Cooks River and Barton Park Bike Ride – 3 September 2021

Posted on September 5, 2021 by Dave Noble

Day 69 of lockdown. I decided to do another bike ride down the Cooks River and then to Barton Park.

I didn’t see too much along the first bit of the ride down to Gough Whitlam Park. I sopped one Sacred Kingfisher along the way. Continue reading →

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More Little Bugs on Leaves – 2 September 2021

Posted on September 5, 2021 by Dave Noble

My investigation of the ecosystems on the back of various leaves is continuing. With the current lockdown, the zone I can visit tis restricted to my local area or 5 km from my home. But there is a whole world of tiny things to investigate that we usually ignore.

The one photographed above was a live bug. I had to put the leaf in the freezer for a while to reduce ist movement while I took a series of photos. Probably a psyllid. Continue reading →

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Stanmore History Challenge – 2 September 2021

Posted on September 5, 2021 by Dave Noble

Day 68 of Lockdown. I had seen a link to the Stanmore History Challenge on social media and thought it could be a worthwhile lockdown activity. Valerie was also happy to take part and we both downloaded the workbook with the clues and puzzles.

The activity was devised by Stanmore artist Kristen Watts as a lockdown activity and also as a way for people to learn about some of the amazing history of Stanmore. Before starting, we had already worked out the answers to the first three puzzles, and the first one told us  the location we had to be in to start the challenge. Continue reading →

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Cooks River Walk – 1 September 2021

Posted on September 4, 2021 by Dave Noble

Day 67 of Lockdown. On this day, I decided to walk rather than take my bike for an exercise trip on the Cooks River. I walked down to Cahill Park and back. As usual, I took a camera and recorded the birds I saw. It was fortunate that I did as I experience some good opportunities for bird photography.

I didn’t see too much as I started out. But it was a nice spring day – and it was good to be out. Continue reading →

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Rails at Sydney Park – 31 August 2021

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Dave Noble

In the morning, I had been on a bike ride to Barton Park. I decided to do another ride in the late afternoon – to Sydney Park to see if the Rails were still around.

I arrived around 4pm and things were ver quiet for the start. There was no sign of any Rails at the location I had seen them previously. But around 4:45 pm a Buff-banded Rail appeared. Continue reading →

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Cooks River and Barton Park Birds Again – 31 August 2021

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Dave Noble

Day 66 of Lockdown. I decided to repeat the trip I had done the previous morning. I set off on my bike down the Cooks River. This time, I spent more time on the Cooks River at the start, photographing two of Sacred Kingfishers I spotted near Gough Whitlam Park.

The Kingfishers are always good to see. Continue reading →

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Cooks River and Barton Park Birds – 30 August 2021

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Dave Noble

Day 65 of Lockdown. I decided to do another morning bike ride along the Cooks River Cycleway to Barton Park and back. And, as usual, I took my camera. It turned out to be a very good day for bird photography.

Here are some of the birds I saw. Continue reading →

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Looking for Bugs on Leaves 27 – 29 August 2021

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Dave Noble

I thought it was about time I did some macro-photography. I had recently seen some of Steven Axeford’s recent photos of small spiders infected with a cordyceps type of fungus that he had found on the back of leaves. These spiders were all very small – about 2 mm across. And asking him about the leaves he had found them on, it seemed that it is worth looking at all types of leaves – ones still on trees, ones on he ground etc. The important thing is you need to look at a lot of leaves to find the infected spiders.

I did not have too much success finding spiders infected with cordyceps, but I did have an interesting time looking at the amazing ecosystems on the back of leaves. Continue reading →

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Cooks River Bike Ride – 29 August 2021

Posted on August 29, 2021 by Dave Noble

Day 64 of Lockdown. I returned to the Cooks River, with a morning bike ride down to Cahill Park and back. The tide was rising and fairy high when I headed back – so I thought my chances of spotting Kingfishers would be limited. But I did either see one or two Sacred Kingfishers or perhaps, more likely, just the one Kingfisher in three different spots.

On my way down the Cooks River, I keep a look out for Kingfishers but didn’t see any at the usual spots of below Illawarra Road, Gough Whitlam Park or Waterworth Park. I kept going and went to Cahill Park at Wolli Creek. No Kingfishers there, but I did spot a Striated Heron – Continue reading →

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Back to Sydney Park for the Rails – 28 August 2021

Posted on August 29, 2021 by Dave Noble

Day 63 of Lockdown. My exercise this day, was a bike ride to Sydney Park and back. While at Sydney Park, I spent a bit of time observing some Buff-banded Rails and a Lewin’s Rail. One of the Buff-banded Rails was around for a fair while, the second appeared briefly just on dusk. The Lewin’s Rail visit was too brief for me to get a photo.

I think I arrived at the Park around 3 pm, and first photographed some of the other birds. Here are some – Continue reading →

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