I visited two venues in the Northern Beaches – starting at Long Reef. I later met Michael, birding friend from the inner west, and we travelled to Rat Park to see if the Ospreys were around.
At Long Reef, when I arrived the tide was low, so I walked out on the rock platform to see what migratory birds were around. On the way down, I spotted two Nankeen Kestrels perched on the cliffs. I watched them for a while, but they seemed to be content to stay perched. Continue reading
This was nice day out paddling on the Georges River with a side trip up Mill Creek. On the trip was Digi Dave, John, Chuin Nee, Jasper, Sebastian and myself.
We set off from Picnic Point. Continue reading
Valerie joined me for an interesting day wandering around Oatley Park and Lime Kiln Bay observing Nature.
There was plenty to see. Continue reading
Malabar Headland played an important part in the defence of Sydney during World War II. The artillery placed on the headland – the “Malabar Battery”, was one of a number of fortifications along the coast of Sydney that was built to defend Sydney against surface raiders.
A 6 inch gun from one of the other batteries
It was thought that enemy ships could approach Sydney and use their guns to shell important infrastructure such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge from outside the harbour. To prevent this a number of batteries were set up along the coast. The location of these batteries was – Continue reading
This visit was very quiet in regard to the birds I photographed. I only saw a single Peregrine Falcon fly along the cliffs at high speed – and that was all. I also saw an Osprey, with fish fly past, and that was about it.
I did spend a bit of time photographing the World War II structures – and I will post separate entry to the blog about this interesting aspect of the history of the Headland. Continue reading
I was fortunate to be invited to join my sister and brother in law at Hazelbrook for the Christmas period. During my stay – I went for a wander down the Hazelbrook – north waterfall circuit walk on the 24th and we all went on a walk on the morning of Christmas Day to visit an Aboriginal art cave.
First are a few photos from the waterfall walk. The waterfalls – Horseshoe Falls, Oakland Falls and Burgess Falls all had low flow – so poor photographic subjects. But I was looking out for orchids and birds. Continue reading
It was sad to hear of the recent passing of Haydn Washington. I attended his funeral service yesterday, and it was an uplifting celebration of his life and his achievements. Haydn was not one of my close friends, but he was a person I respected enormously.
His service to conservation was immense. He was a key member of the Colo Committee during the successful campaign for a large Northern Blue Mountains National Park. This was in the late 1970’s. The Colo Committee was one of a number of conservation and bushwalker groups campaigning for this outcome, and it played a very important role. It was this campaign that led to the reservation of Wollemi National Park. Continue reading
Bob and myself were heading up the Mountains for a canyoning trip and we decided to visit a small canyon at Bell that has recently been named as “Crystal Slot Canyon”. We had both recently seen photos of this canyon on social media (Facebook – Australian Canyoners Page). The author of the post, Neil Miller, had been in a party that visited the canyon a few days earlier and wondered if they had been on a first descent. The canyon lies in very small tributary to Koombanda Canyon.
Most of the canyon lies in the tributary of a tributary to Koombanda Canyon. A very small creek flows into a slightly larger creek, and about 100 m later this joins Koombanda Creek a very short way downstream of the canyon section. I have no knowledge if this small creek has been descended before. There are exploratory canyoners who do check out small creeks like these, and this one is very close to road access. But on the other hand, its such a small creek that it may have been overlooked. Well it certainly looked worthwhile to visit – and it was. It was not a dark narrow or sustained canyon, but it was pleasant and a nice short day.
Update – I have since heard that Andrew Valja and Karen McLaughlin descended this canyon about 20 years ago and called it “Sleeper Canyon” (since it was close to the railway line).
This day was a bit different to other recent outings. I joined Valerie and Sue for a day spent in the city visiting some new additions to the Museum and Art Gallery, then we visited the Botanic Gardens and later a small park in Dulwich Hill.
Years ago, there was a very nice but small exhibition of minerals at the Museum. It has now been reinstated in a larger and much improved format. It is well worth a visit.
The trip three days earlier had been very good in terms of action from the juvenile Peregrine Falcons, so I was keen to visit the Headland again. Sue had been in touch and asked if I was going and after checking the forecast, I thought it would be good to make another visit.
But – the visit turned out to be very quiet indeed. For the first time in a long time, we did not see any Peregrine Falcons – no juveniles and no adults. And we did scan the cliffs carefully with binoculars. Many of their perches are out of sight – on hidden ledges or in bushes, but if they had been present, we would have expected to see them flying now and then. We were on the Headland between Magic Point and Boora Point from about 11:30 am to 4:30 pm. Continue reading
