After the Greenway bird survey, I caught a train to Strathfield North and walked down to Mason Park. In the wetlands I spotted a single Black-fronted Dotterel.
Nearby, in Powells Creek a White-faced Heron was hunting. It would stir up the sediment with one of its feet and then try and grab any escaping animal that might be tasty. Continue reading
Another early start for a bird survey. This time along the Greenway from Taverners Hill to Hawthorne. And again it was an informal small group of us who undertook the survey.
At Teverners Hill Light Rail Station, being high up, it has often been a good place to spot birds. This time we saw White-plumed and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters. Continue reading
In the morning I had been down to the Cooks River helping to survey the local birds. In the afternoon, I decided to go for an exercise bike ride to Barton Park. I had been there recently, the day before in fact. On that visit, just before leaving, I had spotted a large family of Teals. Tow parents and at least 8 very young chicks. Its a bit morbid perhaps, but I thought the presence of the chicks may attract some predators.
When I arrived at Barton Park, I went to Landing Lights Wetland. I noticed the Teal family straight away. They were all out cruising on the far side of the main pond. I counted 10 chicks. There is a reason for so many chicks – they lose a lot to predators. Continue reading
With some easing of the lockdown restrictions I went down to the Cooks River early in the morning to meet a small group from the Mudlarks (Cooks River Bird Group) for an unofficial survey. With appropriate social distancing, we enjoyed a few hours looking at some of the local birdlife. The only downside was – we didn’t socialise later for morning tea.
We walked upstream on the true left bank up to the Boat Harbour and old Sugar Mill, then crossed over and visited the Cup and Saucer Wetlands before walking back staying on the true right bank. Some highlights – Continue reading
I was out for some more exercise and again I carried my camera to record any birds I saw. This time I started off at Barton Park. It was fairly quiet at the main pond in the Landing Lights Wetland.
I did see a Royal Spoonbill in the concrete lined creek nearby. Continue reading
I have photographed the International Space Station a few times. On 10 May there would be a reasonable chance to get some more photos. It was passing over the Sydney area, at an angle of 87°, and be visible for 6 minutes. This angle would mean that it would pass almost over the zenith, so its distance above Sydney would be relatively small compared to other passes. Also – the night was clear.
So here is one of my photos. You can easily see some of the substructures, including the solar panels end on. The details were – 840 mm, f9, 1/1000 sec, 1600 ISO.
I spent a pleasant day walking around the paths and trails of Nurragingy Reserve at Doonside. I also took a camera along and managed to get a few photos of the birdlife.
When I visit the reserve, I always look for the pair of Azure Kingfishers. Sure enough, I spotted one a few times during the day. As usual, though, the kingfisher was hard to photograph – perching on branches that were hard to get a clear view of. Here are some photos – Continue reading
Sassafras Gully was a good place to visit. Almost empty trains to Springwood, and almost nobody on the tracks. On this trip I walked from the station to Sassafras Gully Road, then down the track to the Lagoon at Glenbrook Creek, then back via the Wiggins Track. A reasonable amount of fungi was out.
Hygrocybe lilaceolamellata
The highlight of this visit was finding quite a few species of waxcaps out. Here are some – Continue reading
This was another out and about with my camera, getting some exercise. I first visited Tempe Wetlands, the wastelands nearby then Tempe Reserve, and then went to Barton Park.
At Tempe Wetlands, there were not very many waterbirds in the ponds. I did see a few Honeyeaters in the hinterlands. Here is a Yellow-faced Honeyeater – Continue reading
During the lockdown, I spent a bit of time looking through my photos of Claustral Canyon and then putting them together into a YouTube Movie. Here is the finished movie of Claustral Canyon. It is best viewed at full 4K resolution on a monitor capable of displaying that resolution. If viewing on a Macintosh Computer, you need to use the Chrome Browser rather than Apple’s Safari.
The photos were taken on trips between 2011 and 2019.
I then made similar video of photos of Rocky Creek Canyon. Again it should be viewed at full 4K resolution.
