I decided to visit the Cooks River to see what birds were around. I caught a bus along Illawarra Road, and was soon walking down along the south bank of the River. I was planning on meeting Sue, who was coming by train to Tempe, and then walking upstream. We met at Gough Whitlam Park.
Walking down from Illawarra Road, I spotted a Little Pied Cormorant – Continue reading
I met Sue in the city, and we headed to the Botanic Gardens with the hope of spotting the resident Powerful Owls. On this visit we spotted both the pair quite easily.
Here is one of the Powerful Owls –
Another hot day was forecast, but I was keen to head outdoors for the morning, when it was cooler, so I decided to visit the Boat Harbour area on the Cooks River, where there is nice shade and often a cool breeze.
There was a low tide, so I was hoping that the Little Heron would again be hunting in the Boat Harbour.
While walking from Canterbury Road, I spotted a Great Egret fly upstream and land on a shallow part of the riverbed. Continue reading
I once again headed out with Sue and Valerie for a birding excursion. This time we headed to Audley once again. On our last visit, we had seen a good range of birds. This visit was a lot quieter – perhaps due to hot weather. But, a hot day was forecast, and it was nice to sit in the shade at the Wattle Forest.
We spent some time watching an Azure Kingfisher hunting for fish on the fair side of the Hacking River. Unfortunately too far away for good photos. Continue reading
I met up with Sue and Valerie at Sydney Park at St Peters. We spent a pleasant few hours there looking at the local birds.
Walking down the ponds, we spotted an Australasian Darter on the gabion. Continue reading
I had a pleasant day out with Valerie and Sue, first visiting the Miss Llewella Davies Pioneer Walkway at Camden, and then visiting the Mt Annan Botanic Gardens.
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
I went on a trip with Bob and Doug to visit a very good Aboriginal art cave in the Northern Blue Mountains. Apparently, this cave, which as been called the “Cave of Many Hands” was only rediscovered relatively recently – in 2019 I think.
The amazing thing about this cave is that is that it features over 100 well preserved white hand stencils.
The trip started with a long drive and then a short walk through open woodland to reach the cave. Continue reading
I once again joined Valerie and Sue for another day of local birding. we first visited Barton Park, then went to Gough Whitlam Park on the Cooks River, and later, upstream to the Boat Harbour.
Easier in the day, I had met up with Sue at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney where we had looked unsuccessfully for the Powerful Owls. After this we headed to Martin Place and caught a bus to Abbotsford – where we visited Hen and Chicken Bay to look for the Bar-tailed Godwits that often feed there at this time of the year during low tide.
We would have spotted about 50 of the migratory Godwits as we walked along the Bay. Some, like the one in the photo above are showing signs of breeding plumage. Continue reading
Another hot day was forecast. I was keen to head outside, so caught a bus to Canterbury, then walked the short dance down the Cooks River to the Boat Harbour. There is plenty of if shade there, and I had timed my visit for the low tide when I hoped some birds may be hunting for fish.
Pelican Continue reading
