Claustral Canyon – 11 February 2016

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Dave Noble

I was heading up the mountains with Bob for canyon. I had suggested visiting Claustral Canyon as I had not been down it this canyon season. Bob was happy to visit it too, but we had a forecast for afternoon thunderstorms, so I would not have too much time for photography.

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Bob parked on the Bell Road and we followed the track to the canyon. An hour later we were at the first abseil, and not long later at the bottom of the abseils and in the Black Hole of Calcutta. Now it was time to unpack my camera from the dry bag and get my camera out. Continue reading →

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Leura Forest – Fungi and Slime Moulds – 10 February 2016

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Dave Noble

After seeing good fungi at Sassafras Gully at Springwood on recent trips I thought it worthwhile to head higher up the mountains and see what was out. So I headed up to Leura by train and walked the short distance down to the Leura Cascades picnic area.

Hericium coralloides

Hericium coralloides

I then headed down the track to Leura Cascades. These waterfalls are always nice to photograph, but on the day it was too sunny. Also – one the last waterfall, someone had recently built a series of “stone men” around it. It would take a long time to knock them all down. Continue reading →

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Forest Island and Bola Creek – Nature Walk – 9 February 2016

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Dave Noble

This was a pleasant morning walk organised by Brian Everingham for the National Parks Association of NSW. On the walk was Brian, Esther and myself.

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We started walking around the Forest Island Loop. This is a pleasant easy graded walk that takes you eventually to Bola Creek. Continue reading →

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Sassafras Gully – More Fungi and Slime Moulds – 7 February 2016

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Dave Noble

Atli, a nature photographer, on visit from Iceland, was keen to see the fungi in Sassafras Gully and had invited Gemma and myself to join him. We started from the track at the end of Sassafras Gully Road.

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We soon found a lot of fungi and slime moulds out, so we had a busy day with our photography. As well and fungi and slime moulds we also found other interesting things such as a mass of sawfly larvae (these later metamorphose into the sawflies that are responsible for fertilising Flying Duck Orchids). Continue reading →

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Wolli Creek Nature Walk – 6 February 2016

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Dave Noble

I was heading to a meeting at Bardwell Park, so I combined this with a walk down Wolli Creek along the Two Valleys Track – from Bexley North to Turrella.

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I was mainly looking for fungi – but there was not much interesting stuff out. Continue reading →

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Lane Cove Nature Walk – 5 February 2016

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Dave Noble

After finding some nice fungi and slime moulds in Sassafras Gully at Springwood, I thought it would be worth taking a walk down the Lane Cove Valley. I did indeed find a lot of Nature on display.

The Lane Cove River

The Lane Cove River

I caught a train to Thornleigh and walked to Thornleigh Oval and then along the Great North Walk track. Not far along I found a nice cluster of Bonnet Orchids. Continue reading →

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Fungi in Sassafras Gully – 3 February 2016

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Dave Noble

After recent rain, I thought it worthwhile to return to Sassafras Gully to record some of the fungi and slime moulds. in 2015, I began a project of regular visits to the gully for fungi photography and I intend to continue this during 2016.

Entoloma hochstetteri

Inocephalus virescens

The good rainfall has meant the fungi season has started early this year. During last year’s fungi season, on visits to Sassafras Gully one thing that became readily apparent was that different specials of fungi appear at different times. Like last season, there seems to have been an early fruiting of red waxcaps (probably all Hygrocybe miniata). Waxcaps normally fruit only in colder weather (typically May – June – July), so it is interesting that at least some types do fruit earlier, and then have another burst of fruiting later in the season. Continue reading →

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Canyon Grades – Quality and Difficulty

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Dave Noble

Here is a list of fairly popular sandstone canyons giving what I think is grading for quality (1 – 5 with 5 highest quality) and technical difficulty (E = Easy, M = Medium, H = Hard)

CanyonPic

Continue reading →

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Landing Lights Wetland – A Visit on World Wetland Day – 2 February 2016

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Dave Noble

Brian Everingham had organised a visit to the Landing Lights Wetland in the Rockdale area for the National Parks Association to mark World Wetland Day. I joined his party. This wetland is just within the Cooks River Catchment.

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I had never been to this wetland before. This was despite it being adjacent to the Cycle Path I have often ridden along that connects the Cooks River to Botany Bay. The Landing Lights Wetland is quite different to the other nearby wetlands at Cup and Saucer Creek and Tempe in that they attract a lot of migrating birds.  Continue reading →

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Bowens Creek Canyon – 31 January 2016

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Dave Noble

After visiting Hole in the Wall Canyon the day before, Dan was keen to visit Bowens Creek – South Branch on the Sunday. I had visited this canyon, not that long before, so suggested we enter it part way down via a small tributary canyon from the south. This small canyon is probably the most popular entry point to the south branch, but it had been many years since I had gone in that way. My memories of that canyon was that it was nothing special and I had tended to avoid it as it takes you in too low into the south branch. This time, it was quite nice – with high water after the thunderstorms the afternoon before.

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The party was the same as the day before – Dan Lauren, Sharon, Gabriel, Bridget, Wendy and Dave. Continue reading →

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