Four hundred!

Megalong Valley

Last weekend I went for a walk with Allan, Jarrod and Adelle at the end of the Megalong Valley in the south west corner of the Blue Mountains. The clouds were down and so the views were not extensive, although the animals were certainly out and about.

Sugar Glider

As it was a bit gloomy, we came across a pair of Sugar Gliders. These are little possum-like creatures which glide between trees on flaps of skin which extend between their front and back legs. They are normally nocturnal but these two were out feeding on the resin from a gum tree which they chew holes in to make the tree 'bleed'. They didn't seem too bothered by our presence and we were able to get right up to them within touching distance. Very cute.

Later on, a single black cockatoo flew past which seemed a bit smaller than the common Yellow-tailed variety. It also sounded funny and so there was nothing for it but to chase it up a steep bank side. Eventually we caught up with it and in a glorious moment it fanned out its tail revealing the bright red panels defining it as a Glossy Black-Cockatoo #400! My nemesis and a super tick to go to the four hundred with.

Four hundred!

There were also hundreds of kangaroos and wallabies. A great day out.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo

Warmer in the water

Giant Cuttlefish

The pretty poor and (relatively) cold weather continues but that didn't stop us getting back into the water at Gordons Bay the other day. The water is still 20C so not too bad and, in fact, warmer than the air temperature outside. As we're moving into winter the sharks should be returning to the bay any time now. They weren't back just yet and, in the event, there wasn't really very much about but there was a top Giant Cuttlefish and a pod of dolphins passed by the bay just before we got in. That was only the second time I've seen them off Sydney's beaches.

Common Stingaree

The Queen's birthday

North - across to North Head

Happy birthday to the Queen! A public holiday for us down in Australia and with the nice weather continuing, Emily and I headed to South Head at the mouth of Sydney Harbour for a bit of whale spotting.

South

The whales are heading north on their annual migration and before the car had even stopped, Emily spotted a pod of Humpback Whales frollicking offshore. They were in particularly playful mood and put on a bit of a show for those watching from the cliff-tops and those harrassing them in the fleet of whale-watching boats.

East - Whale action!

West

The sun's back

The sun is back

After almost a month of rain and rubbish the sun returned this weekend and so the opportunity to get back to the bush had to be seized. Fresh from his honeymoon, Jarrod joined me for a trip to the western edge of Sydney.

First stop was a patch of dry woodland in a bogan suburb where Speckled Warblers are apparently an absolute certainty. Not that much of a certainty it seems but there were several wallabies and kangaroos among the trees.

We then moved on to Bushells Lagoon where "hundreds" of Little Grassbirds have been sighted recently. I wonder if those responsible for those reports know what a Little Grassbird looks like. At least there were plenty of nice finches and great views of Peregrine Falcon and Azure Kingfisher.

Bushells Lagoon

We then went for a little drive after dark around the turf farms where many owls have been spotted in recent days. We found a fox.

Sunset

So three failures on the twitching front but good to get out again and great that the weather is finally on the improve.

Not an owl - the Airbus A380