I was able to take part in the Mudlarks monthly bird survey along a section of the Cooks River. With then end of daylight saving, the group now meets at 7:30 am on the Lang Street Footbridge. This month, the group were surveying downstream.
Here are some of the birds we spotted – Continue reading
I joined Brian Everingham and others from the National Parks Association of NSW for a visit to two heritage sites in Sydney Harbour – Cockatoo Island and Newington Armory. In the party was Brian, Valerie, Sue, Vivienne, Suzanne and myself.
I had never visited Cockatoo Island before and it certainly is a most interesting place. It is easy to reach via ferry and visitors are free to wander around most of the Island. It has many levels of heritage. It was first a meeting place for first Australians. Then with arrival of Europeans, the Island has a deep convict heritage – anda lot of convict era buildings remain. Then it later became a major shipyard – and it has a lot of industrial heritage. Continue reading
I spent another day at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve on the Northern Beaches. I was after more photos of raptors. In particular Ospreys. They turned out to be the only raptors I saw. There were no Sea Eagles, or Kestrels of Black-shouldered Kites this time. With the Ospreys, I did mange to get some reasonable shots, but no good action shots of them diving for fish.
When I arrived, the tide was low, so I ventured out onto the rock platform looking for the migratory birds. There were still lots around. Here are some – Continue reading
The day and evening before had been very wet. But I woke up to fine morning – so I headed down to the Cooks River for a walk, and to see what birds were out. The path along the river was very muddy and under water in spots. Many of the mangroves were garnished in plastic carried down by floodwaters.
It was very quiet at first – not many birds were out. A lot of the rocks and the lower parts of trees were covered in mud. Continue reading
I had been wanting to visit the old White Bay Power Station for a while now since I heard it had reopened to the public. My friends Valerie and Sue were also keen to make a visit. It seemed good place to visit on a wet day, when it is not so nice being outdoors. We did plan a visit, but when working out the details, we found it was closed that day (a Monday).
Thursdays are usually spent bushwalking with Bob, but he was unavailable this week, and as wet weather was forecast, it seemed an ideal time to go. Both Sue and Valerie were able to come along as well. Valerie had already made an earlier visit, but was happy to go again, and act and guide and to see parts she may have missed. Continue reading
I visiited Barton Park in the morning and Sydney Park later in the afternoon.
My last visit to Barton Park had been a short one – and a very quiet one. There were very few birds, and no unusual ones there. This visit was a LOT better – with 4 raptors seen as well as 6 Black-fronted Dotterels.
On my last visit to the park, I had expected Dotterels in the Landing Lights Wetland as the water level was low – exposing the mudflats for the Dotterels to feed on. But none were seen. This visit made up for that. There were six Black-fronted Dotterels feeding on the mudflats – Continue reading
I spent an interesting morning on a section of the Cooks River – between Illawarra Road and Gough Whitlam Park, trying to avoid some showers of rain.
It seemed fairly quiet at first. Not too many birds about. It was low tide.
Here are some birds – Continue reading
Reasonable weather was forecast – warm, but I was hoping for a sea breeze, so I decided to head back up to Long Reef to try and photograph the Ospreys and any other raptors that turned up.
When I arrived, I had a good look around for any Ospreys but could not spot any. The tide was on the way up, but still low enough to venture out onto the rock platform and look for migratory birds.
I didn’t have a very good look, as there was a fair bit of water over the rocks in places, but I did spot quite a few Ruddy Turnstones. Perhaps 20 of them. Continue reading
I was keen to get out outdoors and a walk down Terrys Creek sounded like a good idea. Valerie was keen for a walk, and had never visited this creek before. She was happy yo drive us both up to Epping. I was hoping for some fungi – but during the day, I didn’t even unpack my tripod and fungi camera. But there were some birds – and the highlight was spotting three Powerful Owls.
The first Powerful Owl we saw was roosting high up in a tree, and partially hidden behind foliage – Continue reading
I joined my friends John and Chuin Nee, their two boys Jasper and Sebastian, two of their friends Sam and Amy, and also Don on a nice walk at Voyager Point Wetland Reserve on the Georges River. Later, we were joined by Digi Dave.
The reserve is easy to reach from East Hills Station. To get there you cross this footbridge over the Georges River. The bridge is very close to the station. Continue reading
