The godwits that arrive in Tasmania and New Zealand each summer are known for their epic flights that span the far north and south of the globe. One plucky godwit, however, has stretched the limits of endurance by finally arriving in New Zealand after being forced to make a dramatic U-turn back to Alaska after 33 hours of non-stop flight. All was going well for the male bar-tailed godwit after he took off from tidal flats in Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim delta on 11 September. … [Read more...] about Godwit clocks up the air miles
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.
Starlings no match for ‘bully boy’ miners
The “bully boys” of the bird world, noisy miners, were muscling up one afternoon when a flock of starlings strayed onto their patch outside the Hobart Aquatic Centre on the Domain. The starlings didn’t stand a chance when they arrived to hunt insects in the mown grass surrounding the pool complex. They were soon sent on their way. Noisy miners are often mistaken for an introduced species with a similar name, the Indian myna found in mainland cities. The noisy miners are … [Read more...] about Starlings no match for ‘bully boy’ miners
A turbo-chook in search of love
Terry the turbo-chook fixed me with a long, curious stare. He stood alone on a wet patch of grass just inside the Waterworks Reserve, set back from the road so he would not be unduly disturbed. The idea of a single bird out of the flock – a loner – seemed foreign to the avian world where most feathered creatures congregate as part of a flock. The way Terry looked at me as I walked past he was probably thinking the same thing. Two loners adrift in the world. I named the … [Read more...] about A turbo-chook in search of love
Spring arrives on summerbird wings
I thought the winter would never end with snow seeming to linger forever on kunanyi/Mt Wellington into the second half of October but the sighting of summerbirds told me that summer had finally arrived. Forget spring and autumn, in 2021 I decided to divide the year into just two seasons, winter and summer. A brutal weather that had brought icy winds and snow would not be broken until October 22 when, strangely, the temperature rose to an unseasonal 23 degrees. It seems the … [Read more...] about Spring arrives on summerbird wings
A vintage day of bird-watching
An invitation to visit a boutique winery where wedge-tailed eagles are a regular feature was too good to turn down. So on a fine late-winter morning, with a hot sun promising spring, I drove the meandering Lyell Highway though the upper Derwent Valley to reach Rylelands farm just past Rossgarten. There to meet me was Derek Jones who a few days previously had phoned to say that he had just seen wedge-tailed eagles in a love dance above his farm, and then mating at the top of … [Read more...] about A vintage day of bird-watching