Cape Baily Walk – 3 October 2024

About a year ago, I had been on a walk with Valerie to the Cape Baily area of Kamay Botany Bay National Park and been amazed by the magnificent flannel flowers that were out. I suggested to Valerie and Sue another visit to see how they were going this season. We all had an amazing day in the full splendour of Nature.

It was a day with a lot of highlights! The Flannel Flowers were magnificent. The sandstone patterns and the cliffs were great. We had very good experiences observing raptors, especially a pair of Nankeen Kestrels and an amazing flying display from a Peregrine Falcon. And then a pod of Dolphins appeared just below us, and appeared to be rounding up fish. Continue reading

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Birds at Sydney Park – 2 October 2024

After a morning at Barton Park, I ventured out again in the afternoon when the weather improved a lot. I went to Sydney Park.

Here are some photos – Continue reading

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BIrds at Barton Park – 2 October 2024

I made a morning visit to Barton Park and Landing Lights Wetland. It was probably mistake, as it was raining on and off while I was there and this made photography difficult and probably made it less likely that birds would appear.

Here are some of the birds I saw – Continue reading

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Birds at Rookwood Necropolis – 1 October 2024

I once again made a morning trip to Rookwood Necropolis to photograph birds. Last year, around this time, I made a number of trips there to photograph a nesting pair of Brown Goshawks and then later, their chicks. It was a very interesting experience. This season, I have made two earlier trips to the Necropolis, and on the first, I spotted a single Brown Goshawk, and on the second, I could hear one calling, but not see it. This visit, I did not see or hear one. Nor did I see any possible newly built nests.

But there were some other nice birds there. Not long after I arrived at the bushy part of the Necropolis – near Serpentine Creek, I spotted a large grown bird flying amongst the trees. Was it a Brown Goshawk? No, it turned out to be a pair of Channel-billed Cuckoos. Surprisingly they were not making their raucous call. They seemed to be on the lookout for Currawong nests, and the local Currawongs and Magpies were swopping down at them. Continue reading

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Photographing Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS – 1 October 2024

There was an opportunity to photograph the Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in recent days. The comet was briefly visible in the eastern morning sky just before dawn. I had set my alarm for 4 am, but when I looked outside it was cloudy. The next morning was also forecast to be cloudy, so I didn’t even look outside. But on the first of October conditions were a lot better. I walked to nearby Marrickville Park, where I hoped I would get a good view of the sky near the eastern horizon. Would I be able to spot the comet in the light pollution of Sydney?

It was easy to spot the comet. I could not see it with the naked eye, but I could with binoculars. It also was visible in the screen on the back of the camera. The time was about 4:30 am. Continue reading

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Peregrine Falcons on the Sea Cliffs – 30 September 2024

I travelled up to the Northern Beaches and walked out onto the sea cliffs to photograph a nesting pair of Peregrine Falcons.

I would appear that the Peregrine Falcon’s nesting is going well. We may see young in a few weeks. Continue reading

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Cooks River Birds and Audrey’s Party – 29 September 2024

There was a party on at lunchtime at Steel Park on the Cooks River. I decided to walk down the River from Canterbury Road and photographed the birds I saw as I went.

And there were a number of Tawny Frogmouths, including some nesting –

And here is a Magpie Lark nest with chicks –  Continue reading

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Greenway Bird Survey – 28 September 2024

It was time for the early morning bird survey along Dulwich Hill section of The Greenway.

Here are some of the birds we saw –

Rainbow Lorikeet

Continue reading

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Malabar Headland 27 September 2024

I joined Valerie and Sue for a very nice day spent on Malabar Headland. We were fortunate to observe a great display of Nature – whales, orchids and Peregrine Falcons.

Walking out from Maroubra Beach, the Flannel Flowers were out – Continue reading

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Lapstone Monocline Walk – 26 September 2024

Last week, on my walk with Bob, we had changed plans at last minute due to a total fire ban and the closure of tracks in Royal National Park. This week we decided to not do the Royal National Park walk due to forecast cool wet weather. Instead, we settled on a visit to the Lapstone Monocline and check out new work on the tracks and lookouts.

So Bob drove up to Glenbrook,and after a coffee stop, we parked at Knapsack Park, a large sports ground, and then were soon walking into Knapsack Reserve. Continue reading

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