Everyone was seeing pink robins except me. They are my favourite bird, and in past years I have watched them rear families every year. Spring was never complete without them. This season, though, I had “lucked out’’, as birders describe missing a species that they should have seen. It appeared pink robins were everywhere. Three overseas birdwatchers told me so. A man from Denmark said he had spotted them along the Fern Glade Track on kunanyi/ Mt Wellington and two American … [Read more...] about Pink robin plays hide and seek
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.
Fantails and ginger cake
A fantail flitted about our heads, its joyous, reassuring, relaxed warble giving a lie to the delirium and frenzy of spring all about us. Birds dashing to and fro, a symphony of birdsong, males of the species showing off a fresh moult of spring plumage to dazzle the eye. It was one of those glorious early days in spring, when for the first time the sun shines strong and hard to announce that winter has finally been confined to painful memory, when an epidemic of flu and a … [Read more...] about Fantails and ginger cake
Angry plovers take to the skies
Angry plovers have been getting a “buzz” out of disrupting – even for brief moments – the lives of visitors to the Waterworks Reserve in recent weeks. It’s a familiar story across the parks and paddocks of Tasmania at this time of the year. Walk across open space and sure enough the plovers will squawk noisily and then take to the wing to feign attack. I saw feign attack because the plovers never inflict damage or injury. The aerial bombardment is merely meant to drive away … [Read more...] about Angry plovers take to the skies
The lottery of bird life
Birds do not gamble in the lottery of life. Although their movements and behaviour might appear random, they do not live on a wing and a prayer. Every move is deliberate and calculated to ensure survival for such seemingly frail and vulnerable creatures in an often hostile world. The certainties of bird behaviour have certainly been put to the test, however, by a family of Tasmanian native-hens who have made their home in an area that would appear unconducive to their … [Read more...] about The lottery of bird life
Wood ducks fly into a garden checklist
Birdwatchers are known for the checklists they keep of birds spotted during their lifetimes, but the only one that really matters to me is the tally I have from my garden. With a remarkable 52 species (not including introduced ones) I thought I had reached the limit with the sighting of a male pink robin last winter. A surprise awaited me this winter, however, returning home from a birding foray to the Waterworks Reserve. A pair of wood ducks were perched in a white … [Read more...] about Wood ducks fly into a garden checklist