Field Naturalist and Nature Writer
Welcome to Tanya Loos’s website! Featuring natural history writing on the beautiful flora and fauna of the Wombat Forest, Victoria and further afield, and science writing with a focus on ecology and biology. You will also find practical advice on living with wildlife.
Daylesford Nature Diary
Six Seasons in the foothill forests
Praise for Daylesford Nature Diary
“The remarkable Tanya Loos has identified key indicator species for seasonal changes and described them in delightful prose and engaging photographs. Who can resist the appeal of the puggle, an early spring baby echidna indicator?”
Alan Reid, OAM, environmental educator and author of Banksias & Bilbies.
“Attractively produced and well-illustrated… the six seasons and their features are well-described. [The stories] are short and easy to read, covering all sorts of things an observant naturalist might come across: bats, wattles, ghost fungi, mosses, greenhoods, swifts, rosellas, echidnas, wood ducks and many more.”
Roger Thomas, Nature Notes, Ballarat Courier.
“There is much to recommend in this charming and well-written book. The author takes an innovative approach and lays the chapters out according to the seasons of the local Indigenous peoples. The resulting accounts contextualise the wildlife in both space and time that harks back to such seminal natural history classics as eighteenth century naturalist Gilbert White’s The Natural History of Selborne.”
Review in Australian Birdlife magazine. December 2013.
Latest news…
Monthly blog posts describing natural events in the Wombat Forest, ecological explorations, my recent published writings, book reviews and more…
Reflections: Loos on Platypus
This wonderfully cryptic title is my latest published piece: a reflection on an object in the Castlemaine Art Museum collection - a taxidermied platypus. I really enjoyed researching and writing this article! I have reproduced it here - but to see the original click...
Deep Creek: a visit in Nov – and a bird walk on Jan 9 2021
In late November I visited a couple of landholders in Eganstown - and discovered a new lovely spot! Sue has been getting into permaculture and bee-keeping in a big way, and got in touch wondering if I could visit their property and identify the local eucalypt species....
Gorgeous Gang-gangs
There are some relatively common birds that I find exciting and wondrous to see every single time - Wedge-tailed Eagles, Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, Crested Shrike-tits - and of course everyone's favourite stocky grey cockatoo with the whispy little crest- the...
Living with local fauna seminar – Sat 19 11 am
I am very excited to be presenting a seminar for the Upper Campaspe Landcare Network tomorrow, Saturday September 19 at 11 am. Here is is the lovely promo written by Rebekah Ritchie UCLN Landcare FacilitatorUpper Campaspe Landcare Network Inc. (and in a nice bit of...
Choo-choo- it’s echidna train time
In the higher altitude foothill forests, the local wattles usually flower in late August and September. The silver wattles are blooming in the Wombat Forest and surrounds: a few weeks early this year. One reliable sign of early spring is right on cue – the appearance...
Looking for lyrebirds ethically in ‘rona times
What is it that makes life worth living? Friends, family, a job well done, creativity expressed. And for me and many of my friends and colleagues it is the pure pure joy of being in nature and experiencing a magic moment. This year has been stressful. I am grateful to...
Fungi and Wallabies
It really is a wonderful fungi season in central Victoria – both the Wombat Forest and drier forests to the north are filled with an ever changing array of spectacular forms. This bounty represents the fruiting bodies of these organisms – and they also provide food...
Silvereyes – autumn visitors
While the human world is in upheaval, it is lovely to see the usual autumn visitors to my bush garden – the Silvereyes. These tiny birds are a very sweet and attractive garden visitor, with olive green, bright green and grey plumage, and a ring of miniscule silver...
Close encounter with Tawny
The question I am most frequently asked is “I have found a bird that seems to be hurt – what should I do?” It is always the same answer – capture the bird using a tea towel or towel, and place into an appropriately sized cardboard box. Then pop the box in a quiet room...