Aussie Doves and Pigeons

This morning while striding briskly alongside the golf course, I noted peaceful doves foraging on the ground and crested pigeons perched on overhead wires, the former species one of the most common bi...

The Ill-fated Burke and Wills Expedition

In Sarah Murgatroyd’s book The Dig Tree: The Story of Burke & Wills1, a black-and-white photograph taken around 1911 shows the sprawling trunks of a coolibah tree. A section of the tree̵...

Alice in the Rain

In the darkness before dawn, rain like none Vilis and I had heard since the depths of the Wet pounded down onto the metal roof of our rental house. In first light, I saw flooded raised beds and patios...

The Lure of Aussie Birds

Before dawn’s first light, Vilis and I arose from our bed, breakfasted, and then, with the sun creeping above the horizon as a huge red ball, drove to Ross River Dam, where we joined the Townsvi...