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 no 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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Cooks River Birds – 16 April 2024

Posted on April 21, 2024 by Dave Noble

I went for a morning walk along the Cooks River – from Illawarra Road – to the Princes Highway, and then walked back the same way. I was on the lookout for birds.

In particular, I was looking for the Sacred Kingfishers I had observed in the mangroves along the revere recently. Continue reading →

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Fungi at Ferndale Park – 14 April 2024

Posted on April 20, 2024 by Dave Noble

I had seen a photo posted on Facebook of a green waxcap taken at Ferndale Park a few days before. I decided to make a visit to see if I could spot any. I travelled to Chatswood by bus, 2 trains and then another bus (yes, there was track work), and then walked down to the park on Swaines Creek.

There was not that much fungi out along the creek. Here is some that I spotted as I walked downstream. Continue reading →

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Tempe Bird Survey – and Cooks River Birds 13 April 2024

Posted on April 20, 2024 by Dave Noble

I had been planning on going on a fungi survey in the Blue Mountains at Coachwood Glen. But the road had been washed out due to recent storms and was still closed. So I was now able to join the Tempe Birdos on their monthly bird survey.

This time, I joined the group surveying Tempe Reserve. As usual, the survey ended with morning tea. After that, I walked home via the Cooks River. Continue reading →

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Birdwood Gully – Fungi and Birds – 12 April 2024

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Dave Noble

I travelled up to Springwood with Sue and we visited Birdwood Gully to see what the fungi would be like after the recent rain. After good falls of rain, you expect the fungi to be abundant a few days later. But – with massive fall of rain, the fungi is often not as good as you expect. There had been over 300 mm of rain fall in the area about a week earlier, and a further 11 mm two days before our visit.

The fungi turned out to be reasonable but not brilliant. And we had to hunt for what we saw. We also saw some nice birds. Continue reading →

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