Bob was back from a New Zealand holiday, and suggested a walk to visit Goochs Crater. We were hoping to see it still full of water after the recent heavy rain event. I had seen some photos taken recently on Facebook.
So Bob drove to Bell and we then set off along the track to the Crater. It was pleasant walking along the easy ridge. Continue reading
I took part in the Greenway Bird Survey along the Hawthorne Canal between Taverners Hill and Hawthorne Light Rail Stations. The weather had turned quite cold – and this resulted in not that many birds being active. Particularly at Taverners Hill Light Rail Station.
Perhaps one reason, the birds were quiet at Taverners Hill could be that a Brown Goshawk flew over – Continue reading
Back in March, I gave a presentation on “The Magic of Fungi” via Zoom to the Southern Sydney Branch of the National Parks Association of NSW. The talk was recorded and is now online on YouTube –
I was able to take part in the Mudlarks monthly bird survey along a section of the Cooks River. With then end of daylight saving, the group now meets at 7:30 am on the Lang Street Footbridge. This month, the group were surveying downstream.
Here are some of the birds we spotted – Continue reading
I joined Brian Everingham and others from the National Parks Association of NSW for a visit to two heritage sites in Sydney Harbour – Cockatoo Island and Newington Armory. In the party was Brian, Valerie, Sue, Vivienne, Suzanne and myself.
I had never visited Cockatoo Island before and it certainly is a most interesting place. It is easy to reach via ferry and visitors are free to wander around most of the Island. It has many levels of heritage. It was first a meeting place for first Australians. Then with arrival of Europeans, the Island has a deep convict heritage – anda lot of convict era buildings remain. Then it later became a major shipyard – and it has a lot of industrial heritage. Continue reading
I spent another day at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve on the Northern Beaches. I was after more photos of raptors. In particular Ospreys. They turned out to be the only raptors I saw. There were no Sea Eagles, or Kestrels of Black-shouldered Kites this time. With the Ospreys, I did mange to get some reasonable shots, but no good action shots of them diving for fish.
When I arrived, the tide was low, so I ventured out onto the rock platform looking for the migratory birds. There were still lots around. Here are some – Continue reading
The day and evening before had been very wet. But I woke up to fine morning – so I headed down to the Cooks River for a walk, and to see what birds were out. The path along the river was very muddy and under water in spots. Many of the mangroves were garnished in plastic carried down by floodwaters.
It was very quiet at first – not many birds were out. A lot of the rocks and the lower parts of trees were covered in mud. Continue reading
I had been wanting to visit the old White Bay Power Station for a while now since I heard it had reopened to the public. My friends Valerie and Sue were also keen to make a visit. It seemed good place to visit on a wet day, when it is not so nice being outdoors. We did plan a visit, but when working out the details, we found it was closed that day (a Monday).
Thursdays are usually spent bushwalking with Bob, but he was unavailable this week, and as wet weather was forecast, it seemed an ideal time to go. Both Sue and Valerie were able to come along as well. Valerie had already made an earlier visit, but was happy to go again, and act and guide and to see parts she may have missed. Continue reading
I visiited Barton Park in the morning and Sydney Park later in the afternoon.
My last visit to Barton Park had been a short one – and a very quiet one. There were very few birds, and no unusual ones there. This visit was a LOT better – with 4 raptors seen as well as 6 Black-fronted Dotterels.
On my last visit to the park, I had expected Dotterels in the Landing Lights Wetland as the water level was low – exposing the mudflats for the Dotterels to feed on. But none were seen. This visit made up for that. There were six Black-fronted Dotterels feeding on the mudflats – Continue reading
I spent an interesting morning on a section of the Cooks River – between Illawarra Road and Gough Whitlam Park, trying to avoid some showers of rain.
It seemed fairly quiet at first. Not too many birds about. It was low tide.
Here are some birds – Continue reading
