Goochs Crater Walk – 17 March 2022

Bob and myself decided to walk to Goochs Crater. Its a place we had both been to many time before including recently, but we both had not seen it full of water. Photos of it recently posted on social media made it look quite different. It is not that uncommon for it to fill up with water – it would happen after big rain events, and these wold take place every few years.

The Glow Worm tunnel road being in very bad condition and probably the Dumbano Fire road as well – we decided not to walk in the shorter way from the north. Instead we decided to walk in from Sandham Road at Dargan. This was a route we both used to use many years ago 1970’s and 80’s) on circuit trips from Bell Station. But now, Open Street Maps indicated there was a track, so that would make things even easier. Continue reading

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Terrys Creek and Hawthorne Canal – 16 March 2022

This was a day somewhat like the day before in that I visited two different places. But in many ways it was also quite different. I first headed to Eastwood and started walking down Terrys Creek – but got a bit washed out by rain, so headed home. Then after lunch, like the day before, I got a text message from local birder Michael. This time he was on the Hawthorne Canal and had spotted a Sacred Kingfisher. So I headed there in the late afternoon.

Terrys Creek

It had been raining in the Epping area, but I had been watching the rain radar and it looked like that by the time I could get up there, the rain would have passed over. This turned out to be correct, and I walked down from Eastwood Station to the start of the track and set off downstream. I was on the lookout for fungi and birds. Continue reading

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Oatley Park and Sydney Park – 15 March 2022

This was a nice day out. The first part was a visit to Oatley Park with Digi Dave. We had a good look around and saw some nice birds and lizards. Later, on the way home, I got a text from another friend Michael, who was at Sydney Park looking for a recently seen Powerful Owl, so as it was not far from my route home – I made a short visit.

Oatley Park

At Oatley Park, Digi Dave and myself first visited the lookouts. At the first one we bumped into David M who knows the park well. He gave us some advice for spotting  some Sea Eagles. We saw two perched on a distant headland. Here is one – Continue reading

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Birds at Sydney Olympic Park – 13 March 2022

I spent a nice day at Sydney Olympic Park, but the day had an unusual start. I was intending to visit Nurragingy Reserve,  and so caught a train to Doonside and walked down to the park gates and found it closed due to extreme weather. So I walked back to the station and got on a train back towards the city. On the way I thought about options and checked timetables. One option was Sydney Olympic Park, but I knew trains where not running to Concord West, but I could get a bus to the park from Strathfield.

So that was how I ended up at Sydney Olympic Park. I got off the bus near Lake Belvedere, so that was the first part of the park I visited. Continue reading

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More Local Birds – Tempe, Barton Park and Sydney Park – 12 March 2022

I had the whole day available for some local bird photography. It started at Tempe with the monthly Tempe Birdos Survey. After morning tea, I wandered around a bit more at Tempe Wetlands, then walked down to Barton Park. Then I caught a bus to St Peters and finished the day at Sydney Park. It was quite a good day.

Tempe Birdos Survey

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Fungi at Ferndale Park – 11 March 2022

I was keen to get to and visit some local rainforest areas to see if there was any fungi out. So I chose to visit Ferndale Park at Chatswood. I had the option of extending the trip by visiting the nearby Blue Gum Reserve if conditions were good.

Despite good conditions for fungal fruiting, the amount of fungi I saw was quite low. I think most of what I saw had been out for a while and very little looked fresh. Local parks and grassy verges have had an amazing amount of fungi at this time, but I think it takes longer for fungi to appear in rainforest areas. Continue reading

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Malabar Headland – 10 March 2022

After the bird survey, I headed to Malabar Headland. After a lot of recent rain, I knew that the tracks in the National Park would be dry – being mainly boardwalk, and I wanted to see what animals were around.

It ended up being pretty quiet, but its a nice place to spend some time. The main “actor” this visit twas probably the sea. It was quite angry. Continue reading

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Mudlarks – Cooks River Bird Survey – 10 March 2022

Due to vey wet weather the survey was postponed from Tuesday to Thursday morning. On this survey the group went upstream from the Lang St Bridge to The Boat Harbour and Cup and Saucer Creek Wetlands and back on the far bank.

Spangled Drongo

I think we spotted 36 species of birds. Continue reading

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Sydney Waterfalls – 9 March 2022

After another walk was cancelled due to floods, Bob and myself decided to visit some waterfalls in the northern part of Sydney. We had a very good day visiting some nice waterfalls, ones that are well worth visiting after good rain.

Our first waterfall was on Hunts Creek at Carlingford. Continue reading

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Sydney Park Visit – 7 March 2022

This day I was able to make a short visit to Sydney Park. Like before, it was quite wet at the park.

My aim was to try and find and photograph the Buff-banded Rails chicks I had seen, but not photographed, two visits back. A secondary aim was to looks for the Quails again. Continue reading

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