There is no one more upset when a bird is killed or injured than my partner Rob. He is known as Dr Bob, for his ministrations to all manner of feathered creatures in our Blue Mountains’ garden. He scrubs out the birdbaths far more often than me,
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Recently, on the way home to Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, I had to change trains at Springwood. It had been a long, tiring day, but were there any seats on the platform? No, just a bloomin’ rail to prop myself against! It made me think about
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We ‘twitchers’ often see birds at dawn or late in the day, in silhouette against the sky. Here in the Blue Mountains of NSW they are balm to my soul. In a world that is increasingly full of stress and strife, chuckling kookaburras herald the new day
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So recently I told the story of our dear Mr Wonga, an Aussie pigeon who fell in love with four delightful ‘ladies’. They were all reflected in the shiny hubcaps of our house painter Rebecca’s restored, VW van. It just became too terrible to watch, as he
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The name New Ivanhoe Hotel is a delightful contradiction in terms. Little has changed at this Blue Mountains pub in 70 years. It’s located at 231 Great Western Highway, Blackheath. I’ve been working on my new book here recently. The pub has just the right atmosphere for
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by Editor Des. Hello dear peeps. I’m on my way to photograph the satin bowerbird in Memorial Park at Blackheath. BTW, see how that fence pipe has been vandalized? It wasn’t me (just saying). So anyway, I’m conducting an important experiment. Here is Mr bowerbrird’s hedge surrounded
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At the end of May, what we thought was a solitary, juvenile King Parrot appeared in our Blue Mountains garden. I shared a photo of the bird we named Max, and a couple of people in a bird group suggested he wasn’t young, and that his oddly
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The Blue Mountains village of Blackheath has a new attraction. Her name is Princess, and she spends much of her time at the newly extended Blackheath Interiors and Homewares, in Govetts Leap Road. She’s a border collie cross. I’m not sure what the cross bit is, but
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I have to say that this is one of those ‘worst house on best street’ scenarios. I was strolling along leafy Park Avenue (in Blackheath sadly, not New York) when I was stopped in my tracks by a pair of golden eyes. They were peering from the
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Max the parrot’s life could have ended before it really got going. We drove into our Blue Mountains property a couple of weeks ago and almost skittled him. He was nibbling on an acorn, completely oblivious to any danger. I had to hop out and shoo him
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