Easter in the Blue Breaks 19 – 22 April 2019

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Dave Noble

Wendy invited me to join her on a walk through part of the Blue Breaks during Easter. Also in the party was Keith. The Blue Breaks is a remote part of the Southern Blue Mountains. It is also a very rugged area.

We started the trip, with a log drive to Yerranderie via roads that pass close to Oberon and Mt Werong.

Even with an early start, we did not arrive at Yerranderie till after 11 am. Wendy parked her car at the campground near the old Police Station, and then we set off down an old farm road to the Tonalli River. Continue reading →

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Swallows at Malabar Headland National Park – 17 April 2019

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Dave Noble

I made a visit to Malabar Headland National Park to do some bird photography. I was mainly looking for raptors, but had no success. I found quite a few honeyeaters – mostly New Holland Honeyeaters. But the main subjects of my visit turned out to be a flock of Welcome Swallows.

There seem to be a few collective rounds for Swallows. One of them is a “kettle”. On the southern side of the headland, I came across a large flock in the one small area. I was able to get quite close and photograph them in flight. They were clearly after small flying insects. Here are some of my photos of them competing for prey – Continue reading →

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Taronga Zoo – 15 April 2019

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Dave Noble

I made another visit to Taronga Zoo. This was not long after my previous visit. On that occasion I had been able to get some reasonable photos of the baby Tiger cubs but the baby Red Panda cubs had been asleep during my time at the Zoo. This time I was more successful.

It took a few visits, but at last the Red panda triplets were more active, and very cute exploring their environment. Continue reading →

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Fungi at Ferndale Park – 14 April 2019

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Dave Noble

I spent a pleasant morning at Ferndale Park at Chatswood photographing fungi. It had been two weeks since my previous visit, and since that time a lot of fungi had fruited. Some of what I found this visit was now looking a bit dried out, but a fair bit was fresh.

I was on the lookout for waxcaps, and found two varieties. One was a shiny  red species, perhaps Hygrocybe erythrocala. Continue reading →

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Fungi at Coachwood Glen – 13 April 2019

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Dave Noble

This was a very fruitful field activity of The Sydney Fungal Studies Group Inc. With a lot of people looking for fungi, a fascinating collection was observed.

I had been to Coachwood Glen, not long before and that had been a very interesting visit. On this occasion, we found some of the same fungi – looking a bit drier, but also quite a git of fresh fungi. The highlight, for me, was observing some interesting waxcaps. These are all probably the multicolour Hygrocybe iropus. Some of them, had a beautiful blue hue.  Continue reading →

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Birds at The Landing Lights Wetland – 12 April 2019

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Dave Noble

I made a repeat visit to the Landing Lights Wetland at Barton Park. Last visit I had observed a pair of Black-shouldered Kites and I was interested to see if they were still in the vicinity. I had an interesting afternoon.

When I arrived at the wetlands, I noticed the usual ducks, stilts and a few Black-fronted Dotterels. Continue reading →

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Fungi at Bola Creek – 11 April 2019

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Dave Noble

I spent a day at Bola Creek in Royal National Park observing and photographing fungi and slime moulds. I was accompanied by Digi Dave.

Conditions were a bit dry, but nevertheless, a number of species were out. This included the Toothed Jellies (Pseudohydnum gelatinosum) – Continue reading →

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Lapstone Monocline Walk – 10 April 2019

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Dave Noble

This was another walk led by Brian Everingham for the National Parks Association (and The Bush Club). It was to a place in the lower Blue Mountains that I had mostly never visited before – the Lapstone Monocline.

As well as walking through interesting bush with a lot of wildlife – particularly birds, there was a lot of history – old roads, railways and bridges associate with them. In the party, as well as Brian and myself, were Sue, Helen, Jacqui, Kevin, Paul, Jenny, Neville and Stuart. Continue reading →

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Taronga Zoo – 9 April 2019

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Dave Noble

It had been a while since I had visited the Zoo, and I had recently heard that there were three new Sumatran Tigers Cubs and also three Red Panda Cubs to see. So the main focus of my visit was to photograph these new arrivals.

I entered the Zoo via the bottom entrance and walked the short distance to the red Panda enclosures. I could see the triplets sleeping behind a bush. I could get some photos of them – but they didn’t get active the whole day. Continue reading →

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Out with the Mudlarks – 9 April 2019

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Dave Noble

I spent a few hours down on the Cooks River with the Mudlarks – the newly formed group that surveys the birdlife along the Cooks River. It is a subgroup of the Cooks River Valley Association. We met up at 7am near the bridge at Lang Road. This was their second meeting. Their first survey had been upstream, this time we would be slowly walk downstream and recorded what birds we observed.

We continued down to the bridge at the golf course, then crossed to the north side and walked slowly back to Ewan Park for morning tea. Here are some of the birds we saw – Continue reading →

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