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Category Archives: The Animal Kingdom
Hope is the thing with feathers*
Recently, while sitting under a tree in the Domain, trying to eat an egg sandwich, I was attacked by a Noisy Miner. Claws in the head. Several times. With one arm helicoptering desperately above me to ward it off, I … Continue reading
Posted in Spirit of Place, The Animal Kingdom, Writing Nature and Place
Tagged bird attacks Sydney, bull bull birds, Emerald class ferry, Freshwater ferry, hope is the thing with feathers, Manly ferry, native Australian honey eater, native miner, noisy miner, seagulls, seven miles from Sydney a thousand miles from care, silver gulls, slipstream, Sydney Harbour, The Domain Sydney
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Wildlife Encounters
I was startled by a loud thump, thump, thump. A sound halfway between familiar and threatening. It seemed to be coming from the coastal heath land behind us. We were sitting beside the river at Princetown, a tiny hamlet next … Continue reading
Posted in climate change, Habitat, The Animal Kingdom
Tagged Apollo Bay, Bathurst, bush fires, Coolamon, Cowra, eastern grey kangaroo, Great Ocean Road, jerilderie, Katoomba, koala, Macropus giganteus, Murrumburrah, Narrandera, Otway Range, Penrith 48.9 degrees Celsius, Riverina, Temora, Twelve Apostles, wildlife, Young
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The Rat Before Christmas
A few years ago, when we lived in the art-deco flat in Double Bay, I was woken by a mysterious night visitor. It was the week before Christmas and as I lay in my bed in a state of alarm … Continue reading
Posted in Habitat, Spirit of Place, The Animal Kingdom
Tagged antechinus, Christmas, felt sculptures, Huntsman, pesticide, rat trap, Rats, rodent, spiders, telepathy, The Night Before Christmas
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Lepidoptera
Did you know that a lepidopterist is an entomologist who studies butterflies? But what is someone called who kills butterflies? A little while ago I realised there was a problem with my Lime. It’s three years old and lives in a terracotta … Continue reading
Posted in Habitat, My Mother and Me, The Animal Kingdom, Writing Nature and Place
Tagged butterflies, caterpillar pests, caterpillars, caterpillars on citrus, citrus, Citrus Swallowtail Buttefly, Citrus swallowtail caterpillar, cocoon, curry tree, dragons, gardening, killing caterpillars, King Aegeus, larvae, Lepidoptera, lepidopterist, lime tree, monsters, Papilio aegeus, pupa, removing caterpillars, silk worms
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Whales to Starboard
“What’s there not to love?” Paul, my partner, asks. “Two days and three nights surrounded by the ocean; cocktails delivered to your deck chair, sublime sunsets and dancing the night away.” But I’m thinking Poseidon Adventure and Titanic. Then he … Continue reading
The windswept doorstep of the year
August is almost over. And so is winter. I’ve loved the slowly lengthening days that carry the hope of spring. The newly lit hours that creep in after the solstice always seem so familiar; like a lost memory returned, promising … Continue reading
Posted in Habitat, Spirit of Place, The Animal Kingdom, Time, Writing Nature and Place
Tagged August, August wind, Aunty Fran Bodkin, Australian white Ibis, calendar, currawong, D'harawal Seasons, Les Murray, Nature Writing, north westerly, Pied currawong. Rainbow Lorikeet, southerly, spring, wind, winter, Writing about Place
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Some of My Favourite Things
You are where you live. As you are all of the things that you do and love. For the last eight years I’ve been lucky enough to live in the village of Double Bay on the eastern shore of Sydney Harbour. … Continue reading
Posted in Habitat, Spirit of Place, The Animal Kingdom
Tagged antechinus, commute, currawong, dolphins, Double Bay, Double Bay ferry, Double Bay geese, Eastern Suburbs, eel, fishing trawler, foxes, foxes in Double Bay, king rat, kookaburra, Manta ray, myna birds, Neilsen Park, nightingale, pelicans, possum, rat, Redleaf Pool, Rose Bay, sea gulls, sting rays, Sydney Harbour, The Golden Sheaf, Watsons Bay
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“They do not love us as much as we love them”
Do animals make statues of us? Why do we make statues of them? Why do we make statues? Perhaps to represent, remember, immortalise, inspire? I guess humans make statues, like humans make art. But why statues of animals? Animals have … Continue reading
Posted in Habitat, Spirit of Place, The Animal Kingdom
Tagged Animal statues, Art, Cafe Trim, Circular Quay, Dog statue, Herald Square, Il Porcellino, Islay, John Laws, Matthew Flinders, psychogeography, Queen Victoria Builsing, Queen Victoria's Dog, Quenn Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens statues, statues, Sydney architecture, Sydney heritage, Sydney Hospital pig, Sydney walking tour, Sydney walks, The Tank Steam, The Tank Stream Fountain, Trim the cat
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