This was another rewarding day spent at the Central Coast Wetlands at Wyong. Like previous trips, I caught the train to Wyong and then walked the short distance to the wetlands.
As I walked in, I spotted an Australian Hobby perched on a dead tree. The tree was very close to the road, so I too a few distant photos, then walked a bit closer and took some more, and repeated this until it flew off. Continue reading
I was keen to check out changes to the fungi at Ferndale Park at Chatswood, so caught a train over and lake down to the park. After my visit, I continued along the track along Swaines Creek to the Lane Cove River and then walked downstream seeing what birds were around. At Epping Road, I caught a bus to St Leonards Station.
It was wet for some of the time during the day, and at one stage when the rain was heavy I sought shelter in a small overhang at Ferndale Park. The fungi was not that abundant or special. Here are some that I saw – Continue reading
After the Greenway Bird Survey, in the afternoon, I caught a bus to Earlwood and walked down to Wolli Creek near Bardwell Park Station. I followed the two Valleys Track upstream looking for fungi, and then went downstream along the track, to Turrella.
I was also on the lookout for birds – and heard many, but was not able to get a lot of photos. Some light rain did not help. Continue reading
I joined the local bird group for their monthly survey along The Greenway near Waratah Mills light rail station.
It was nice to see a Tawny Frogmouth perched in a tree near the station. Continue reading
This was a pleasant day in the Blue Mountains visiting some canyons. In the party was Bob, Doug and myself.
With the bushfires, a very small number of canyons were open. So our choices were severely limited. Grand Canyon had recently reopened – so that was our number once choice. But Bob was keen to check out the “Whores Bed” near the Devils Hole at Katoomba. And that was where we stopped off first. Continue reading
I was keen to return to the Northern Beaches. I was interested to see what migratory birds would be on the rock platform at Long Reef. There had recently been rough seas and high tides during the middle of the day, so I had to be patient. On this visit, the low tide would be a bit after 1 pm. That would give me a chance to visit Warriewood Wetlands first.
I caught a B-line bus to Warriewood and walked out towards the wetlands. On the way, I detoured and had a look down Mullet Creek. No sign on any Kingfishers or Bitterns. I then made my way into the wetlands. It was fairly quiet. Here are some of the birds I saw – Continue reading
I had a pleasant and interesting walk down the Lane Cove valley following the Great North Walk track from Thornleigh Oval to Browns Waterhole, and then I went up the track along Terrys Creek to Eastwood.
A reasonable amount of fungi was out. Here are some of the more interesting things that I found. Continue reading
On my way home from Nurragingy Reserve, I stopped off again at Sydney Park at St Peters. Like on previous visits I was on the lookout for Rails, Crakes and Snipes. And like on those visits, I ended up taking lots of photos of Welcome Swallows.
Here are some sequences – Continue reading
When I visit Nurragingy Reserve I always look out for the resident Azure Kingfishers. I don’t always spot them. On this visit I as lucky, spotting one of the Azure Kingfishers perched above one of the pools and also a Sacred Kingfisher made a brief appearance.
When I arrived I looked around the main duckpond, and then headed to the ponds in the bush areas. I dint see too many birds of interest. Here is a Little Pied Cormorant. Continue reading
This was an interesting trip down to Sassafras Gully at Springwood. Like the week before, I was joined by Liz Kabanoff and on that occasion we had visited Birdwood Gully on the other side of the town.
Mycena mamaku
We set off down the track at the end of Sassafras Gully Road. We did not find that much out higher up, nor that much out lower down, but we did find some interesting species. One highlight was found by Liz. It was Mycena mamaku. This very distinctive shaped species was surprisingly tiny. I think it has seldom been seen locally, and that could be on account of its small size. It is probably often ignored. Here are some more photos – Continue reading
