The Pterodactyl Cave and a Short Canyon – 16 November 2016

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Dave Noble

I had recently seen some photos of The Pterodactyl Cave on social media (such as this one taken by climbing photographer Kamil Sustiak) and it was featured in a story in Vertical Life online climbing magazine. But it didn’t seem to match any feature in the Blue Mountains that I knew. I mentioned it to Bob and we both speculated about possible locations.

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It is a current climbing development site – and climbers like to protect the secrecy of their locations until they have put up their climbs. Fair enough. But, with a bit of investigation both Bob and myself independently found out the cave’s location. It is actually a natural arch and has been known about by non aboriginal visitors since at least the 1950’s.  Continue reading →

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Photographing The Supermoon – 14 November 2016

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Dave Noble

I was not very hopeful I would be able to photograph the Supemoon. Not long before dusk it was raining. But when I checked the weather radar, the rain seemed to be rapidly moving offshore – so I though it may be worth a try.

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I caught a train to Circular Quay and then considered options. I had used a Moon Calc website, and was after a photo with the moon rising near the Opera House. The best places seemed to be near the Overseas Passenger terminal or on the Harbour Bridge. As there was a massive cruise ship at the Terminal, I headed to the bridge. Continue reading →

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Nature along the Cooks River and Wolli Creek – 14 November 2016

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Dave Noble

On this day, in the morning, I headed down to the Cooks River to see if I could locate the two sets of Tawny Frogmouth families. I could only find one of them – two chicks with one of their parents.

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Later in the afternoon I caught a bus to Earlwood and then walked down the Two Valleys Track to Turrella. I wanted to see if some orchids I had spotted on an earlier trip were in flower (they weren’t), and then I spent a fair bit of time trying to photograph the flying foxes. I wanted in particular to get some shots of the mothers flying with three babies hanging on underneath. I did manage to get a few shots – but none of them very good. Continue reading →

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Waterfall to Heathcote Walk – 10 October 2016

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Dave Noble

I forgot to record this walk I did over a month ago. It was a fairly ordinary walk from Waterfall to Heathcote via Uloola Falls and the Karloo Pool but there was a fair bit of nature on display – including many species of orchid.

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The orchids were really nice – many Caladenia Orchids, many Bearded Orchids, One Flying Duck Orchid and one Sun Orchid. Continue reading →

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Karloo Pool and Kangaroo Creek – 12 November 2016

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Dave Noble

Another hot day was forecast, and I accepted an invitation to join friends for a walk from Heathcote to Kangaroo Creek in Royal National Park. In the part were Su Li, Brent, Steffy, Martin, Chuin Nee, John, Jasper, Sebastian and myself.

The Karloo Pool

The Karloo Pool

We walked down to the Karloo Pool. I had been this way about four weeks earlier and had seen quite a few orchids out. This trip I found none. Continue reading →

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Erskine Creek Walk – 12 November 2016

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Dave Noble

Bob was back from a trip overseas and was keen on a walk. He had Saturday free, so we met at Glenbrook and then headed into the national park. It was quite a hot day, and our plan was to walk down from Pisgah Rock to Erskine Creek where there are plenty of nice swimming holes.

Erskine Creek

Erskine Creek

It didn’t take long to scramble down the track from Pisgah Rock to Erskine Creek. Straight away we had a swim in the huge pool at the junction with Lincoln Creek. After looking at the nearby rapids, we walked up to the campsite and then headed upstream to the Dadder Cave. Continue reading →

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Oatley Park and Lime Kiln Bay – 11 November 2016

Posted on November 17, 2016 by Dave Noble

This was an easy walk and a very enjoyable day spent with two other David’s – Digi Dave and David Hufton.

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We started at the lookout above Oatley Park, and spent some time photographing some of the parrots and other birds. Then we headed down to the foreshore and followed the nice bush track around a loop around the point. Continue reading →

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Burramoko Head and Hanging Rock 9 – 10 November 2016

Posted on November 17, 2016 by Dave Noble

This was my second attempt in recent weeks to try and get some good photographs of Hanging Rock and the cliffs of the Grose Valley near Burramoko Head. My earlier trip to the head had been during very fine weather. Conditions were nice but not atmospheric. This time I walked out from Blackheath in light rain. The forecast for the next morning was “possible mist”, so I was more hopeful.

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Like the last trip, it was a pleasant walk out – with a multitude of wildflowers out, including many Waratahs. On the last trip, I thought that most of the Waratahs were looking a little old – a bit past their best. I was therefore surprised this trip to find many fresh ones out. Nice! Continue reading →

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Nature along the Cooks River – 7 and 8 November 2016

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Dave Noble

I spent a pleasant few hours on Monday and Tuesday on the banks of the Cooks River between Dulwich Hill and Canterbury photographing the wildlife.

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On the Monday, I happened to bump into Ken, who had come along the week before to photograph the Tawny Frogmouth chicks. He was in the area and had a bit of time spare to he thought it could be spent along the river again.  Continue reading →

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Bush Regeneration at Barrenjoey – 5-6 November 2016

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Dave Noble

Our group spent a productive two days at Barrenjoey – doing some weeding – mainly in the area near the lighthouse over the weekend.

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One thing about Barrenjoey is that we see a lot of wildlife while we are there. Last time we weeded there, we spotted a pod of dolphins, some penguins and a seal  resting on the rocks. This time we saw number of raptors including sea eagles and a peregrine falcon as well as a lot of other birds and also Blue Tongue Lizards and a number of different insects. Continue reading →

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