Reptile Park Visit – 29 July 2018

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Dave Noble

My friends John and Chuin Nee had won a family “Behind the Scenes” pass to the Australian Reptile Park at Gosford. They invited me to join them. I went along and did the normal visit rather than join them for their behind the scenes visit.

It had been a long while since I had visited the Reptile Park. My last visit was on a school excursion (as a student rather than a teacher), and since then it had changed location slightly. I remember it then as being a very interesting place  to visit. It still is.  Continue reading →

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The Lunar Eclipse and some Coastal Walking – 28 July 2018

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Dave Noble

I made some plans to view the Lunar Eclipse and try and photograph the eclipsed Moon setting behind the city buildings. I thought about some good venues for this and then used the Photographers Ephemeris App to see which location would be best. Then I would see if I could get there by either bike or public transport early on Saturday morning.

The Moon totally eclipsed

The Sun sets more to the north of west in winter, and because of the tilt of the ecliptic plain the Moon therefore sets more to the south of west. Or in other words, a good summer sunset spot would be good for the setting Moon in winter. Continue reading →

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Royal National Park – Whales and Birds – 27 July 2018

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Dave Noble

I joined Brian Everingham and a group from the National Parks Association of NSW for a photo walk at Wottamolla. We later continued with some bird photography at Audley.

In the party, as well as Brian, was Sue, Alan, Ken, Bob, Gary S, Gary B, Erden and myself. From the carpark at Wottamolla, we first walked out to Providential Point. We were hoping to see a Sea Eagle or two, but we had no luck on the day. But we did see some whales pass by quite close.  Continue reading →

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Bruce’s Walk (Western Section) – 26 July 2018

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Dave Noble

Neither Bob nor myself had visited Bruce’s Walk. It is a walking track constructed in the Blue Mountains, nor far north of the railway line, around 1931. It follows the easement of an electrical transmission line constructed shortly before, that was used when the railway line was electrified. Much of the survey work for the transmission line was carried out by Arthur Bruce, and it was likely to be him who also suggested a walking track could be constructed along the same route between Lawson and Blackheath.

The NSW Government railways even published a guidebook to the new track which can be downloaded here from Trove. Continue reading →

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Birds at Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park – 25 July 2018

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Dave Noble

This was an interesting trip to a new location for me – the Chiltern Trail (fire road) at Ingleside. I found a wealth of honeyeaters.

Spotted Pardalote

To get there by public transport was not too difficult. I caught a train to Gordon and then the 197 bus towards Mona Vale. I got off at the stop on Chiltern Road, and from there it was a 10-15 minute walk to the Trail. Continue reading →

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Birds at Centennial Park – 24 July 2018

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Dave Noble

I spent the best part of a day wandering around Centennial Park seeing what birds I could spot and photograph.

I was looking for a pair of Powerful Owls, but could not spot them. But there were a lot of other birds in the park Here are a few –  Continue reading →

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Malabar Headland – Whales and Raptors – 23 July 2018

Posted on August 5, 2018 by Dave Noble

After seeing the Peregrine Falcon my trip of 13 July, I was keen to see if it was still in the area, so I made another trip to Malabar Headland. Before you visit the headland you need to ensure the walking track is open. Unfortunately it is frequently closed because of shooting at the adjacent rifle range. So it is wise the check the NPWS Alerts Page for Malabar National Park.

I walked slowly out to Magic Point, and one there sat down to wait to see if any whales would pass by and to look out for sea birds. Continue reading →

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Asgard Plateau Weekend 21-22 August 2018

Posted on August 5, 2018 by Dave Noble

This was a pleasant bushwalking and camping trip with friends to celebrate two birthdays. We headed to a nice campsite at Asgard Swamp on the Asgard Plateau at the head of the Grose Valley at Mt Victoria.

It was a short walk (about 2 kms) to the campsite at Asgard Swamp from the Victoria Falls Fire Road. When we arrived, after setting up our tents, we went to the bottom of the swamp to get some water. However the recent drought meant that the water was very hard to extract. You could ge wet feet, but not much else. So we returned to the campsite, and then headed back about ten minutes to the first swamp. We had seen good pools of water on the walk in.  Continue reading →

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Birds at Tempe Wetlands and Reserve – 20 July 2018

Posted on August 4, 2018 by Dave Noble

I spent a nice morning at Tempe – visiting the Wetlands and Tempe Reserve mainly photographing birds.

The highlight was getting some reasonably close photos of a Spotted Pardalote. This very small birds normally are found at the top of trees, so it is good to get photos of them close to ground level.  Continue reading →

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Photographing the ISS – 18 July 2018

Posted on August 4, 2018 by Dave Noble

After seeing a friend’s photo of the International Space Station that he had taken hand held with his camera and telephoto lens I thought I would have a go. I used  this site to see when the ISS was passing over. To get a reasonable photo I think it best to have it pass over quite high in the sky (so it is closer).

Here you can make out some of the substructures of the ISS. Continue reading →

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