Heads down, the jersey cattle feeding in a paddock were oblivious to the life and death struggle taking place about them. A purple storm cloud gathered on the near horizon and I had decided to return to my car from the fields in the Huon Valley, where I had been out searching for a plover of open countryside, the banded lapwing. It was the sort of dark and foreboding cloud that foretold lightning and I didn’t want to be caught out in the open. So I hurried among the … [Read more...] about Life and death in the paddock
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.
Albatrosity on the high seas
On slender wings, a shy albatross rode the crests of waves one stormy day in the Derwent. I had been told many years ago that it was possible to see albatrosses in zig-zag flight on the bay but I hardly believed it. On journeys on roads fronting the Derwent I always instead kept my eyes peeled for another wonder of the natural world, the peregrine falcon, which uses the Derwent, or more precisely the air above it, as its playground. This day, as usual, I had one eye on the … [Read more...] about Albatrosity on the high seas
Lament for lost species
Something lost, something found. Australia Day always engenders mixed feelings and emotions. I am glad to celebrate as a new Australian but at the same time I lament all that has been lost to my adopted country since my English countrymen first set foot on the continent. I spent Australia Day on January 26 at the Sandy Bay regatta, munching Aussie lamb burgers and drinking a little too much Tasmanian-brewed ale. All the while welcome swallows flew among the revellers on the … [Read more...] about Lament for lost species
Tawny summer
It’s been the summer of the tawny frogmouth. Wherever I have gone these mysterious but elusive birds have appeared, often in the Hobart suburbs not too far from the central business district. And it has not just been me spotting the frogmouths. My email and post has bulged with frogmouth sightings in recent months, one pair deciding to nest in the gutter of a Hobart home. The young tawny, two wide-eyes blinking from a round ball of fluffy feathers as the sun rose each … [Read more...] about Tawny summer
And what time do you call this?
The life and times of birds are not so very different from daily events in the human world. Eat and sleep, the daily grind of providing for the family, ill health and good fortune; ultimately it’s a struggle for survival on whatever level. Birds and humans live parallel lives, an existence controlled not only by the clock, the 12-hour division of day and night, but the division of the year into seasons. And ultimately we all share the adventure of a journey through life, … [Read more...] about And what time do you call this?