Tasmania – Photographing the Aurora Australis – 26 April 2024

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Dave Noble

While I was visiting Tasmania, I kept a lookout for the Southern Lights – The Aurora Australis. There had been a very good one a day or two before my visit. During one evening, there was a reasonable Aurora Australis. It was difficult to see any glow with the naked eye, but it showed up in a long exposure photo. Unfortunately, my observing location was very poor at my sister and Brother in law’s house at West Ulverstone. There was a row of trees to to the south and the southern outlook was slightly uphill.

The photos were taken around 11 pm. Details – 20 mm f4, 10 seconds, 3200 ISO. Continue reading →

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Tasmania – Fungi at Philosophers Falls – 26 April 2024

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Dave Noble

In the North West of Tasmania, Philosophers Falls near Waratah has been my favourite location for photographing fungi. So it was great to be able to visit this location again with my sister.

Here are some of the fungi we found – Continue reading →

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Tasmania – Fungi at Castra Falls – 25 April 2024

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Dave Noble

The second fungi trip in North West Tasmania was to a favourite place to look for fungi – The Castra Falls circuit. Again, I was accompanied by my sister who spotted a lot of the fungi we found.

We started from the Silver Falls side. The waterfall almost had no flow. It has been quite dry in this part of Tasmania recently. But despite the dry conditions, a fair bit of fungi was observed. Here is some – Continue reading →

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Tasmania – Fungi at Ferndene Reserve – 24 April 2024

Posted on May 4, 2024 by Dave Noble

I was on a short visit to Tasmania to see my Sister and her husband. But while there, I was also keen to see some of the fabulous fungi that Tasmania is famous for. However, this time, I was visiting during a drought. Would any fungi be out? The first place my sister and myself visited was reassuring – Ferndene Reserve, at the base of the Dial Range near Penguin.

It was quite dry, but we still managed to find some reasonable fungi. Continue reading →

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Photographing Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Dave Noble

I had tried on two earlier evening to photograph the Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks without even seeing it. My observing location was the bridge over the railway line at Dulwich Hill Station. The first of the night was not that clear, but the second was, and I concluded that the comet was probably behind some trees. So I tried a different observing location – on the foreshore at Leichhardt where I could get a much better view to the west.

This time I was successful. But the photos are poor. You can see the comet – but not much of its tail. In the photo above – it is the higher object – the pale green one. Continue reading →

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Fungi at Ferndale Park – 21 April 2024

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Dave Noble

With an improvement in the fungi at Wolli Creek, I thought it may be worth seeing how the fungi was going at Ferndale Park. It has a better rainforest environment – and retains moisture for longer. But the area near the creekbed (Swaines Creek) has been scoured out – so no fungi there at present.

On this visit, I did find the fungi much better than my previous visit a week earlier. A lot of the fungi I found was growing on wood. And it was pleasing to see some colourful coral fungi appearing. This is often a good sign that waxcaps will appear soon in hopefully good numbers. Continue reading →

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Wolli Creek Nature Walk – 20 April 2024

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Dave Noble

In the afternoon, I headed to Wolli Creek Regional Park for a Nature walk. I was on the lookout for fungi, and also birds.

I did find some fungi. The amount out, is not huge – but better than previously. Continue reading →

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Birds at Nurragingy Reserve – 19 April 2024

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Dave Noble

It had been a while since I visited Nurragingy Reserve at Doonside. I had been wanting to go there for a while, but I was not keen to who during railway track work, and it was also closed for a while due to flooding.

This visit proved to be fairly quiet in terms of the birds I photographed. I was after Sacred and Azure Kingfishers – but saw neither. And no Blue-faced Honeyeaters or other interesting birds.

Here are some that I did see – Continue reading →

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Lawson – South Waterfall Walk – 18 April 2024

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Dave Noble

I joined Deb, Valerie and Sue for a very pleasant day walking around the Waterfall Walk on the south side of Lawson. We travelled up to Lawson by train, and after a coffee break at the Cakeshop, we were soon walking down to the start of the track.

The Autumn colours were out as we walked down the path along the side of Honour Avenue. Continue reading →

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Barton Park and Cooks River Birds – 17 April 2024

Posted on April 21, 2024 by Dave Noble

This was another morning trip to photograph some local birds. This time I started at Barton Park, where it was fairly quiet, so I later stopped off at Cahill Park on the Cooks River to see if any Sacred Kingfishers were around.

When I arrived at Barton Park, I spotted a Heron flying off. I think it is a juvenile Nankeen Night Heron – Continue reading →

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