“Donny, there’s twitching within,” said Richard Flanagan when he signed a copy of his novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North during its launch a few years back. Sure enough, when I read the Booker Prize-winning work, I found the central character Dorrigo Evans doing a spot of birdwatching in the Midlands where the early part of the novel is set. As Flanagan wrote, Dorrigo “would smell damp bark and drying leaves and watch the clans of green and red musk lorikeets … [Read more...] about The sounds of silence
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.
Nest sticks in short supply
A giant stack of sticks on display in the Freycinet National Park demonstrates the time and energy that white-bellied sea eagles put into building the structure that forms their nests. The pile has another function – to encourage walkers not to fashion walking sticks from woody debris they find under trees. An information panel with the title “not just a stick” explains the debris not only forms the building blocks of eagle nests but is a vital ingredient for the health of … [Read more...] about Nest sticks in short supply
Swift parrot centre stage
A key birding initiative has been given a boost by the sighting of one of Australia’s rarest birds, the swift parrot, in Melbourne. The arrival of the swift parrot - travelling through Victoria on its return to breeding grounds in Tasmania - has helped spur the Aussie Backyard Bird Count, which starts on October 19. The count takes place during National Bird Week and is designed to encourage home-owners to pay attention to the birds that might be visiting their gardens, and … [Read more...] about Swift parrot centre stage
Plovers come to grief
It’s that time of the year when the normally shy and retiring plovers try to throw their weight around. On open spaces they dive-bomb walkers, often coming out of nowhere to give everyone a scare, swooping so close that the rush of air from their wings can be felt on the head. Much myth surrounds the spur-winged plovers, also known more formally as masked lapwings. It is said erroneously that the spurs situated on the fold of their wings are poisonous. The spurs, in fact, … [Read more...] about Plovers come to grief
Wombat springs a birthday surprise
My birthday falls on an auspicious date – September 11th – and ever since the horror of the World Trade Centre attack, to mark my own milestone I have tended to take myself as far removed from the events of 2001 as I can. No TV, no newspapers, just the wild world and the refrain of birdsong in the woods or the sound of crashing surf. Last September it was a day enjoying the ocean off Noosa on the Sunshine Coast. In contrast, this year and amid pandemic restrictions on … [Read more...] about Wombat springs a birthday surprise