I attended the Mudlarks Bird Survey along the Cooks River. This month , the survey was the upstream loop, from the Land Street Footbridge to the Boat Harbour then across the River to Cup and Saucer Creek Wetlands and then back down to Ewen Park for morning tea. After this I walked down the Cooks River to Gough Whitlam Park, and back to Illawarra Road for some more bird photography.
First. the birds on the Mudlarks Survey. Here are some of them. Continue reading
It was time for another visit to Malabar Headland, with hopefully the chance to observe the resident pair of Peregrine Falcons again. I headed out with Sue and Valerie, and we later met up with Alana.
As it turned out, we did see both Peregrine Falcons, but only had fleeting views of them. Continue reading
I had another attempt at photographing the Comet C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS) as it passed through Orion. I used the same setup I had used a few days before, but results were not very good – due to bushfire smoke as well as light pollution.
In the photo above, the comet is in the lower left (green colour), with no tail visible. The Nebula in Orion is on the top right. Continue reading
I visited Wolli Creek Regional Park in the afternoon, and found very little fungi out. I walked from Girrahween Park to Turrella Reserve.
The only fungi I photographed, were the same green waxcaps I had seen a week earlier. They are in a moist place under a cliff. Continue reading
I joined the Tempe Birdos for their monthly bird survey, and then later walked along the Cooks River to Illawarra Road.
I was in the group surveying Tempe Reserve. Continue reading
I had a very pleasant day spent in the Cooks River area with Valerie and Sue. After meeting at Valerie’s house, we walked to a nearby cafe and after coffee and cake we walked down to the Cooks River. We then headed downstream to Gough Whitlam Park, and later headed back upstream and walked all the way up to Canterbury Road. Along the way we saw a good variety of birds.
Here are some photos – Continue reading
I had attempted to photograph this evening comet two days earlier from my balcony in suburban Sydney. I had spotted the comet using a camera and then looking on the back screen as it was far too dim to see with the naked eye and even with binoculars. But that evening had some faint cloud. The next night was overcast, but the evening of the 5 May was clear. So back out onto the balcony with the tripod and camera.
The comet was not too hard to spot, as I had loaded its orbital elements into Stellarium planetarium software. So I knew roughly which part of the sky to look. I first took photos using a 50 mm f 1.4 lens and then examined the back screen of the camera – zoomed in, and soon spotted the distinctive green splodge of the comet. I then repositioned the camera slightly and changed to a 135 mm f 108 lens. Continue reading
I spent a very pleasant day visiting Malabar Headland National Park with Valerie and Sue, and later Alana.
We were hoping to see the resident Peregrine Falcons, and other raptors. Well, we spotted a Nankeen Kestrel early on at South Maroubra Beach. Continue reading
I joined Brian Everingham and party on a walk of the National Parks Association of NSW. Many of the party caught a train to Cronulla and then the ferry to Bundeena where we met Brian and the rest of the party and travelled in cars to the start of the Coast Track.
For most of the walk, it rained lightly, but this did not dampen our spirits. It was great to be out in this fantastic scenery. Continue reading
I had spotted some fungi on the bird survey I took part on in the morning, so in the afternoon, I went back to photograph it. I didn’t find too much as it has been very dry, and the best of what I spotted was in a moist area at the back of an overhang.
Here are some photos – Continue reading
