I spent a pleasant morning joining in with the Tempe Birdos for their monthly bird survey.
It was fairly quiet at the wetlands – there did not seem to be any visible waterbird chicks. But not far along the path, we did spot some Wattlebird chicks. The parents were nearby. Continue reading
Last year, during July, I had visited Flat Rock Creek as part of the Round Willoughby Walk. It is an attractive remnant of bush at Naremburn above Tunks Park. I was recently dismayed to learn that the Berejiklian Government plans to destroy a large section of the area and use it as a tunnel site for a future tollway to the Northern Beaches. So I thought it worth visiting the area again and seeing what could be lost.
I entered the Flat Rock Creek area via the same track I had used last year. This path traverses a bit then descends to the creek. Not far along I saw a beautiful Green Tree Snake very close to the track. These snakes travel quite rapidly and are hard to photograph. Continue reading
I spent an interesting day with Digi Dave wandering around Oatley Park looking for birds, flowers and other things to photograph.
Flying Duck Orchid
Quite a number of birds were out. Here are some that we saw – Continue reading
It was a wet day, so I thought a short visit to the local wetlands would be a suitable activity. I managed to spot a few birds, but often had to photograph them under an umbrella.
Here are some of the birds I saw – Continue reading
I made another trip to the Northern Beaches with the purpose of getting more photos of the Peregrine Falcon fledglings. I went out to the cliffs where I had observed them before – but on this visit I was unsuccessful. Perhaps due to the weather? It was warm and very still – no breeze at all. Perhaps they don’t like to fly in those conditions?
After wanting to see if they were around, I walked back to the beach, and there met Ken and John. They had also travelled up with the same purpose – photographing the Falcons. I told them I had not seen the birds, but by this time they may be around, so we then set out together back to the cliffs. But still no luck. Continue reading
This was a very interesting day catching up with a group of old friends and visiting some old railway disused railway tunnels between Waterfall and Stanwell Park. In the party were Keith, Rose, Chris, Otto, Roger and myself. I had visited some of these tunnels a few years earlier.
Glow Worms in the Metropolitan Tunnel
We met up at Helensburgh, near the present railway station. The first tunnel we looked at was the old Helensburgh Tunnel. This is very close to the station and is quite short in length. It is also one that is fenced off – so we could not walk through it. Continue reading
I spent an interesting afternoon photographing the birds at Landing Lights Wetland at Barton Park.
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Quite a few of the usual residents were present including White-headed Stilts and White-faced Herons as well as various ducks. But there were also quite a few Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and one Black-faced Dotterel. Continue reading
A very hot day was forecast, so it seemed a good time to visit some canyons. I travelled up the mountains with Bob and Doug. After coffee stop at Lawson, we decided to do Jugglers Canyon and then the Grand Canyon.
Bob abseiling into the Grand Canyon
We drove out to the airfield at Medlow Bath and there Bob parked the car. We packed our gear for the canyons and took a 40 m rope. It was short walk down to Jugglers Canyon. We used the rope for a hand-over-hand and soon found ourselves at the first abseil. Continue reading
I travelled up to the Northern Beaches on what turned out to be quite a hot day.
Ruddy Turnstone
The tide was low in the morning, so I first went out onto some rock platforms at the end of Long Reef. I first spotted the more usual birds. On my way out, a Nankeen Kestrel flew overhead. Continue reading
I spent another day out on Malabar Headland. On this visit there were whales – but they were a long way out and cruising past rather than breeching or tail slapping. Also – The Peregrine Falcons were not that active.
As I walked out, I could hear quite a few birds in the heath – but they tended to stay in the heath. Perhaps because it was a warm day? I did manage to photograph a Golden-headed Cisticola – Continue reading
