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

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An Armada of Blue Bottles

Recently I was reading an article about Bluebottles. This summer has seen masses of these small stinging vessels washed up all along the east coast of Australia causing lots of angst for beach-goers. Apparently, they don’t want to sting us; … Continue reading

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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The Seagull

Recently, a man twice my age and half my height, stopped to look at my feet. “You have beautiful feet.” That’s what he said. “I don’t usually walk around without shoes,”  I said. “I lost them trying to save a … Continue reading

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