With continued wet weather, it has been difficult to get outside. But after seeing a break on the weather radar I decided on a late afternoon short excursion to nearby Sydney Park. The ponds at the park were very full and the one at the Island Pond was full of vegetation growing on the water. The lower large pond had fair bit of this too.
I wandered around with my camera. I first looked for the resident Tawny Frogmouths – but had no luck spotting them. So I headed to the ponds.
On my last visit -these Magpie Larks were probably eggs in a nest. Now they are calling for food.
Here are some Australian Reed-Warblers –
One across the pond –
And another a bit closer –
Here is a Dusky Moorhen chick –
You can see the vegetation on the water surface.
Moving down to the large pond. Here is a wasp –
An Eurasian Coot was swapping nest sitting duty with its mate.
Lower down -a Dragonfly –
Then I turned my camera to a nearby Australiasian Swamphen –
Then I noticed another bird behind.
I moved around. It was a Buff-banded Rail.
It had at least one, perhaps two chicks, that I was not able to photograph.
Around the other side of the pond were a lot of rather waterlogged stinkhorns –
Lysurus mokusin –
Phallus rubicundus –
And in the outside area where these Pepper Pot Puffballs – Myriostoma australianum –
Another circuit of the ponds. Here is a Noisy Miner –
And close to where I had seen the earlier Rails, I spotted another Buff-banded Rail.
Notice the black mark just above its right eye. The first one did not have that.
Not long after, the rain started again, and it soon hot heavy – so I headed home.