Windfall Mangoes

Wind whipped through the parkway as I cycled this morning. It rustled tree leaves, carried wet smells from the river, muted the chorus of avian voices that trilled, sputtered, and squawked. Australian...

Reef Notes

With Vilis’s and my tour to the outer Great Barrier Reef pending, I cycled to the library, signed out a couple of books on the Reef, and did some brushing up. Previously, I’d known that th...

Aussie Swallows

Given the chance to be a bird, I would choose the incredible speed, agility, and grace of a swallow, preferably one of the species with a glistening blue-black back and long, forked tail. Australia...

Pheasant Coucal

I saw my first pheasant coucal in January in Townsville, running along the top of a wooden, back-yard fence under an orange-flowering poinciana tree, its long tail like a wedding train behind it. Soon...