Many years ago when I was a member of the bird-watching fraternity in New York’s Central Park the prospect of a “wave day” - which saw the arrival of unusually high numbers of migrating birds – got the telephone wires buzzing in pre-mobile days. Central Park is on the Eastern American Flyway and when winds blew from the south during the spring migration birders grew excited. Millions of birds travelling from as far south as Brazil would be on the move, making their way along … [Read more...] about Joys of a ‘wave day’
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.
Japanese snipe calls in on suburbia
The birding bush telegraph rang hot late last month. A Japanese snipe – a bird I had never seen – had been spotted over several days at the Goulds Lagoon reserve along the upper Derwent. I received the word while attending a BirdLIfe Tasmania meeting and at first light next morning I jumped into my car to speed along the Brooker Highway to Austins Ferry, where the reserve is situated. It was a glorious autumnal day, the early-morning sun burning off a crispness in the air, … [Read more...] about Japanese snipe calls in on suburbia
‘Figaro bird’ in full voice
A reader contacted me recently asking if I could identify the “Figaro bird’ that was driving him to distraction on the course of the New Town Bay Golf Club. It was so named because it sounded as if the mystery bird was singing “Figaro, Figaro, Figaro,” as in Amadeus Mozart’s opera, The Marriage of Figaro. “The call is shrill and I hear it every time I play golf at New Town Bay,” wrote the reader, who also identified two streets bordering the hole of the course where it was … [Read more...] about ‘Figaro bird’ in full voice
Swallows share common ground
Every year I delight in the merry twitter and flashing flight of the welcome swallows, especially in the city centre where they fly about the Parliament lawns all summer. But after pausing to watch them in flight there in mid-February alarm bells started to ring – I couldn’t recall seeing swallows on my home turf of the Waterworks Reserve after their initial arrival in the first days of September. For as long as I can recall swallows have always built their mud-cup nests on … [Read more...] about Swallows share common ground
Hardheads signal winter
The end of summer, the dimming of the light, does not approach imperceptibly, slowly as might be imaged. It also comes with a chilly blast of wind at the start or end of a sunny day. Usually it also arrives in silence. The birds stop singing, reading the signals that summer is on the wane. This year, however, the autumn announced its arrival in a different form – hardhead ducks turned up earlier than usual on the two reservoirs of the Waterworks Reserve. The changing of the … [Read more...] about Hardheads signal winter