Day 77 of lockdown. A warm and sunny day. I decided to do another walk along the Cooks River rather than take my bike. But I did take my camera.
I walked down to the Cooks River and then followed the path downstream. Unusually, I did not spot any Kingfishers as I walked downstream from Illawarra Road. It was high tide though. Continue reading
On my recent excursions, as well as photographing birds, I had been looking at leaves of trees and collecting interesting ones for a closer look at home. If the leaf has interesting bugs then I take series of photos with the ultra-macro lens.
In the process, I have been observing some fascinating things – small bugs and the structure they build. And it has been a real learning process as well. And this is ongoing. Continue reading
Day 76 of lockdown. I decided to ride down to the Cooks River and then out to Barton Park and back. As usual, I was on the lookout for birds, so packed a camera.
I saw my first Sacred Kingfisher along the Cooks River near Illawarra Road. Continue reading
Day 75 of lockdown. For something different I decided to walk out to and around Callan Park. This seemed a large park like area within my LGA that I had not visited for a long time. A short time before, I had been on a walk with Valerie along the Greenway, and Callan Park was just beyond that. I decided to start by catching the light rail to Taverners Hill, then walking along the Greenway and Hawthorne Canal, then keep on going along the foreshore to Leichhardt Park, then to Callan Park, then back to Hawthorne Light Rail station.
It turned out to be a pleasant outing. Continue reading
Day 74 of lockdown. Another day, another ride along the Cooks River. I was again on the lookout for the Osprey. But as often happens, I did not encounter it.
I cycled down to the Cooks River at the Prices Highway and waited at a couple of spots along the river at Cahill Park, waiting to see if the Osprey would be hunting in the area. Continue reading
Day 73 of lockdown. Another beautiful day. A good day for a ride. I had arranged to meet Valerie at Barton Park, where we would walk around a look for birds.
On the ride down, I stopped off at Gough Whitlam Park and looked for the Striated Heron nest. Continue reading
More macro-photos taken of insects or other small creatures on the back of leaves.
On my previous posts, I had seen these moulted shells on the back of Fig Leaves – Continue reading
Day 72 of lockdown. My intention was to have another attempt to photograph the Rails at Sydney Park. I had the aim of getting photos with more than one Rail in them. I have photographed two Buff-banded Rails before, but had not photographed a pair of Lewin’s Rails or a photo showing both a Lewin’s Rail and a Buff-banded Rail. I knew these would be hard to obtain. Bit if you don’t try? I also wanted to see if the Osprey was out in the afternoon at the Tempe Reserve section of the Cooks River. So I decided to combine both.
I succeeded with the Osprey, although when I spotted it, I was shooting towards the Sun and the photos are not great. Nor did the Osprey dive for fish. It certainly was looking for them. The day was a bit windy – and perhaps the surface made seeing fish difficult? I was less successful with the Rails. Continue reading
Day 71 of lockdown. This was a repeat of the bike ride I had done the day before. And like that day, I was looking out for the Osprey. And like that day, no Osprey was seen, but I did see a Sacred Kingfisher.
I cycled straight down the Cooks River to Waterworth Park without stopping. I did look for Sacred Kingfishers and other birds on my way. Crossing the Cooks River at the bridge near the Prices Highway, I was looking to see if any Sacred Kingfishers were on the rock shelf where I had seen one before. No Kingfisher, but I did spot a Striated Heron. Continue reading
Day 70 of lockdown. Another exercise bike ride down the Cooks River. On another previous trip down the river (a walk), I had been looking out for Kingfishers, and I had seen an Osprey, this time my main aim was to see if I could spot the Osprey again. But as things turned out – no Osprey, but a lot of Kingfisher encounters.
I cycled down to the Cooks River, and made my way to Gough Whitlam Park. I looked out for Kingfishers but didn’t see any. On the island in the Billabong, I spotted two Striated Herons. One was perched and then second was on the nest. Continue reading
