The Inverawe Native Gardens at Margate hosted a gardening-for-birds workshop at the start of spring to reveal the secrets of success in luring birds to the backyard. Over the years I have kept a close watch on both the garden’s growth and development and its growing checklist of birds spotted, which has now reached a remarkable 102 species for what used to be a patch of wasteland not more than a 20-minute drive from Hobart. I once added a species myself – a grey teal out … [Read more...] about Bird garden secret of success
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.
Swallows a certainty of spring
In fast-paced, troubled times I increasingly look for certainties, the rituals and rhythms of life that tell you all is well with the world. Being a nature lover, my certainties are generally geared to the seasons and there is nothing as certain, or reassuring, as the arrival of the welcome swallows on my patch in spring. Over the years – 17 in fact – I have always timed them for the first weekend of September. The first sight of their erratic, joyous flight brings with it … [Read more...] about Swallows a certainty of spring
Street-wise sparrows and miners
Like their cousins in Melbourne, sparrows resident in Salamanca Square have learned a crafty tick to get them a meal. Some years back a friend said that he had observed sparrows hanging about outside the McDonald’s restaurant in Swanson Street, waiting for patrons to trigger the electronic sliding doors. As soon as the doors opened, the sparrows flew into the restaurant, had a quick feed of fast-food crumbs and then waited for the doors to open again. On a trip to Melbourne … [Read more...] about Street-wise sparrows and miners
Little battler survives in mankind’s world
Against the odds, the little battlers of the Derwent, its penguins, are maintaining a flipper-hold in what has been their home for millennia. On a cruise around the river and wider estuary in mid-August I was pleasantly surprised to count several rafts of little penguins on open water stretching from the shores of Tranmere to the south, to within sight of the zinc factory to the north. The convenor of BIrdLife Tasmania, Eric Woehler, confirms that the penguins appear to be … [Read more...] about Little battler survives in mankind’s world
Striated pardalotes arrive early
The frost sparkled on the lawn, winter refusing to loosen its grip. Still, the song of spring rang out from the hedgerows in my valley and later from the woodland of the Waterworks Reserve. The first of the summer migrants, the striated pardalote, had arrived. In recent years I have been hearing the pardalote’s “pick it up, pick it up” song earlier and earlier. In the 17 years I have lived in the Waterworks Valley I have always timed it for the final week of August, just … [Read more...] about Striated pardalotes arrive early