Moffitt Pagodas Celebration – 5 December 2018

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Dave Noble

This was a very interesting and pleasant day spent at Lithgow and the gardens of Stone. It was organised by Janine Kitson for the Colong Foundation For Wilderness. It was to give recognition to Vern and Joyce Moffitt who were strong unionists and conservationists from the Lithgow area. They were the first to recognise the significance to the pagodas that form the Gardens of Stone and campaign for their protection.

Vern Moffitt was a coal miner and also very active in the union movement. On the celebration day, a large contingent of retired unionists travelled by train from Sydney to Lithgow to show their support for the efforts the Moffitts had made and also to support the Gardens of Stone.  Continue reading →

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Malabar Headland National Park – 4 December 2018

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Dave Noble

I spent another pleasant day in Malabar Headland National Park.

White-bellied Sea Eagle

It was a reasonably windy day, so that would mean good conditions for raptors – ie they should be flying. So I went out to where I had seen the Peregrine Falcons. I soon spotted one perched on the cliffs – but it seemed  very settled.  Continue reading →

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Watsons Bay to Dover Heights – 3 December 2018

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Dave Noble

This was a short afternoon walk along the Coastal Path between The Gap and Dover Heights. I caught a ferry from Circular Quay to Watsons Bay then walked to The Gap. I was on the lookout for birds and in particular raptors, but those I saw were not very close.

Its still a very nice walk along the Coastal Path, past the Signal Station to the Macquarie Lighthouse, then around Diamond Bay. In the far distance I spotted a Nankeen Kestrel. But it didn’t fly very close.  Continue reading →

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Mt Hay Canyon – 2 December 2018

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Dave Noble

Thanks to Su Li for organising this trip through the excellent Mt Hay Canyon. In the party, as well as Su Li were Martin, Steffy, Jim, Deidree and myself.

It was a warm day, but a very windy one, and it was the wind that made conditions a bit unpleasant – especially on the tops. We set off from the carpark and along the track to the canyon. We completed two abseils down the side creek to get into Rocky Points Ravine. The canyon starts a short way downstream. Continue reading →

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Photographing the International Space Station – 2 Dec 2018

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Dave Noble

I got up early on the morning of the 2nd December, before 4 am, in order to photograph the ISS as it passed over Sydney. I had used the ISS app on my phone to see where the Space Station was likely to be in a good position for photography (you can also use websites like this NASA one)Its orbit oscillates and every few months it can be in a suitable spot either as an early evening object or a just before dawn. It needs to be those times in order to be seen at night, and still illuminated by the Sun.

Often the ISS passes over a fair way from your location, and at a low angle – eg 20° above the horizon at its maximum angle, and therefore not that bright. This morning was forecast to be a maximum angle of 84° and a brightness of magnitude -3.6 (the brightest star, Sirius, has a maximum brightness of -1.6, and Venus has a maximum brightness of -4.4, so the ISS should be quite bright). Also, at an angle of 90°, the ISS would be straight overhead at its closest approach. Its height above Earth varies from 330 km and 435 km.   Continue reading →

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Dundundra Falls and Chiltern Trail – 30 November 2018

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Dave Noble

On this day I combined two areas together. The main purpose was to see and photograph some waterfalls, but I was also hoping for some birds.

Dundundra Falls lies in a small reserve in bushland at Terry Hills. It is just up and join Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park. The topo map shoes the falls in Dardabong Reserve, but the information sign in the reserve has it as Dundundra Falls Reserve.  Continue reading →

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Uloola Falls Walk – 29 November 2018

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Dave Noble

I had been meaning to revisit Uloola Falls in Royal National Park for a while, and thought the falls may be nice after recent rain.

Uloola Falls

I caught a train to Waterfall and started walking along the track to Uloola Falls. On the way there was some light rain. There were some nice wildflowers out. Here are some – Continue reading →

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Flat Rock Creek – 28 November 2018

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Dave Noble

The 28th of November was a wet day in Sydney. Wet days are good days to photograph waterfalls and creeks. However too much rain can cause a lot of difficulties – wet camera, water droplets and condensation on the lens, flooded creeks etc. I had been watching the    weather radar and the rain seemed to be easing off in the afternoon. So I thought a quick visit to Flat Rock Creek at Naremburn could be worthwhile.

I caught a train to Artarmon and then started walking down the path towards Flat Rock Creek. The walking path was quite wet, and further down, where it joins a cycleway – there was a lot of debris over the path and also a few fallen trees. It looked like a few hours earlier – the water levels would have been quite amazing judging by where the debris was. Continue reading →

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Raptors of the Northern Beaches – 27 November 2018

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Dave Noble

I spent a day in the Northern Beaches area photographing Raptors. I first called in to a sporting field where I had previously seen a family of Eastern Osprey nesting on a high lamp post. The birds where quite active on this visit.

I think that the nest is occupied by three juvenile Ospreys. I saw two of them flying. When I arrived there were two birds sitting in the nest.  Continue reading →

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Malabar Headland National Park – 26 November 2018

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Dave Noble

I spent another interesting day at Malabar Headland National Park. As on me recent visits, I was on the lookout for the resident Peregrine Falcons. I saw them – but only briefly, but I also saw another nice raptor – a Brown Falcon.

Brown Falcon

It was a good day to be at the sea cliffs. There was a powerful surf. Fine warm weather also brought out a lot of lizards and I also spotted a small Red-bellied Black Snake later in the day. It was right on a sandy part of the track. Continue reading →

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