Back to Sydney Park – 10 February 2020

Posted on February 15, 2020 by Dave Noble

On my way home from Malabar Headland, I stopped off and spent an hour or two at Sydney Park. I was on the lookout for some rare birds – but like previous visits did not spot any.

A day or two before, a Lewin’s Rail had been heard (but not seen). On this visit, I too heard the Lewin’s Rail, and did spot it a couple of times. But it was far too fast and elusive for any photos. It was making its call in a small area alongside one of the ponds, and moved perhaps 20 m along the shore and then back, but all the time remained hidden in the reeds. This was between 5 pm and 5:30 pm. It would call every few minutes. Continue reading →

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Malabar Headland – 10 February 2020

Posted on February 15, 2020 by Dave Noble

I was supposed to be bushwalking in Royal National Park, but due to an adverse weather forecast, and a huge amount of rain the day before, the walk was sensibly cancelled. But, as often happens, then day was not too bad. After looking at the rain radar and weather forecasts, I decided to head out to Malabar Headland National Park. It would give me a chance to see how the resident birds were going, and also powerful seas were forecast, and the headland is a good place to see such things.

So I caught a bus to Maroubra Beach, and walk to the headland. It was a warm humid day, and there was not much of a sea breeze. I saw a few New Holland Honeyeaters and Superb fairy-wrens, but not much else in the way of birds. No raptors this visit. Continue reading →

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Birds and Fungi at Tempe – 8 February 2020

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Dave Noble

During the past few days, there had been heavy rain in the area, but it was not too bad on Saturday morning, so I joined the tempe Birdos for their monthly bird survey.

On he last survey, the Tempe Wetlands were completely dry. Now all three ponds were brim full. But it seemed that a lot fo the resident birdlife had not returned. It was relatively quiet. And we also had a rain storm in the middle of our survey, which made photography difficult. Here are some of the birds we saw – Continue reading →

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Back to Sydney Park – 6 February 2020

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Dave Noble

Rain was forecast, but looking at the rain radar, showed there was not that much rain falling in the inner west of Sydney, so I decided to make another visit to Sydney Park for some more bird photography. The bids I ended up photographing were very similar to what I had seen on my other recent trips. One new observation was a Little Grassbird.

Little Grassbird

Here are some photos – Continue reading →

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Visit to the Central Coast Wetlands – 5 February 2020

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Dave Noble

I am always on the lookout for new places to observe birds, and a while back, Bill, had suggested I visit the Central Coast Wetlands at Wyong. I looked up the area, and I could see that they could be reached by short walk from Wyong Station.

Square-tailed Kite

The Wetlands are situated on the site of an old dairy – The Pioneer Dairy, and there are still signs of the dairy in the area. I caught an early train to Wyong and it was a 15 minute walk to the Wetlands. On my visit, there was one large reedy pool – with a lot of birds present. In wetter times, some of the nearby pools do fill up. There is also Pioneer Creek which flows through the site. On my visit, the creek was very dry. There are two walks along the creek- and they were well worth doing. Continue reading →

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Burning Palms Walk – 4 February 2020

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Dave Noble

I had the pleasure to join Brian Everingham and others from the National Parks Association for a walk to Burning Palms in Royal National Park. We started at Garawarra and walked along the ridge towards Otford, and then turned off and descended down the track through the Palm Jungle to Burning Palms. The surf was far to rough to consider a side trip to the Figure Eight Pool (even though it was low tide). Then after lunch, we climbed back up to Garawarra.

In the party as well as Brian, was Sue, Bandula, Deb, Esther, Lydia and myself. We had pleasant walking weather. Continue reading →

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More Birds at Sydney Park – 3 February 2020

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Dave Noble

Again I was on the lookout for Bitterns, Crakes and Snipes, and again I had no luck spotting any. The birds I did see where very similar to what I had seen three days before, which is probably not surprising.

Australian Reed-Warbler

It was a good day for Reed-Warblers. I watched quite a few finding food and then feeding there young. Continue reading →

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Birds at Sydney Park – 31 January 2020

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Dave Noble

Sydney Park, at St Peters, is relatively close to where I live, and its a great place to observe and photograph birds. It is one place that I have neglected a bit however. I had been looking at some recent bird sightings, and it looked like the following relatively rare birds had been seen –  Little Bittern, Bailon’s Crake and Latham’s Snipe. Of these, I have only photographed the Snipe, so it would be good to visit the park and see what was around.

Welcome Swallow

I spent most of the morning at the Park. As it turned out, I did not see any of these target species. But there quite a few other nice birds. Here are some – Continue reading →

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Macquarie Rivulet – 30 January 2020

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Dave Noble

Bob and myself were keen for some canyoning, but choices were somewhat limited. One canyon that was open that neither of us had visited was Macquarie Rivulet near Albion Park.

So we travelled down to Albion Park in Bob’s car, stopped there for a break, then continued on to Macquarie Pass and stopped at the carpark at the start of Clover Hill Road. Continue reading →

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Birds at Mt Annan Botanic Gardens – 29 January 2020

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Dave Noble

I had seen some photos recently taken of an Owlet Nightjar that was living in a tree hollow at the Botanic Gardens at Mt Annan. I knew that these gardens were a good to observe and photograph birds, so decided to pay a visit.

Red-capped Robin

I caught a train to Cambelltown and then a bus to the stop just past the park entrance. From there it was a short walk to the lake with the bird hide. I spent most of the day in this one small area and was rewarded with a variety of birds. Continue reading →

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