I was able to join the Mudlarks for their early morning bird survey along the Cooks River. This month the group survey upstream from Ewen Park to The Boat Harbour, then across the river to Cup and Saucer Creek Wetlands, and down on the true right crossing back over just upstream of Ewen Park (the downstream bridge is being rebuilt). We saw a good range of birds –
Tawny Frogmouths Continue reading
Another very rewarding day spent out on the headland.
My aim was more bird photography, and I was pleased to see an Osprey flying out over the headland – only the second time I had seen these birds out there. On the way out, near Magic Point I was looking for whales, when I saw a few Dolphins swimming north. Then I saw a few more, and a few more. There would have been around 30 of them in the pod – but they were very spread out – taking at least ten minutes for them all to go past. Being so spread out made photography difficult. You would see them jump out of the water, then dive under again and it would be hard to predict where and when they would reappear. A more dense pod would have made this easier. Continue reading
I made a third visit to the Curra Moors. It has been an exceptionally good wildflower season, particularly on the Moors, that a another visit was arranged. This time I visit the area with John, Chuin Nee and their two young boys, Jasper and Sebastian.
Like my previous walks, we repeated the same route – down the track to the fire road, and then along it to the Coastal Track at Eagle Rock, then along the Coastal Track towards Garie and back along the fire road to regain the track. Continue reading
It was time for a bike ride to Barton Park and the Landing Lights Wetland. I packed my camera and binoculars.
At Barton Park it was pretty quiet birdwise. But there were some nice birds there. The highlight for me was seeing a pair of Red-kneed Dotterels feeding go the mudflats of the Landing Lights Wetland. This was the first time I had seen these birds there. Continue reading
I had been to Centennial Park a few times recently to observe and photograph the nesting pair of Powerful Owls. On one of these trips, I had seen the parents visiting the nest to feed the chicks inside. Now the owlets had fledged.
It was easy to spot the owlets high in the Paperbark Trees near their nesting hollow. You just had to see where a few other photographers were pointing their lenses. The two parents were nearby. Continue reading
It was time for another visit to Malabar Headland. This time I was accompanied by Gary, Allen, Geoff, Eve and Zik. They were all keen to see the Peregrine Falcons that are nesting on the headland. Before heading off – I had warned them that there are no guarantees that you will see these magnificent birds on any visit – but as it turned out, we were indeed fortunate. The Falcons put on a good display.
On the way out, at Magic Point, we spotted a Sea Eagle perched on the cliffs. As we approached, it flew off and circled around and landed at another spot further away. We were able to get some photos – Continue reading
Another walk with Bob. This time we followed one of my suggestions. I had never been to the lower reaches of Erskine Creek – the so called “Platypus Loops” according to the Land’s Department Blue Labyrinth map of 1963. the plan was to walk down the Jack Evans Track to the saddle at the volcanic area just above the loop, then climb the small peak, which I call “Erskine Knob”, then, hopefully, traverse down the ridge from it to Erskine Creek. Then climb up to a vantage point I had spotted on air photos on the far side and then back down and follow Erskine Creek to the Nepean River junction. The last part would be to climb up to Nepean Lookout.
The plan worked out. We parked at the car park at the end of the fire trail and were soon walking down the Jack Evans Track. At the clifftop, we detoured short way to a fantastic lookout. Continue reading
I spent a very rewarding day of bird photography in the Northern Beaches area. I visited a number of sites on the day, but the photos are from two of those sites.
The first place I visited was Rat Park and Warriewood. I was interested in seeing how the Ospreys were going with their nest. When I arrived there was one bird on the nest. I think it was sitting on eggs. Continue reading
I had seen reports online of Lewin’s Rails been seen at Sydney Park. Three had been seen in the late afternoon – early evening. So I thought I would make a late afternoon visit and see if I could spot any.
I walked into the park at St Peters and walked down to the Island Lake. Two Lewin’s Rails had been seen near the bridge between that lake and the large lower pond. The other had been seen on the north side of the Island Lake. When I arrived there were two other bird watchers there on the bridge. We all started watching. Continue reading
I had been so impressed with the wildflowers that I had seen the week before on the Curra Moors that was happy to return. This time with Brian Everingham and other walkers from the National Parks Association of NSW.
We more or less repeated the walk from the previous week. This time in the party were Brian, Faye, Valerie, Deb, Peter, Helen, Derek, Aurora, Sue W and myself. We left from the Curra Moors carpark and walked along the track to the fire road. Then we made the circuit in a clockwise direction out to Eagle Rock and along the Coastal Track and back along the fire road. At one point we did deviate from the previous route – down to the creek for morning tea and the first junction with along the fire trail. Continue reading
