It had been a while since I had visited Bushells Lagoon near Wilberforce. Like previous visits, I caught a train to Windsor and then cycled out to the Lagoon. I had good trip, and had the place to myself for the first hour or so.
Straw-necked Ibis
As always, there were lots of birds around. On the laneway to the Lagoon, I had seen some Dusky Woodswallows. Here are some mating – Continue reading
This was another interesting day spent in my local area photographing the birds. I stared by cycling along the Cooks River to check out how the tawny Frogmouths were doing. Then I continued along the cycleway to Barton Park and the Landing Lights Wetland.
On the Cooks River I checked out the nesting Tawny Frogmouths. First near Younger Avenue – Continue reading
I had been on an amazing walk along the Curra Moors a few months earlier. It was an incredible experience with an amazing display of wild flowers. It was time to make a repeat visit to see what had changed.
This time I was with Digi Dave. The flowers were different, but equally stunning. Here are some – Continue reading
I was keen to do some more visits to Malabar Headland while the juvenile Peregrine Falcons were around. This was an excellent visit with a lot of raptors observed.
On the way out I could hear a Golden-headed Cisticola calling. I was able to get a poor photo of it – Continue reading
It was a day that had been scheduled for a walk with Bob. However he needed to be home fairly early, so we decided a short walk not too far away would be a good plan. Bob suggested a walk from the NPA Bushwalks in the Sydney Region set of books. This would be a visit to Shaws Creek near Winmalee.
After a short visit to the Butternut Cafe at Springwood, we headed out Hawkesbury Road. I recalled to Bob, how Winmalee was once called “North Springwood”, and that there was a time when a government decision was made to rename many towns with cardinal points in their names. Some choices were considered and I can remember the popular vote of the residents was the somewhat pretentious sounding “Springwood Heath”. But that name was rejected since there was actually no heathland at all in the town area. So an Aboriginal name – “Winmalee” was selected. Continue reading
This was a very pleasant walk led by Brian Everingham for the National Parks Association of NSW. In the party were Brian, Sue, Amanda, Pam, Diane, Pat and myself. Our plan was to walk from Cowan Station, along the Great North Walk Track to Brooklyn via Jerusalem Bay. Nearly the whole walk was within Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. It was a warm day.
We were soon on the way down to Jerusalem Bay. Part way along the track, we left the track and visited a nearby Aboriginal Art site. It was a large open rock shelf which featured some quite faint engravings and also some grinding grooves. Continue reading
I was keen to head back out to Malabar Headland after my visit the day before. That trip had been cut short by my forgetting to pack my spare camera battery. This day I was better prepared – but perhaps went a bit overboard taking photos. The three juvenile Peregrine Falcons put on a great display.
On my way out, I photographed a few of the birds near the track. Continue reading
Over three last few months I have done quite a number of visits to Malabar Headland National Park. One of the primary reasons was to photographically document the Peregrine Falcons. I had done the same thing last year, and saw one chick successfully raised and fledged. This year I had seen the adult Peregrine Falcons reunite at the same nest area, and also seen them mating. I had seen the adult birds keep other possible predator birds away from their nest area, so hoped there were some chicks on the way. The adult birds have chosen a typical nest area – on cliffs that face north east, in a protected cave that is not visible from any clifftop position. So you have to wait to see if any eggs hatch and if chicks manage to survive.
Last season, I had seen a single chick make an appearance about his time on a ledge connected to their scrape (Peregrine Falcon nest). Shortly after the chick had fledged. Soon after the mother took it away from the nest area where it was tutored in flying and hunting. The east part of Malabar Headland National Park had recently been closed due to a shooting festival in the adjacent rifle range, so this was the first opportunity to make a visit for a while. Continue reading
Our Bushcare Group were heading to West Head for some weeding in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. We travelled by car to Cottage Point Wharf, and from there to our weeding site near White Horse Beach in Flint and Steel Bay by barge.
It was an interesting trip in the barge. On the way we passed a Sea Eagle perched in a tree. Continue reading
The second Saturday of the month is the time for the Tempe Birdos bird survey at Tempe Wetlands and Reserve.
This survey was notable for the number of nesting birds we observed. Continue reading
