A wet day was forecast for Sydney, and snow was forecast for the mountains. I met up with Bob for our weekly bushwalk, and we contemplated travelling to the Blue Mountains to see the snow, but ended up deciding on a Sydney walk – to look for some Aboriginal engravings.
During the day it was wet and cold. In fact, it turned out to be Sydney’s coldest day for 25 years. But, despite conditions we had a very interesting day. We first visited a major Aboriginal art site. Continue reading
Another day, another bird survey. This time with the Inner West Environment Group for their monthly survey along the Greenway between Taverners Hill and Hawthorne.
The meeting place is the platform at Taverners Hill Light Rail Station and after looking around for birds from the platform we descended to the path and walked towards Marion Street and then Hawthorne. Continue reading
I got up early in the morning and walked down to the Cooks River at the Lang Street Bridge to take part in the monthly bird survey with the Mudlarks.
It was a cold morning, but we still spotted a reasonable number of birds. This months survey we downstream to Wave Rock at the Gold Club and then returned on the far side of the river. Here are some of the birds we saw – Continue reading
I was pleased with my trip of a few days earlier when I had seen a lot of Ospreys seeming to catch plenty of fish from the sea at Long Reef. I was now after action photos of them diving into the sea and grabbing a fish with their talons. I know these are difficult to get – the birds need to be around, the sea needs to be right, and the birds need to be hunting. Then there are other factors – will the birds catch their fish relatively close by (within the range of a telephoto lens)? Will the light be good? But if you don’t try, then you certainly won’t get any photos.
So I set off again for the Northern Beaches. Low tide was around Noon, and the Ospreys seem to be active during the afternoon, so I fist visited a spot on the sea cliffs where I had seen Peregrine Falcons in past years. Sure enough there were two Peregrine Falcons around. Here are some photos – Continue reading
On the second day of my visit to Hazelbrook, I took the opportunity of spending the morning walking down to Terrace Falls and Bedford Creek, and then going along the linking fire road to the Cataract Falls and the circuit at Lawson.
Like the previous day, the fungi was not abundant, but it was more dispersed that on the previous day. I also took the opportunity of photographing some of the waterfalls and cascades along the way. Continue reading
I was on a visit Hazelbrook, and had the chance to look for fungi on the walk that goes to Horseshoe, Oakland and Burgess Falls. I was accompanied by one of my sisters.
The fungi that we saw was reasonable but not great. Most of what we found was in one small spot. Here is it – Continue reading
It had been a while since I had visited the Northern Beaches, and I was also keen to look for raptors and whales. My recent visits to Malabar Headland had been relatively quiet, so I thought it about time to head up to Long Reef to see what was about.
The low tide was around 10 am, so I planed to arrive around that time, and then wander out on the rock platform. This worked out quite well. I caught a B-line bus to Dee Why, then a local bus to the road out to Long Reef. I walked the short distance out to start of Long Reef, then walked around the north side of the headland. I didn’t spot too many birds here except for some of the usual Pelicans. Continue reading
Wet, cold weather was forecast, so rather than head up the mountains for a walk, Bob and myself decided that we would do a walk in Royal National Park. in July 2020 we had walked from Waterfall Station to Uloola Falls, and then to the Karloo Pool and Heathcote Station. That had been great walk where we had visited a number of Aboriginal heritage sites. Since that trip, I had looked at online aerial photos and seen other possible places that could have Aboriginal Art, so had suggested a trip from Waterfall to Uloola Falls, and this time continuing to Audley and then walking to Loftus. This seemed a good trip to do given the forecast.
So we set out from Waterfall and were soon walking along the fire road to Uloola Falls. At the first site, we looked around carefully on a large open rocky area, and found some possible sharpening grooves. Continue reading
I had a nice day in Royal National Park, walking down from Waterfall Station via the Couranga Track to the Hacking River, and then walking around the Forest Path, with detour upstream at Bola Creek. I as mainly on the lookout for fungi.
Looking at rainfall data (for Audley), it looks like that area had a lot more rain than other parts of Sydney during recent weeks, so I thought it may be good for fungi. I did find a fair bit out – but not as much, and not as fresh as I was hoping for. Continue reading
I had been on a lot of fungi trips recently, and now conditions were starting to get a little dry, so I thought it time to do a bird and whale trip. Malabar Headland sounded like a good place to visit.
Trackwork is starting on the headland between Magic Point and Boora Point, and it will mean that section of the Headland will be closed off for visitors for a few months (till September?). On this visit, the workers are only starting off and I was allowed to walk through, but further visits may be restricted. Continue reading
