I put my twitcher’s hat on recently and went in search of one of Australia’s rarest ducks, and certainly the rarest to be seen in Tasmanian waters. The birding wires were running hot at the end of March with the sighting of four freckled ducks at Gould’s Lagoon at Austins Ferry. My twitching days are long behind me and I don’t usually go in search of birds merely to “tick” in a notebook, the first for a city or state list, or even country. “Plenty of freckled … [Read more...] about Freckled sighting a rare joy
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.
Chill winds call migrants north
The dusky woodswallows were active and twitchy, soaring into the sky to snatch at the last of the summer’s flying insects. In the upper bare branches of a dead gum they were joined by tree martins. The two species jockeyed for position, the martins coming off worst. When a woodswallow returned from a sortie, the smaller martins had to make way for it. Perhaps it was just me, but I sensed the two species were looking north as autumn got seriously underway, they certainly … [Read more...] about Chill winds call migrants north
The road to recovery
A young currawong called Pea is out and about in the wide and wild world, spreading his wings. Occasionally he calls to his “foster parents”, the loving carers who set him on the road to recovery after he was found sick and abandoned, but Pea is determined to go it alone without human intervention. I heard about Pea a few months ago when Rachel Meyers of Southern Wildlife Rescue and Care emailed to say that among a batch of nestlings that she had been handed was a baby … [Read more...] about The road to recovery
Help for forty-spot nesters
The Tasmanian culture of the shack is taking on a new meaning on Bruny Island– it’s being extended to the holiday island’s population of forty-spotted pardalotes. Bruny residents of the non-feathered kind are being asked to support a scheme to supply the endangered birds with nest-box homes to see them through the breeding season. The program is being co-ordinated by a researcher who has joined the fight to halt the catastrophic decline of the Tasmanian endemic species … [Read more...] about Help for forty-spot nesters
Singing to a different beat
A little bird singing robustly in a park in London had something in common with a species singing just as loudly on the other side of the world, in Tasmania. Both birds had modified their songs so they could be heard above the roar of the traffic. As I wandered parkland surrounding the Royal Naval College in Greenwich last year, I was halted in my tracks by the beautiful bell-like song of the great tit. The bird might have been perched in an elm overlooking a busy bus stop … [Read more...] about Singing to a different beat