Birds at Long Reef – 17 August 2025

Posted on August 20, 2025 by Dave Noble

My previous trip to Long Reef had been shortened because earlier in the day I had visited Irrawong Reserve. So I was keen to head up to the Northern beaches for another session of photographing mainly the Ospreys fishing at Long Reef.

It turned out to be a reasonable day. I was at Long Reef from approximately 11 am to 4 pm, and for a lot of that time, particularly later in the afternoon, there were a lot of other bird photographers present. At one stage I counted about 20. These included Celine, Michael, Simon and Jimmy who I have met at Long Reef numerous times before. Continue reading →

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Fungi at Bola Creek – 16 August 2025

Posted on August 19, 2025 by Dave Noble

I headed down to Bola Creek in Royal National Park for a field study with the Sydney Fungal Studies Group. It was late in the fungi season, but there had been plenty of rain recently.

We had an enthusiastic group along for the field study, including some attendees from Friends of of Royal National Park. We did not observe a huge abundance of fungi, although we did spot some interesting species.

Here is a selection – Continue reading →

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Birds at Irrawong Reserve and Long Reef – 15 August 2025

Posted on August 19, 2025 by Dave Noble

I made another trip to the Northern Beaches, with the main focus being the Ospreys at Long Reef, but I first visited Irrawong Reserve at Warriewood to look for a Noisy Pitta that had been seen there recently.

I had no luck spotting the Noisy Pitta. I knew I was in the right place, and there were some other bird photographers around, and had been seen there earlier in the morning.  Here are a few other birds – Continue reading →

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Aboriginal Art in the Lower Blue Mountains – 14 August 2025

Posted on August 19, 2025 by Dave Noble

Bob and myself decided to visit the Lower Blue Mountains to look at some Aboriginal art sites. Rain was forecast  for Sydney, but the lower Blue Mountains escaped the bad weather during our visit.

We visited four art sites.

The first site was a cave, not too far from a major sporting complex, and had suffered some vandalism (graffiti) over the years. A shame! Continue reading →

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Malabar Headland – 13 August 2025

Posted on August 19, 2025 by Dave Noble

After the Greenway Bird Survey, I travelled to Maroubra Beach, where I met Sue, and then we headed out into Malabar Headland National Park.

Just after the carpark, we spotted a Black-shouldered Kite perched on top of a pole. This was a good start to our visit. Continue reading →

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Greenway Bird Survey – 13 August 2025

Posted on August 19, 2025 by Dave Noble

We had a very pleasant morning survey along the Hawthorne Canal section of the Greenway. The Sun was out!

This makes a big difference with the birds seen at Taverners Hill Light Rail Station, where we saw a small flock of Spotted Pardalotes foraging in the Eucalypts.

Continue reading →

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Mudlarks – Cooks River Bird Survey – 12 August 2025

Posted on August 16, 2025 by Dave Noble

I took part in the early morning Mudlarks Bird Survey, along the Cooks River. This month, the group surveyed downstream, from the Lang Street Bridge to Marrickville Golf Course and Wave Rock, and then back.

Here are some birds saw – Continue reading →

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Looking for Fungi in the Lane Cove Valley – 11 August 2025

Posted on August 16, 2025 by Dave Noble

I was hoping that after recent rain, there may be a lot of fungal fruiting bodies about. So I visited a site in Lane Cove National Park, then a made a visit to Ferndale Park at Chatswood.  I found very little fungi out.

This is about all I found –

This one was extremely tiny. Probably Gliophorus psittacinus group –

Macrotyphula juncea Continue reading →

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Malabar Headland – 10 August 2025

Posted on August 11, 2025 by Dave Noble

After a wet start to the day, I thought that I may get off the bus at Maroubra Beach, and then have to get on another and head home due to rain. But when I arrived at the Beach, the weather looked reasonable, so I decided to keep to my plans to visit Malabar Headland. However, Sue, who I was planning to meet at the beach, had got quite wet earlier and so decided to stay home.

My principal aim of the visit was to photograph Peregrine Falcons, and at this I was reasonably successful. It did rain from time to time during  my stay, but the Headland does offer some shelter in sandstone overhangs. Continue reading →

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Wolli Creek Bird Survey – 10 August 2025

Posted on August 11, 2025 by Dave Noble

The Wolli Creek Bird Survey that I have been attending recently, had been postponed from the previous Sunday due to poor weather. The weather this Sunday was not the best, but, after some early morning electronic chats, we decided to go ahead, with a later start.

Currawong

We set off from Girrahween Park, but before we had gone too far along, it started raining, and the rain got heavier. So we retreated to one of the under shelter picnic tables back at Girrahween Park. As the rain radar showed the rain looked like lasting a while, we called the survey off. Continue reading →

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