Sue, Valerie and myself had thought about heading up to Springwood for a walk down Birdwood Gully to look for fungi and birds, but two factors made this a poor option – a train strike and rain. So as an alternative, I suggested travelling via the metro to Castle Hill and visiting the Fred Caterson Reserve. It looks like it was short walk from Hills Showground Station.
In the circumstances, this was a good plan. When we got off the metro, it was raining, so we walked to the Castle Hill Tavern and had a pleasant pub lunch. By the time we finished, the rain had stopped, so we walked down to Cattai Creek and into the Fred Caterson Reserve.The reserve is named after a former politician.
We followed a track into the reserve, past a series of sporting fields.
The reserve contains some great trees, but there are also plenty of challenges for bush regenerators.
I was on the lookout for birds. Here are some we saw –
Eastern Rosella
King Parrot
Brush Turkey
Laughing Kookaburra
Sacred Kingfisher
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Sacred Kingfisher
Cattai Creek
We didn’t find too much fungi out. Here is some Dacrypinax spathularia –
Isn’t this the creek that has quite a few platypus in it, despite all the weeds, murkiness and development around? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-06/platypuses-in-sydney-hills-district-near-development/102685842
Shame about the concrete paths but nice pictures on a damp day!