I was fortunate to be able to photograph a magnificent Powerful Owl at Cheltenham recently. It is the male of a nesting pair. The female was not visible at the time, it was sitting on eggs in a nest hole in a tree nearby.
I did not find this owl. I was grateful to Steve for showing me where it was. He regularly observes the owls.
Digi Dave suggested another visit to Bola Creek in Royal National Park to see how the fungi was going. It sounded like a good idea.
Around the picnic area, we did not find a lot out. We did find plenty of fish Mycena and a few waxcaps. We then explored up the creek. Again there was a fair bit out – but not a huge amount. I had expected more given the rain that has fallen in the area recently. But later Digi Dave ventured off the track in a few places and located some wonderful fresh fungi – especially corals. Continue reading
This was another interesting day looking for fungi at Ferndale Park at Chatswood and then continuing down Swaines Creek to the Lane Cove River and some more photography of Ospreys. It was really the repeat of a trip I had done on 27 June. But this time conditions were different. When I started looking for fungi at Ferndale Park the weather was OK, but it became gloomier and then here was a major storm. Heavy rain fell for about 30 minutes – so much fell that the creek went up and I could not get across it. I needed to cross to eventually walk down to the river. I ended up walking out another track, then along some roads, then down a track that led to the far side.
Anyway, sone nice fungi was out. This included some nice waxcaps and some very fresh Cortinarius. I’ll start with the waxcaps – Continue reading
I was back from Tasmania and Bob was keen on a mid-week bushwalk. The weather forecast was not looking too good – showers. So we decided not to go up the mountains, and instead chose to visit a place neither of us had been before – Popran National Park. We intended to do circuit walk in the park and visit the Emerald Pool.
Bob drove up the northern motorway and turned off and headed for Mangrove Mountain. We were soon on Ironbark Road. I had also wanted to visit Ironbark Falls, which don’t seem to be marked on any map, but not far along the road, we noticed a sign for Ironbark Falls Reserve. We would investigate the falls on the way back if we had time. Continue reading
It had been a while since I had visited Sassafras Gully at Springwood looking for fungi. It is one of the places I have been visiting regularly, but it had been fairly dry in the lower Blue Mountains compared to the coast, so I was not that hopeful. On this trip, I was accompanied by Liz Kabanoff. She is very good at spotting fungi and it was good to have her along.
We entered the valley via the Wiggins Track which leaves from near Bee Farm Road. The track has just reopened after it had been closed for a year or more due to asbestos being dumped near the start of the track. Straight away, we found quite a few Cortinarius out. Here are some – Continue reading
Here is a selection of fungi that I found along the Lane Cove Valley – on a walk from Thornleigh to Macquarie Park. I followed the Great North Walk track from Thornleigh Oval as far as the De burghs Bridge, then followed the Riverside Track to Porters Creek, then back up the road to the Lane Cove National Park entrance.
A reasonable amount of fungi was out. In particular there were a lot of Cortinarius out. Here are some – Continue reading
I spent an amazing day of bird photography in the Northern beaches area. The main bird I photographed were Eastern Ospreys.
I caught a B-line bus to Warriewood and walked to one of the sporting fields near Narrabeen Lagoon where I had seen an Osprey nest on previous visits. As soon as I arrived, I could see at least one fo the birds was there. And it was active – going for short flights. I was able to get some reasonable photos. Continue reading
I was able to attend a celebration day at Lithgow organised by Janine Kitson for the Gardens of Stone Alliance and the Colong Foundation to pay tribute to the life and work of Vern and Joyce Moffitt. The Moffitts were strong unionists and environmentalist based at Lithgow and the first to propose protecting the pagoda landscapes of the Gardens of Stone.
A large number of retired unionists and conservationists, after arriving at Lithgow, then travelled by bus to the lookout at Dobbs Drift. This is a beautiful pagoda area overlooking Lithgow. Continue reading
I spent an interesting afternoon at Barton Park photographing the birdlife. It was a good day for raptors.
I cycled there, and first visited the Landing Lights Wetland. It was quiet. The quietest I have ever seen it. No ducks, no stilts, no avocets. Only two White-faced Herons. Continue reading
I spent an interesting day at Bola Creek in Royal National Park with Digi Dave looking for and photographing fungi.
A reasonable amount was out. Not as much as I had been hoping for – since the area had had a lot of rain recently. But I think more will pair over the next few weeks. Here are some of what we observed – Continue reading
