Bob, Nipper and Doug were keen to visit an Aboriginal art cave on the western side of the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area that I had visited a a few times. So we headed out past Lithgow and were soon walking along a fire road in the Gardens of Stone.
The country was open woodland. Continue reading
I spent a very enjoyable day at Nurragingy Reserve at Doonside. On my previous visit, I had photographed Pacific Bazas, but had been unable to photograph Azure Kingfishers. This visit made up for that. Early on, I got some reasonable photos of an Azure Kingfisher hunting for fish, and then later in the afternoon, while sitting very quietly by ne of the ponds, I was able to watch and photograph an Azure Kingfisher having a bath. This took about 20 minutes and involved the Kingfisher diving many times into the pond.
When I arrived at Nurragingy, I bumped into local photographer and videographer, Wayne, and we set off for one of the ponds to look for Azure Kingfishers. Wayne knows the area very well, and soon spotted an Azure Kingfisher, and then spotted second. Continue reading
Valerie was keen on an excursion, and I suggested a few places, and we decided to visit Oatley Park. We were lucky we spotted a nice range of birds.
Most of the birds we saw were in Lime Kiln Bay – many in Lime Kiln Bay Reserve and some in the Oatley Park section of Lime Kiln Bay. Continue reading
Another day spent photographing the raptors (mainly Ospreys) at Long Reef on the Northern Beaches.
It was a good day, but somewhat frustrating. I spent a long time watching the Opsreys and I did get some reasonable photos of them diving for fish, but none of the ones I was watching actually caught a fish. Perhaps because many of them are juveniles and simply not that good at fishing? Continue reading
This was a repeat of a nice outing I had enjoyed a few days earlier where I visited Barton Park and later walked upstream along section of the Cooks River.
During the day, I observed a good range of birds. Here are some that I photographed – Continue reading
These photos are taken on a walk from Canterbury Road, along the Cooks River to Tempe.
White-faced Heron
I had suggested a trip to Bob and Dog to visit some Aboriginal art caves along the Springwood Ridge, north of the old St Columbus Seminary at Winmalee. So we travelled to Springwood and then turned off along Hawkesbury Road and took the road to the seminary. The seminary has now been repurposed as a catholic high school and we would have to pass through private land to get to Springwood Ridge.
We were encouraged by a “welcome” sign, a short way along the road, but a bit further along was a “Trespassers Prosecuted” sign. Not soo good! We continued to some old sandstone building and asked a groundsman if there was access to the fire trail. He told us no access was allowed, so we had to start instead from the end of White Cross Road.
We crossed a creek and climbed up scrubby ridge that leads to Springwood Ridge. Then we could look for the first site. Continue reading
I spent a pleasant day visiting two locations for some birds photography. First I went to Barton Park, which includes the Landing Lights Wetland, and then I caught a bus to Tempe and walked to Gough Whitlam Park, where I had lunch. I later walked up the river to Illawarra Road.
During the day, I observed a good range of birds. Here are some that I photographed – Continue reading
After the Mudlarks Bird Survey, I joined Simin and Valerie for a walk downstream to Gough Whitlam Park and back (to Illawarra Road for me). We were looking for more birds.
I was also hoping to get some more Hobby photos, but we did not manage to spot them. Continue reading
I got up early and walked down to the Cooks River to join the Mudlarks on the Lang Street Footbridge, at 7:30 am, for their monthly bird survey. This month, the survey was the downstream circuit, through Beaman Park and over to the Golf Course, then back via the north bank past Wave Rock.
The highlight, this survey, was observing a pair of Australian Hobbys. I have seen only one Australian Hobby in the local area- and that was at Sydney Park, and these are the first I have seen along the Cooks River. Continue reading
