A group of Aboriginal schoolchildren gathered under the spreading canopy of a Moreton Bay fig tree in a Melbourne park, their schoolteacher explaining the significance of the location. It was here, he said, that over the years Aboriginal activists had gathered to demand a better future for their people. The chatter of the excited children was matched by the musical call of a red wattlebird, flying into the lower branches of the tree and perhaps hoping that the gathering … [Read more...] about Birds sing the story of Australia
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.
A patch of paradise
The frequent sightings of platypus in the Hobart Rivulet Park is drawing attention to the semi-wild places that nature-lovers call “patches”. The folk of South Hobart are responding as never before to initiatives to clean up the once neglected and polluted waterway to make it a safe environment for both wildlife and people. The focus on the rivulet follows a recent ABC documentary on the “platypus whisperer”, local resident Peter Walsh and his efforts to publicise the … [Read more...] about A patch of paradise
One swallow makes a summer
Has it really been six months since I gazed over the tranquil waters of the Waterworks Reserve and made a prediction? Feeling a northerly breeze on my cheeks, I said to myself: “Today will I see the first swallow.” In a flash, there it was, flittering in from my right as if the snow clouds of recent weeks had parted to let in spring. No great clairvoyance on my part. Like many birders, I anticipate local arrival dates for migrants after watching them over many years. … [Read more...] about One swallow makes a summer
It’s all in the family for fairy-wrens
Although humans and birds are separated by millions of years of evolution, we share remarkable similarities in some of our behaviours. That is why we love them so much. It is well known that birds like humans use song to communicate and educate their young. Now scientists studying superb fairy-wrens have discovered that, like humans, they are more likely to help family members in distress than strangers. The beloved Australian songbirds will risk life and limb for its … [Read more...] about It’s all in the family for fairy-wrens
A winter haven on this side of the ‘ditch’
Bird-watchers have been searching Tasmania’s wetlands for a little winter visitor from New Zealand which bucks the trend of north-south migration. The shorebird, the double-banded plover, chooses to travel east to west, leaving its breeding grounds in the southern New Zealand alps for the south-eastern Australian mainland and Tasmania in March. After its western sojourn, it flies back in early September. Although the north-south migrants make epic journeys each year of … [Read more...] about A winter haven on this side of the ‘ditch’