Kookaburras declare their territories — On the morning of 27 August 1883, people on the island of Rodrigues in the western Indian Ocean thought they heard cannon-fire from ships moored just offshore. At the same time, the citizens of Perth were confused by a distant booming sound. They would all soon discover that the noise…

A walk through history — There are no paths in the cemetery at Mount Molloy. You are free to wander across the grass where ants scurry into cracking soil and tiny blue butterflies flicker in the sunlight. The cemetery is cut from eucalypt woodland and enclosed in a chain-link fence. A few woodland trees remain…

Think before you plant — Melbourne, Victoria, some years ago The Silky Hakea was a mistake. I had planted it to encourage birds. Every tiny white flower curl was packed with nectar, and the echidna-spine leaves kept the honeyeaters and fairy-wrens safe from prowling cats. …

Botanists, gardens, and botanic gardens. If I had the chance, I would spend all my time walking around botanic gardens, talking to botanists, and writing about plants and the people who study them. In late May, I had the privilege of interviewing five professional botanists about their own gardens. …

Sometimes you see them — Some time ago — I’m not sure when because the years roll into each other — a Freshwater Crocodile (Crocodylus johnstoni) appeared in Lake Eacham (yidyam) on the Atherton Tablelands, Far North Queensland. It probably didn’t make its own way there. Although Freshies are found all across tropical Australia, they…

The scourge of my plants — Life is up and down at the moment with the increasing pressure of finding a new place to rent, so I’ve been throwing myself into my plants. (Not literally, of course. Although there was a dodgy moment at the nursery when I tripped over a tree root and almost landed…

A celebration of the colourful and rare — My bird-watching friend Simon is telling me about the parrots he sees on his daily walks around Canberra. It is a long list, which includes five types of cockatoos. When he gets to the tenth parrot species — “red-rumps. Everyone loves those” — he stops to think. …

A strange case of mistaken identity — I’ve taken ages to write this — not because it’s difficult, but because it doesn’t have a punchline. But does every piece need to finish neatly? Years ago on a visit to the Natural History Museum — when it was still called the British Museum (Natural History) — I saw…

Well, just three at the moment…but it’s early days — In Far North Queensland, it seems that every garden and street corner flower bed is planted with hibiscuses. Most are showy yellow cultivars, the colour of the sun and almost as bright, but scarlet flowers are a close second. …