Sue joined me for another day at Nurragingy Reserve at Doonside. The highlight were some good but brief encounters with the local Azure Kingfishers.
We also bumped into Wayne, the local nature guru, who was wandering around with his camera and tripod.
Here are some of the birds we spotted – Continue reading
I headed up to Long Reef again as lately it has been a very good location to photograph raptors, in particular Ospreys. It was another very good day. The highlight was a skirmish between the Osprey and a Sea Eagle.
When I arrived, I could see a few Osprey perched on rocks out on the Headland and on trees and exposed roots. But there was one on a nearby rock with a fish. I moved closer. Another bird photographer, Celine was also there.
My paternal grandfather was an original Anzac, having landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 with the New Zealand Army. He was wounded and repatriated back to New Zealand, and later returned to serve on the Western Front. He was decorated with the Military Medal and bar. Both my uncles served in World War II. My father’s brother served as a navigator of a Halifax Bomber over Europe and my mother’s brother served in the defence of Australia at Darwin. My father also served, but not in active combat, as the war ended while he was training with the New Zealand Air Force, but he did serve in Japan as part of the allied occupation forces. I had watched the Sydney Anzac March on TV but never been to see it.
I joined Sue and later, Valerie, to watch the March go past Hyde Park. It was a very solemn procession, and a time for reflection. Continue reading
It was time to sit the Zoo. I joined Valerie and Sue for a very pleasant and relaxing day wandering around the Zoo, looking at the animals.
Here are some photos – Continue reading
Bob, Nipper and Doug were keen to visit an Aboriginal art cave on the western side of the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area that I had visited a a few times. So we headed out past Lithgow and were soon walking along a fire road in the Gardens of Stone.
The country was open woodland. Continue reading
I spent a very enjoyable day at Nurragingy Reserve at Doonside. On my previous visit, I had photographed Pacific Bazas, but had been unable to photograph Azure Kingfishers. This visit made up for that. Early on, I got some reasonable photos of an Azure Kingfisher hunting for fish, and then later in the afternoon, while sitting very quietly by ne of the ponds, I was able to watch and photograph an Azure Kingfisher having a bath. This took about 20 minutes and involved the Kingfisher diving many times into the pond.
When I arrived at Nurragingy, I bumped into local photographer and videographer, Wayne, and we set off for one of the ponds to look for Azure Kingfishers. Wayne knows the area very well, and soon spotted an Azure Kingfisher, and then spotted second. Continue reading
Valerie was keen on an excursion, and I suggested a few places, and we decided to visit Oatley Park. We were lucky we spotted a nice range of birds.
Most of the birds we saw were in Lime Kiln Bay – many in Lime Kiln Bay Reserve and some in the Oatley Park section of Lime Kiln Bay. Continue reading
Another day spent photographing the raptors (mainly Ospreys) at Long Reef on the Northern Beaches.
It was a good day, but somewhat frustrating. I spent a long time watching the Opsreys and I did get some reasonable photos of them diving for fish, but none of the ones I was watching actually caught a fish. Perhaps because many of them are juveniles and simply not that good at fishing? Continue reading
This was a repeat of a nice outing I had enjoyed a few days earlier where I visited Barton Park and later walked upstream along section of the Cooks River.
During the day, I observed a good range of birds. Here are some that I photographed – Continue reading
These photos are taken on a walk from Canterbury Road, along the Cooks River to Tempe.
White-faced Heron
