The loud and piercing call of the crescent honeyeater rang out from the small tree just above my head. I should have been looking closely at the often flighty and elusive crescent honeyeater. Instead I was drawn to the lantern flowers of a cheesewood providing the honeyeater with a meal of pollen and nectar. I could clearly see the feathered tongue of the bird thrusting into the yellow and maroon flowers. Because they hung from the end of thin stalks, the honeyeater had to … [Read more...] about Mountain glows with flower power
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.
Bruny Island stands tall as its forests
Bruny Island might only be 362 square kilometres in area but in recent times it has laid claim to being the “birdwatching capital of Australia”. Such a title might seem a little fanciful until it is realised north and south Bruny islands are home to all 12 of Tasmania’s endemic species. No other area of the same size in Australia can claim to have such a large number of birds found nowhere else on earth. To promote not just the birds but the other scenic and wildlife … [Read more...] about Bruny Island stands tall as its forests
A swish of a geisha fan
The ascending, tinkling song of the grey fantail had been missing all winter. And now I could hear it all around me, as though it was dripping from the wattles and eucalypts like an early-morning mist. Not one but a whole party of fantails had arrived overnight on favourable, north-westerly winds and in the foothills of kunanyi/Mt Wellington I revelled in their sublime beauty. The song of the fantail – which also incorporates whistles and squeaks – is one of the most … [Read more...] about A swish of a geisha fan
One swallows makes a spring
Dead on time, the swallows returned to Hobart in the first few days of spring. I always say to those anticipating the end of winter, swallows turn up during the first weekend of September; they arrived a little earlier this year, on Friday September 2 to be precise. I only saw one bird, swooping and soaring in the Waterworks Valley to the south of the city but my spies said more were about. They were still absent, though, from my favourite place to view them – the … [Read more...] about One swallows makes a spring
Pardalotes arrive on time
Spring fever had taken hold. After hearing the first of the summer migrants in mid-August, I was out and about on kunanyi/Mt Wellington and its foothills seeing what other early arrivals I could add to the fan-tailed cuckoo I had seen on a sunny day previously. My target was another bird which experience has taught me also arrives on warm northern winds in August - the striated pardalote. With its sharp, staccato “pick-it-up” song, the pardalote competes with the … [Read more...] about Pardalotes arrive on time