A Lunar Eclipse was taking place during the evening. I was ready with my camera, telephoto lens and tripod.
It was going to be a Super Blood Moon. “Super” because the Moon was at a close point in its orbit – making it larger in apparent size than it often is, and “Blood” because of its red colour when totally eclipsed.
Here are some photos taken as the eclipse was beginning – Continue reading
I thought it about time I visited Bidjigal Reserve again near west Pennant Hills. The reserve is in upper tributaries of Darling Mills Creek, which flows south to join Toongabbie Creek, and the combined creeks form the Parramatta River. On previous visits, on two trips walking all the way down Darling Mills Creek to Parramatta, I had thought the valley offered good habitat for fungi, and I had recently seen good fungi from photos taken in Bidjigal Reserve posted by others on Facebook.
I caught a train to Beecroft, then a bus from the station to the Richard Webb Reserve on Aiken Road. I then followed a fire road down to Darling Mills Creek. Further downstream, I noticed a nice waterfall, that will be worth returning to for some photos in higher flow. Further along the fire road, I left it and followed a track that went along the creek, crossing it and then continuing to the junction with Excelsior Creek. It was Excelsior Creek that I wanted to check out. I turned off and followed a track upstream. Like nearly all remnant bushland along valleys in Sydney, there are tracks that follow a sewer line. Continue reading
I spent the last part of the afternoon at Sydney Park photographing birds.
Here are some photos – Continue reading
This was a really good day out, despite some rain, I saw a lot of nice fungi at three different locations. I linked up these locations be walking from Chatswood Station to Macquarie Park Metro Station.
Ferndale Park Continue reading
My friend Wendy invited my to join her on a visit to the Australian Museum in Sydney. I had visited the museum, not that long ago, but there was a new exhibition to visit – “Unsettled” on the Aboriginal history of Australian when Europeans arrived.
Hobbit Man Scull
After being entertained by an Aboriginal Dance performance, we visited the Aboriginal Gallery and then the Pacific Island Gallery. In this gallery I took some photos of the masks. Continue reading
While in Tasmania, I had missed some local bird surveys, so it was good to again take part in a survey along the Greenway near Waratah Mills Light Rail Station.
Here are some of the birds we saw – Continue reading
I was out on a bushwalk with Bob. We had planned to do a walk from Faulconbridge, but we first visited Lady Martins Bath at Linden. This was easy to visit, we turned off the highway at Martin Place and then took a side road on the right that went up to the water reservoir on top of a hill. This hill was the site of “Martins Folly”. It was where former Prime Minister (of NSW), Sir James Martin, started building a huge mansion. Early on, he either ran out of money or impetus and all that was built were foundations. I can remember seeing the foundations on a school history excursion back around 1970. I think the sandstone foundations have been repurposed by the present landholders – as we could see none set in place.
From the water reservoir, we took a rough track down a short distance to a small overhang. Inside was Lady Martins Bath – a constructed pool fed by spring water. It was interesting to look at. Continue reading
This was an enjoyable walk along part of the Lane Cove River from near the De Burgh Bridge to Browns Waterhole, and then out via Terrys Creek to Eastwood Station. To get to the start I caught a bus from Pymble Station and got off near the National Park Entrance.
I was pleased with the fungi I saw. In particular, I found the waxcaps that I think are Gliophorus psittacinus had appeared. Continue reading
I had recently been doing a lot of fungi walks, and thought it about time to see some other environments. So I decided to visit Malabar Headland to see if the Peregrine falcons were found, see what other birds were in the area, and also to look for any passing whales.
I had a pleasant day. I had a brief glimpse of one Peregrine Falcon fly out from the cliffs and then fly away. It was too fast for me to get a photo, and I could not spot it perched on the cliffs in the direction it had flown. Continue reading
I was interested to see what fungi could be about along Wolli Ck. So I caught a bus to Bexley North and then walked down the Two Valleys Track – to Tempe and continued along it, up the Cooks River to Wardell R road and then walked home. It was a pleasant excursion – and I observed birds, flying foxes and fungi.
Spangled Drongo
First some of the fungi – Continue reading
