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Donald Knowler

Dancing on the Edge of the World

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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.

Gold at the end of the birding rainbow

August 10, 2025 Don Knowler

A pair of French “twitchers” happily photographing a tawny frogmouth in the Waterworks Reserve gave weight to a news item I had just read reporting that birdwatching tourism was pumping billions of dollars into the Australian economy. Usually the wave of international birders comes in spring and this pair of enthusiasts had arrived later, in autumn, still hoping to find the 12 endemic species that makes Tasmania special. They found six in the Waterworks, along with a … [Read more...] about Gold at the end of the birding rainbow

On The Wing

Black-headed honeyeaters back in town

August 3, 2025 Don Knowler

The black-headed honeyeaters are back. All winter I’ve been hearing their “peep-peep” call after they fell silent in recent years. Once they had provided the background sound of my garden, the song also accompanying me along the routes of my favourite walks on the lower slopes of kunanyi/Mt Wellington. During the annual bird walks I lead for my local Landcare group, the honeyeaters had also proved a talking point if other birds had failed to show. Even without seeing … [Read more...] about Black-headed honeyeaters back in town

On The Wing

Goose almost cooked but it’s been saved

July 27, 2025 Don Knowler

Tigers, lions and a gorilla named Guy. There was much to hold a schoolboy spellbound in the London Zoo. The schoolboy’s focus, though, was firmly on a curious goose, grey in feather with a striking green patch of bare skin on its beak. The label attached to the wire of the wildfowl aviary revealed the goose had a place in the zoo collection just as important as the bigger, more dramatic bird and animal exhibits representing the wide world of nature. The goose from a … [Read more...] about Goose almost cooked but it’s been saved

On The Wing

Pardalotes warm to the idea of a Tasmanian winter

July 19, 2025 Don Knowler

United States President Donald Trump might describe climate change as a “hoax” but rising temperatures are certainly having an impact on the environment across the world, including in Tasmania. Tropical fish not usually found this far south are turning up in Tasmanian waters, little penguins are struggling to find fish that are vanishing from a warming ocean, and migratory birds are increasingly staying put instead of heading north in winter. One migrant that is apparently … [Read more...] about Pardalotes warm to the idea of a Tasmanian winter

On The Wing

Ballet on the mudflats as the world rushes by

July 12, 2025 Don Knowler

Sometimes I think I am totally out of step with the modern world. Was I the only one to see the ballerina of the bay, a beautiful great white egret pirouetting in the still waters of the Derwent one autumnal morning? Out of step but in-step all the same, joining the walkers along the foreshore of Cornelian Bay. People with dogs, with prams, with bikes, with friends, or going solo. It appeared only I paused to look at the egret’s reflected beauty, a mirror image in the … [Read more...] about Ballet on the mudflats as the world rushes by

On The Wing

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PUBLISHED BOOKS

The Shy Mountain

shy mountain

Silent and brooding, the Shy Mountain does not have to speak her name. We know she’s there, watching … [Read More...]

The Falconer of Central Park

Although written more than 30 years ago, The Falconer of Central Park has remained popular ever … [Read More...]

Riding the Devil’s Highway

Tasmania might be known internationally as the home of the Hollywood cartoon character, Taz, based … [Read More...]

Dancing on the Edge of the World

Dancing on the edge of the World by Donald Knowler

Dancing on the Edge of the World is a collection of essays that had their genesis in the “On the … [Read More...]

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Recent Posts

  • Lapwings ruffle feathers in spring
  • Migrants delay their celebration of spring
  • Macho blackbird gets a shock
  • Lyrebird sings of its own demise
  • The Birdbath
  • Coots spring into romance
  • Gold at the end of the birding rainbow
  • Last stop on the shimmering way
  • Black-headed honeyeaters back in town
  • Goose almost cooked but it’s been saved

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