Ian’s Bird of the Week – Red-faced Cormorant

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Newsletter 03-10-2009 Cormorants don’t often make it as Bird of the Week. People, particularly fishermen, mostly say or think “Uggh” when you say “cormorant” and even birders probably just tick them off without pausing in silent awe at their beauty. Cormorant, in general, lack style, hence the unflattering expression “like a shag on a rock”. … Continue reading →

When I Consider! – Elephant Ears and Scarab Beetles

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Evidence From Biology – September 12 There is an amazing relationship between certain types of elephant ear and the scarab beetle. It has only been recently learned that many elephant ear plants depend completely on the scarab beetle for pollination. Elephant ears make a flower stalk, called a spadix, which has three different kinds of … Continue reading →

The Secret Only God Knows About Hummingbirds – by April Lorier

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All of my neighbors have hummingbird feeders on their porches. Why? Well, everyone knows there’s something very special about these birds. Yes, they are birds, and there’s a secret only God knows about them. Hummingbirds are birds in the family Trochilidae, and are native to the Americas. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping … Continue reading →

Ian’s Bird of the Week – (Pale-vented) Bush-hen

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Ian’s Newsletter 02-24-2009 Last week, when discussing Kittiwakes and red legs, I referred obliquely to a common phenomenon in birding when having finally seen what I wanted (red legs) I saw lots of them. Serious birders call these bogey birds, where serious means passionate (oneself) or obsessed (someone else) and bogey means an evil spirit, … Continue reading →

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Green-backed Gerygone

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Ian’s 9/3/09 Newsletter – Bird of the Week: Green-backed Gerygone Once again, my apologies for a late posting. I’ve just spent 5 days – with a 2 night stop at Mataranka – driving the 2,500km from Townsville to Darwin for the photography trip I mentioned last week. I usually prepare a trip wish-list of target … Continue reading →

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Red-legged Kittiwake

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Ian’s Newsletter 02/17/2009 If, like me, you were a birdwatcher in the British Isles in the 1960s, you would have been been familiar with the Kittiwake, a delightful small gull usually seen at its dense nesting colonies on steep cliffs, and named after its call. You may also have wondered why, as British birdwatchers became … Continue reading →

Ian’s Bird of the Week – White-throated Gerygone

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Bird of the Week: White-throated Gerygone My apologies for a late posting this week – I’ve been trying to clear the decks in preparation for a trip to the Northern Territory in a few days. I hope this trip will fill a few gaps in Northern birds that I can share with you in the … Continue reading →