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Donald Knowler

Dancing on the Edge of the World

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On The Wing

A column for all seasons

Everyone has a story about birds. They are all about us and are our contact point with nature. The birds I see are usually in an urban environment and so I concentrate on these in my writing. I don’t pretend to be an expert but birds of the city and suburb are also the ones that most people identify with, the species you do not need a compass and binoculars to seek out. A scarlet robin singing in a garden is just as exciting as a swift parrot in an ancient forest and is worth just as many words in my On the Wing writings, which appear weekly in the Sunday Tasmanian.

Black-headed honeyeaters back in town

August 3, 2025 By Don Knowler

The black-headed honeyeaters are back. All winter I’ve been hearing their “peep-peep” call after they fell silent in recent years. Once they had provided the background sound of my garden, the song also accompanying me along the routes of my favourite walks on the lower slopes of kunanyi/Mt … [Read More...]

Filed Under: On The Wing

Goose almost cooked but it’s been saved

July 27, 2025 By Don Knowler

Tigers, lions and a gorilla named Guy. There was much to hold a schoolboy spellbound in the London Zoo. The schoolboy’s focus, though, was firmly on a curious goose, grey in feather with a striking green patch of bare skin on its beak. The label attached to the wire of the wildfowl aviary revealed … [Read More...]

Filed Under: On The Wing

Pardalotes warm to the idea of a Tasmanian winter

July 19, 2025 By Don Knowler

United States President Donald Trump might describe climate change as a “hoax” but rising temperatures are certainly having an impact on the environment across the world, including in Tasmania. Tropical fish not usually found this far south are turning up in Tasmanian waters, little penguins are … [Read More...]

Filed Under: On The Wing

Ballet on the mudflats as the world rushes by

July 12, 2025 By Don Knowler

Sometimes I think I am totally out of step with the modern world. Was I the only one to see the ballerina of the bay, a beautiful great white egret pirouetting in the still waters of the Derwent one autumnal morning? Out of step but in-step all the same, joining the walkers along the foreshore of … [Read More...]

Filed Under: On The Wing

Birdlife varieties a feather in city’s cap

July 5, 2025 By Don Knowler

The City of Clarence is showcasing its wildlife treasures with a pamphlet designed to cash in on the growing popularly of birdwatching. The publication reveals nine of the 12 Tasmanian endemic bird species can be seen in the municipality but for me Clarence has two special species which several … [Read More...]

Filed Under: On The Wing

Dry winter does not follow nature’s script

June 28, 2025 By Don Knowler

Winter has been missing its usual sights, sounds and smells this year. An unseasonally dry period has cast a pall over the landscape. Although winter is traditionally a quiet period, wildlife and the woods largely lying dormant awaiting the rebirth and rejuvenation of spring, has been more muted. … [Read More...]

Filed Under: On The Wing

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PUBLISHED BOOKS

The Shy Mountain

shy mountain

Silent and brooding, the Shy Mountain does not have to speak her name. We know she’s there, watching … [Read More...]

The Falconer of Central Park

Although written more than 30 years ago, The Falconer of Central Park has remained popular ever … [Read More...]

Riding the Devil’s Highway

Tasmania might be known internationally as the home of the Hollywood cartoon character, Taz, based … [Read More...]

Dancing on the Edge of the World

Dancing on the edge of the World by Donald Knowler

Dancing on the Edge of the World is a collection of essays that had their genesis in the “On the … [Read More...]

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Recent Posts

  • Last stop on the shimmering way
  • Black-headed honeyeaters back in town
  • Goose almost cooked but it’s been saved
  • Pardalotes warm to the idea of a Tasmanian winter
  • Ballet on the mudflats as the world rushes by
  • Birdlife varieties a feather in city’s cap
  • Dry winter does not follow nature’s script
  • Winter poses growing poison threat to birds
  • Spoof ‘Santa Cardinal’ flies high on AI
  • Tickled pink by a robin in the garden

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