Birds and Fungi at Sydney Olympic Park – 24 April 2021

A small group from the Sydney Fungal Studies Group Inc were conducting a fungal survey at the Newington Armory area of Sydney Olympic Park. The survey would take a few hours in the morning, so I decided to make a full day – by taking an earl train to Concord West, then walking to the Armory slowly via the wetlands to see what birds were out. After the survey, I would return to Concord West but follow the foreshore for the first part.

So here are some birdsI saw walking to Newington Armory. Most were at the Waterbird Refuge at Bicentennial Park –

Black Swans

There is a cygnet next to this one –

Australasian Darter

Superb Fairy-wren

Pied Stilts

At Newington Armory, I met up with Ray, Elma, Trevor, Kerry and Fiona from the SFSG and also Tina, an ecologist working at the Sydney Olympic Park. The main areas we were surveying were endangered ecological communities. We did not find too much out as conditions were very dry.

Trevor spotted this slime mould –

And there were a number of these Earth Stars (Geastrum fornicatum) –

Here is the underside of a very dry polypore –

Some Gymnopilus junonius –

In the moss, we found a few clusters of Helotium terrestre (Discinella terrestris) –

Here is some old and dry Omphalotus nidiformis –

And a puffball – Schleroderma cepa –

Last an Hymenopellis gigaspora (Oudemansiella gigaspora) –

We spent some of the time walking in a closed off area along the old munitions railway.

Here are some animals. First a Twenty Eight Dot Ladybird (an invasive pest) –

And some Red Sider Mites. Is the smaller one a male?

And a fly or bee?

We then returned to a shady area and had lunch before finishing off.

I then started walking to the foreshore. On the way, I saw a flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos fly over, squawking as they went.

Then in the distance, I spotted a White-bellied Sea Eagle with an Australian Raven trying to drive it away.

At the Newington Nature Reserve, I saw this Great Egret –

And here is a juvenile Australasian Grebe taking to the air to join a parent.

Along Parramatta River, I saw a number of Silver Gulls and Cormorants, and one Crested Tern hunting for fish –

Further along the path, a pair of Tawny Frogmouths were roosting in a tree –

I went back via Woo-la-ra and then visited Wentworth Common.

Here is a Noisy Miner having a bath in one of the ponds –

In the mangroves on the bay side of the bird hide at the Waterbird Refuge, I spotted this Sacred Kingfisher. It flew down to the mudflat and returned with a crustacean –

The crustacean was soon swallowed whole –

I saw about six very distant Black-fronted Dotterels. Here is one of them –

Golden Orb

Superb Fairy-wren

Little Egret

Royal Spoonbill

I walked along the boardwalk through the mangroves and then past the Bennelong Ponds without seeing too much.

My last stop was at Lake Belvedere. This is a great place for getting photos of flying birds.

Pied Cormorants

Little Black Cormorant

Pacific Black Ducks

Australasian Darter

Great Egret

And thanks to Ray and Elma Kearney for corrections and updates to the fungi names.