Visit to White Bay Power Station – 4 April 2024

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Dave Noble

I had been wanting to visit the old White Bay Power Station for a while now since I heard it had reopened to the public. My friends Valerie and Sue were also keen to make a visit. It seemed good place to visit on a wet day, when it is not so nice being outdoors. We did plan a visit, but when working out the details, we found it was closed that day (a Monday).

Thursdays are usually spent bushwalking with Bob, but he was unavailable this week, and as wet weather was forecast, it seemed an ideal time to go. Both Sue and Valerie were able to come along as well. Valerie had already made an earlier visit, but was happy to go again, and act and guide and to see parts she may have missed. Continue reading →

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Birds at Barton Park and Sydney Park – 3 April 2024

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Dave Noble

I visiited Barton Park in the morning and Sydney Park later in the afternoon.

My last visit to Barton Park had been a short one – and a very quiet one. There were very few birds, and no unusual ones there. This visit was a LOT better – with 4 raptors seen as well as 6 Black-fronted Dotterels.

On my last visit to the park, I had expected Dotterels in the Landing Lights Wetland as the water level was low – exposing the mudflats for the Dotterels to feed on. But none were seen. This visit made up for that. There were six Black-fronted Dotterels feeding on the mudflats – Continue reading →

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Cooks River Birds – 2 April 2024

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Dave Noble

I spent an interesting morning on a section of the Cooks River – between Illawarra Road and  Gough Whitlam Park, trying to avoid some showers of rain.

It seemed fairly quiet at first. Not too many birds about. It was low tide.

Here are some birds – Continue reading →

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Back to Long Reef for the Raptors – 1 April 2024

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Dave Noble

Reasonable weather was forecast – warm, but I was hoping for a sea breeze, so I decided to head back up to Long Reef to try and photograph the Ospreys and any other raptors that turned up.

When I arrived, I had a good look around for any Ospreys but could not spot any. The tide was on the way up, but still low enough to venture out onto the rock platform and look for migratory birds.

I didn’t have a very good look, as there was a fair bit of water over the rocks in places, but I did spot quite a few Ruddy Turnstones. Perhaps 20 of them. Continue reading →

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Terrys Creek Walk – 31 March 2024

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Dave Noble

I was keen to get out outdoors and a walk down Terrys Creek sounded like a good idea. Valerie was keen for a walk, and had never  visited this creek before. She was happy yo drive us both up to Epping. I was hoping for some fungi – but during the day, I didn’t even unpack my tripod and fungi camera. But there were some birds – and the highlight was spotting three Powerful Owls.

The first Powerful Owl we saw was roosting high up in a tree, and partially hidden behind foliage – Continue reading →

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Voyager Point Walk – 30 March 2024

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Dave Noble

I joined my friends John and Chuin Nee, their two boys Jasper and Sebastian, two of their friends Sam and Amy, and also Don on a nice walk at Voyager Point Wetland Reserve on the Georges River. Later, we were joined by Digi Dave.

The reserve is easy to reach from East Hills Station. To get there you cross this footbridge over the Georges River. The bridge is very close to the station. Continue reading →

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Ferndale Park Fungi – and a Few Birds along the Lane Cove River – 29 March 2024

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Dave Noble

I caught a train to Chatswood, and then walked down to Ferndale Park to see what fungi was out. There was not that much out, but I did find some interesting ones. After that, I continued walking down to the Lane Cove River and  followed the track downstream to a sports oval to looks for Ospreys.

Here is some of the fungi out at Ferndale Park – Continue reading →

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Canada Bay Walk – 28 March 2024

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Dave Noble

After my two recent visits to Hen and Chicken Bay, I was keen to see more, and suggested a walk to Sue and Valerie – going around the larger Canada Bay than includes Hen and Chicken Bay. It would be a pleasant trip to do – taking the Rivercat Ferry to Abbotsford, then walking around the bay, and then the Rivercat back to Circular Quay from Cabarita.

This turned out to be an easy and very interesting walk. The weather forecast was not the best – but that wouldn’t matter.

After meeting at Circular Quay – we were soon off on the Rivercat. Continue reading →

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Bar-tailed Godwits at Hen and Chicken Bay – 27 March 2024

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Dave Noble

In the afternoon, I travelled back to Hen and Chicken Bay – and this time I had much better success photographing the Bar-tailed Godwits in their pre-migratory feeding.

When I arrived, the first bird I spotted was this Little Egret – Continue reading →

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Birds at Barton Park – 27 March 2024

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Dave Noble

I wanted to head back to Hen and Chicken Bay to look for the Godwits I had missed the day before. But the high tide in the morning meant it would be best in the late afternoon, so I decided on a morning visit to Barton Park. It turned out to be very quiet while I was there.

There were no raptors, and in the Landing Lights Wetland, there were no Pied Stilts. The water level was quite low with a lot of exposed mudflats – but there were no Dotterels or Sandpipers this visit.

Here are some birds I did see –

New Holland Honeyeater

Little Pied Cormorant Continue reading →

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