This was an afternoon visit to the headland with Valerie. This time we walked in from Malabar. The weather was fine and sunny, warm at first but it later became quite cool – with a fresh breeze.
The Peregrine Falcons were partly active – we saw both of them flying around their cliffs – but only one at a time. So I think they are now nesting, and at any time, one of the pair is incubating eggs. Continue reading
I was thinking it was the end of the fungi season, but when I looked at recent rainfall data, I saw that 26 mm had fallen at Faulconbridge on the 6th August. Would this be enough for some late fungi to appear at Springwood? I travelled up to Springwood and visited Birdwood Gully to find out.
The year before, I had visited Birdwood Gully and found no fungi, but I had found a reasonable number of orchids, and a nice lot of birds, including a Powerful Owl. On this visit, I did find a small amount of fungi, a few orchids and some birds. And despite a lot of looking, I did not spot any Powerful Owls. Continue reading
This was another afternoon trip to Barton Park to photograph birds.
Here are some of the birds I saw – Continue reading
Early in the morning, I took part in the bird survey along the Greenway – between Taverners Hill and Hawthorne light rail stations.
As usual, we spotted a nice range of birds up on Taberner’s Hill Station. We could hear a lot of Spotted Pardalotes, but this time I could not get any reasonable photos. Continue reading
I was able to join the Mudlarks on their monthly survey along the Cooks River. This month, the survey was the downstream loop. We saw some nice birds along the way.
From the Lang Street Footbridge, where the group meets at 7:30 am, we watched a Royal Spoonbill on the mudflat below – Continue reading
After our bushwalk along the harbour foreshore, I joined Sue and Valerie for a short visit to Taronga Zoo. We wanted to see the refurbished Nocturnal House which we had told would reopen in July. Arriving at the Zoo, we made our way to the Nocturnal House, and found it closed! Talking to a Zoo worker, he informed us that a wrong power cable had been installed and it would need to be replaced. So perhaps… the house may reopen in October. So we stayed at the Zoo to see some of the other animals.
Here are some photos – Continue reading
This was another walk led by Brian Everingham for the National Parks Association of NSW that I joined. The walk is along the foreshore of Sydney Harbour and is largely within Sydney Harbour National Park.
Most of the party met at the wharf at Circular Quay, and we then travelled to Taronga via ferry. On the voyage, we noticed this large and unusual vessel. It is a US Navy boat – the “Miguel Keith”, and is a mobile command centre. Continue reading
I headed up to Long Reef on the Northern Beaches, hoping to be able to photograph some ospreys and other Ospreys. The weather was somewhat challenging – with light rain on and off, but I did manage to see some nice birds.
When I arrived, I met another bird photographer Fred. He had just seen a Peregrine Falcon, and I had glimpsed it as it flew off. Down below were some Sooty Oystercatchers. Continue reading
Recently, while I was in Tasmania, a friend, Keith Maxwell, had been asking about the history of Tiger Snake Canyon. Keith had been on the trip where we had found the canyon back in 1977 and we tried to remember when the trip took place and exactly what happened for the canyon to get its name.
Now back home, I have had a chance to check my records, and will place in this post my recollections.
The trip took place on 10 – 11 September 1977. It was a normal weekend bushwalk and in the party there were members of both Sydney University Bushwalkers and also the Ramblers Bushwalkers. I think the trip was probably on the Ramblers program. Continue reading
On our previous outing to Malabar Headland, with Sue, we had only a brief glimpse of one of the Peregrine Falcons. So we were keen to have another look. We decided to make this an afternoon visit, and met at Maroubra Beach at 11:30 am.
We walked out to near Boora Point, without seeing any Peregrine Falcons or any other raptors. But we could not help seeing this large helicopter. It is a US Army Chinook. It flew past several times. Continue reading
