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Articles by Phyllis Papps
Sometimes Nothing Can Happen but Fire
By Max Hayward 1. Christmas at The Cape The path to the beach seemed endless as a ten-year-old. Dried up banksia seed pods and barky sticks poked out of the dirt path that transformed into sand as you approached the dunes. A thick and heavy tangle of tea tree limbs and eucalypts filtered the sunlight, so it didn’t burn until you got out onto the beach, which was dazzlingly bright and invariably windy. Victoria’s coastline is uncomfortable.
Who speaks for the trees and creeks?
or RUN if you hear the word Peri-urban By Jeannie Haughton While most of us were anxiously locked in our homes in April 2020, wondering if a global virus might change our lives forever, a development company slipped into a section of Drouin, calmly carried on their normal routine of destroying natural environments to create man-made ones, and actually did change my life. Forever.
Nature's Showtime
By Linda Cuttriss IT WAS late afternoon in early spring and the paddocks across the bay were gleaming green. ‘Whales!’ I heard my partner call. Dozens of seabirds, probably terns, were dive-bombing the water a few hundred metres offshore, but as usual I could see no whales. ‘Where?’ I cried out. Then I spotted them. A blow of spray, then another further away.
The solace of birds IV
By Patsy Hunt YOU don't have to be an expert to appreciate birds. Just watch their different characters, their beauty, their song, their tenacity for life, their dedicated care for their young and their ability to enjoy life and have fun despite all the threats they face. So many people these days are so wrapped up in their busy lives, and the technology that goes with it, that they go through life oblivious of the world around them. Take some time out to watch the birds around you.
The Solace of Birds VI
Words and paintings by Patsy Hunt In Wordsworth's poem, which I quoted at the start of this series, he is telling us that we are too much concerned with material things and worldly cares that stop us seeing the beauty of nature. Although this poem was written in 1802 (published in 1807) as a comment on the effects of the industrial revolution, it rings true today in this age of technology. The final group of birds that provide cheer, comfort and inspiration to me are those that fly overhead.
The Solace of birds V
By Patsy Hunt IT’S really not all that difficult to bring birds into your surroundings. If you have a garden, no matter what size, put in some bird attracting plants and shrubs to provide food and shelter. Then, most importantly, provide a water supply. Water bowls don't have to be fancy, as long as you provide containers of different depth and, for the smaller birds, have them off the ground. The bowls will have to be refilled frequently, especially in hot dry weather, and cleaned sometimes.
Down to earth
By Liz Low THE entry to the Bay Beach at Cape Paterson is through a narrow tea tree path curving across the low dune backing the beach. This last summer, we have been taking a small step up the prostrate tea tree trunk lying across the path onto the sand banked up behind it. Twenty years ago we just had to duck under the leaning tree. Then, later, came the stage of adults clambering over and children wriggling under the barrier presented by the trunk.
The solace of birds III
Words and paintings by Patsy Hunt AS I walk around the residential streets of Cowes near my home I see street trees gradually disappearing, often without replacement planting. Even if replanting is done the plants are often thoughtlessly vandalised or die before they have a chance to grow. I also observe the larger homes being built on smaller blocks with little space for a garden.
Solace of birds II
Words and paintings by Patsy Hunt THE sound of Cowes tears the air and jangles my nerves – the chainsaw ! All too often we hear it in what should be a quiet residential area. Who is removing more trees and why? Is it truly because there is a safety problem? Is it because of fire concerns, even if it is a residential area? Or is it really because they (the cutters) want a view, think the vegetation is untidy or think the tree is too big and might fall on them despite it being strong and healthy?
The solace of birds
"The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours …" William Wordsworth By Patsy Hunt MY WALKS around the nearby streets of Cowes can be upsetting if I discover that another tree has been removed, especially if it was a significant one where birds fed and nested. So I return home to our garden.
Catherine Watson blog - Bass Coast Post
By Catherine Watson BY THE 1950s, according to the Australian Museum, “numbers of the Cape Barren Goose were so low that biologists feared they may be close to extinction". They remain one of the world's rarest geese. Birdlife Australia still lists the Cape Barren goose as “vulnerable” in Victoria and NSW, and rare in South Australia. How do we tie that in with a bird now described by some Phillip Islanders as “a pest” and “in plague proportions”?
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