I headed up to the Northern Beaches, visiting two locations, for a full day of bird photography. I mainly photographed raptors.
The first site I went to, Rat Park, has a large Osprey nest, high on a light. I have visited this nest many times over the past few years and this is the first time I have seen evidence of chicks. Continue reading
After seeing one Peregrine Falcon fledgling on the last visit, I was keen to head back and see if other chicks had fledged. On the previous visits, just before we left, we had heard, and then seen a chick on a ledge that is accessible from the bird’s scrape. We wondered if this had been the chick we had seen earlier, but that had flown well and this one seemed very reluctant, and perhaps unable to take-off.
On this trip, I was joined by Sue. We met at Maroubra Beach and walked out to Boora Point. At the Peregrine Falcon nesting area, we met Biggles, who was there for the morning, and we later met Alana. Continue reading
Bob and myself were keen to do another heritage walk to look for more Aboriginal Art sites in the Lower Blue Mountains. This time we were joined by Doug.
We set off along a track behind houses. It led to a large stream, that was a former site where water had been pumped out. We could see the odd lump of coal lying around – evidence that there was once steam powered pump in operation. Continue reading
I only had the afternoon free, so made a trip to Barton Park. It turned out to be fairly quiet while I was there. Here are some birds I saw –
Dollarbird
Grey Teals Continue reading
Another day observing the Peregrine Falcons on the Headland. I was with Valerie and Sue. The weather was fine – but quite windy. We were hoping to see some fledged chicks.
I have been watching this pair for five breeding seasons now. Here are some of my observations –
Note that the dates are not the actual dates of fledging, but the dates I visited where I observed the chicks had left the scrape and were flying. Continue reading
I spent the day visiting some local birding sites. I started by catching train to St Peters and visiting Sydney Park for an hour or so, then a bus to Barton Park for a few hours, then a bus to Tempe, and a walk home via the Cooks River.
I particularly wanted to visit Barton Park because I was concerned about recent removal of habitat. Continue reading
Our group was weeding at Barrenjoey. The headland contains an important ecological community of coastal grassland, and it is often encroached with weeds. Our group had been working on Barrenjoey for many years now – but there is still a lot more to do.
Most of the group circumnavigated the headland close to the sea level in an anticlockwise direction. As well as removing weeds, we could observe a range of wildlife. In this group were NPWS officer Jude, Enmoore, Martin, Steffy, Peter and myself. Continue reading
I headed back to Sydney’s coastal cliffs to take more photos of a family of Peregrine Falcons. I had visited this family not long before.
This visit I was able to get some better photos of them interacting in the air. Continue reading
Sculpture by the Sea was back on again after a break of a few years due to Covid and other factors. I spent a pleasant morning with Valerie looking at the exhibits.
We met at the bus stop at Bondi Junction station, and caught a bus to Tamarama. Then it was down to the beach and a look at the sculptures. Here are some – Continue reading
Bob and myself had decided to do another heritage bushwalking trip in the norther parts of Sydney. We were looking for an old trig station and we also hoped to see some Aboriginal sites.
We soon found the old trig station. It lay a short way off from a fire road. But you could not see it from the road due to thick scrub. Continue reading
