I spent a very pleasant and interesting day at Nurragingy Reserve photographing mainly birds. The highlights were a family of Australasian Grebes and the Sacred Kingfishers.
I started with the Australasian Grebes. There were four chicks – often residing on their mother’s back, which is what Grebes do. The parents are basically mobile nests. Continue reading
I travelled up to the sea cliffs of the Northern Beaches of Sydney again to hopefully photograph some young Peregrine Falcons. I was hoping that the chicks may have fledged.
I for that one of two chicks had fledged and appears to be flying well. The second chick seems to be a lot less developed, and while it could fly between rock ledges, I never saw it do a large flight. It also exhibited some strange behaviour that perhaps indicates a problem. Continue reading
I joined Valerie and Sue for a visit to Sculpture By The Sea – 2024. We started at Bondi Beach and walked to Tamarama Beach and then returned the same way – so we could see most of the sculptures twice. And by “most” – I mean that not all of them were assembled or in place.
Here are some photos – Continue reading
Bob and myself had been talking about doing the under cliff walk between Dee Why and Curl Curl for some time now – but to do it requires not only a low tide, but a very low tide. And with some probable wading – it would be good to attempt it during the warmer months. We had suitable conditions on the afternoon of the 17 October. That left us the morning to visit some Aboriginal Art sites in the area.
Bob picked me up at Gordon Station, and on the way, we stopped off at St Ives to see another heritage horse trough. This one is an Annie and George Bill Horse Trough – Continue reading
I had previously photographed Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS as an early morning object. It was then quite bright. It had now been around the Sun and was visible as an evening object. I had looked a few nights earlier and had no luck spotting it. There were some clouds and it was probably still too close to the Sun. This afternoon had stated cloudy, but the clouds seemed to be lifting as evening approached. I made my way to Dulwich Hill Station – a place that gives a reasonable view to the west.
It took a long while to spot the comet (forgetting to bring binoculars didn’t hep). I eventually spotted it on the back screen of my camera, and then centred the camera on it and took more exposures. Here are two photos –
I visited some of the local Tawny Frogmouths during the afternoon.
I stared at Morton Park on Canterbury Road. I spotted both adult Tawny Frogmouths perched close to each other in a tree. Previously, I had seen on on a nest, so I assume their nest has failed.
Next, I caught a bus to Canterbury, and then started walking down the Cooks River. Continue reading
I met up with Sue and we spent an enjoyable morning at Sydney Park wandering around looking for birds. We spotted a wide range of interesting birds during our visit.
Here are some that we saw – Continue reading
I joined Sue for an excellent day visiting Taronga Park Zoo. Here are some of the animals we saw –
I made another visit to the Northern Beaches, with the intention of first having a look at some sites at Warriewood, then spending the rest of the day at Long Reef. But there was enough to keep me busy at Warriewood, so that was where I spent my time.
I first visited Rat Park to check out the Osprey nest. Both adult birds were present, and I noticed they have relocated their nest to a different light pole. Continue reading
After the Tempe Bird Survey, and then morning tea, I caught a bus up the Princes Highway to Sydney Park for some more bird photography. Here are some of the birds I saw.
The highlight was this Bailon’s Crake –
