This was a short trip to a section of the Cooks River between Illawarra Road and Gough Whitlam Park to see what birds were around.
The highlight of this visit was spotting an Osprey – a rare bird for the Cooks River at present.
Early on, I spotted a juvenile Little Heron. It was being harassed by Noisy Miners. Continue reading
I joined Valerie and Sue for a visit to Taronga Zoo. On this visit, we hoped to see some of the baby Koalas. We were lucky – we got reasonable views of one of the joeys.
Here are some photos – Continue reading
I thought it about time to visit Barton Park and Landing Lights Wetland again to see what the birds were like there.
I arrived about lunchtime and st opted for some food first in Riverine Park, then as I was about to walk over to Landing Lights Wetland, I spotted a high flying White Bellied Sea Eagle. Continue reading
This was another day at Long Reef photographing the raptors.
As usual, the Ospreys were present. But first a White Faced Heron hunting on the rock platform – Continue reading
I took part in the bird survey along the Dulwich Hill section of The Greenway early on Saturday morning. The highlight was a Brown Goshawk, hiding in a tree while feral pigeons were perched nearby. But I missed getting a photo of it.
Here are some photos – Continue reading
Another last look for fungi – this time at Birdwood Gully at Springwood. I was mainly interested to see if any of the Parrot Waxcaps (Gliophorus psittacinus group) were still out. I did find some – an old single one and a pair of small fresh ones. I did not find much else out.
Here are some photos – Continue reading
It was getting near the end of the fungi season in Sydney, and I thought it worth having a look along part of Wolli Creek Regional Park to see if any fungi was still out. I did not find that much and what I did find was not very fresh.
Gliophorus graminicolor
I spent a pleasant, but rather cold and windy day out n Malabar Headland – with Sue and Valerie. Our main aim was to observe the resident Peregrine Falcons, but we only had brief glimpses of one flying off. But the other birds were quite good.
Not long after leaving Maroubra Beach, we spotted an Osprey fly past with a fish. Continue reading
I was keen on checking out the fungi at Bola Creek in Royal National Park. Recently the creek crossing has been upgraded and has just been reopened. That crossing is needed to access some very nice fungi habitat. Valerie and Sue were also keen, and we had a really great day.
The highlight of our visit, at least according to me, was finding a fair few fresh Parrot Waxcaps (Gliophorus psittacinus group). I had seen these at Bola Creek back in June 2022 (and they had been first seen a little earlier by Trevor and Kerry Millichamp). Despite a lot of looking over the years, and some seasons with no looking due to a flooded creek preventing crossing, this is the first time I have spotted them again. This is the third population of Parrot Waxcaps I have seen in the Greater Sydney Area – the others being Birdwood Gully at Springwood and a small area in Lane Cove National Park. Like the other locations these are very difficult to see – being small, quite dark, and blending in with the leaf litter, but they do appear in the same exact very small spot each season. Continue reading
I headed back up to Macquarie Park to again check a certain location in Lane Cove National Park for the rare Parrot Waxcaps. There had been some rain recently and I hoped there would be some fresh ones.
Here are some of the fungi I found –
Cuphophyllus austropratensis
Ramariopsis sp. Continue reading
