In a sunburnt country, Australian birds have always known the menace of fire and over the eons have devised strategies to deal with conflagration. This fire season, however, they have been overwhelmed. More than a million birds are estimated to have died in the infernos spreading through Australia’s southern and south-eastern states since early spring. At least 60 species have been seriously affected by the fires, some of the rarer ones being pushed towards … [Read more...] about Menace in a sun-burnt country
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.
Cormorant eyes frozen in time
The cormorant fixed me with a cold state, as icy as the ice-blue of its eyes. The bird had been drying its wings on a slab of rock, off the coast of Bruny Island, and seemed to resent the intrusion, shifting from webbed foot to webbed foot as the boat I was aboard approached. There was no fear in the cormorant’s eyes, however. More wariness, or curiosity, or even annoyance. Who was this strange creature invading its world, its space out there where Storm Bay merges with the … [Read more...] about Cormorant eyes frozen in time
Raven outsmarts the Pacific gull
Christmas Day at Cornelian Bay, and a Pacific gull is tucking into his lunch. Or at least trying to. Seafood is also on the menu for me as I tuck into festive fare at a restaurant on the bay. I have Tasmanian mussels on the plate, cooked with tomato, dill and vanilla salsa. The gull has still to prepare his meal, cracking open the mussel shell. The gull had been looking at the forest ravens along the inter-city bicycle track nearby. There the ravens pick up mussels, fly to … [Read more...] about Raven outsmarts the Pacific gull
A home built by master builders
The ongoing news of nervous residents enduring cracking and crumbling tower blocks in Sydney and Melbourne came to mind when I reviewed a construction project in the Waterworks Reserve. No problem of alleged inadequate design and poor building techniques here. Masters builders were at work, overseen by a master surveyor. It might not be a tower block of concrete, glass and steel, but the welcome swallows applied the basic rules of construction all the same: a firm, solid … [Read more...] about A home built by master builders
Struggle to save the Bali myna
THE Indonesian island of Bali is known to Australians as a holiday destination – especially at this time of year – but for birders it has been put on the map for an entirely different reason. The holiday island is also the scene of an epic struggle to ensure the survival in the wild of one of the world's most beautiful birds, the Bali myna. The pure-white myna with a face mask of bare blue skin is Bali's only native bird species but its status as the island's wildlife … [Read more...] about Struggle to save the Bali myna