lookout
I’m a light sleeper, an affliction that puts me at odds with both the human and natural worlds. Strangely, I can handle man-made sounds in the night – even hoons doing donuts on my suburban street – but it is natural sounds that tend to break my sleep patterns and eventually result in a restless night. When you suffer “nature-related insomnia syndrome”, to give it my own medical term, a trip to the country, supposedly to search of some peace and quiet, can be a traumatic … [Read more...] about Lapwings on the lookout