Brush Turkey mound building this morning

Sap reflections

A very wet Field of Mars

Many toadstools about in FOM at the moment – white, orange, pink lots of different sizes.

Of course, so many varieties/ constructions/ configurations of spider webs.

And so much rain this last week or so – many parts of tracks running with water making fascinating reflections and routes among the rocks and leaves, etc.

 

 

After the ball emerges new life

whipbirds –stand still when they are close and you will see them

 

 

never never enough banksia passion food

Banksia bud light

Lots of these banksia flowers used so much by the eastern spinebills.

Watching a grey butcherbird hunting, catching a lizard, hanging prey in forked branch.

Family of young golden whistlers.

Two grey goshawks gliding over, around and around FOM.

At least four nesting sites for collared sparrowhawks located in FOM.

Regular black-faced cuckoo-shrikes around on dead trees and in the bush calling, hunting.

Autumn sunlight

natural bonsai on rockface ledge

 

common sight in FOM but special in this light

 

That same tree – today with silvereyes, spinebills, new holland, yellow-faced honeyeaters

Same tree --update

Eastern Spinebill tree edge clearing Pidding Rd end FOM - still Spinebills but now Yellow-faced Honeyeaters (unusual in FOM) and BulBuls and Brown Thornbills and still this small tree gives its blossoms!!!

The world's longest non-stop flight: Sydney's Migratory Shorebirds - Events Calendar - The Big Diary - ABC Online

The world's longest non-stop flight: Sydney's Migratory Shorebirds - Events Calendar - The Big Diary - ABC Online

Monday 4 April 2011 early morn walk in FOM—Powerful Owl

Powerful Owl about 3 mtrs away – we spent some time eyeing each other off.

Lots of eastern spinebills in blossoms Pidding Rd end of FOM together with a lot of New Holland Honeyeaters.  This tree has been a mecca over the last week.  Rainbow Lorikeets there also this morning. By about 8.30am they are gone.

Spinebills also love these banksias – lots coming into flower now.

Notes from March 2011

Last week of March lots of Eastern Spinebill Honeyeaters racing around as they do, in eucalyptus blossoms this time, together with Silver-eyes and some Brown Thornbills with large number of Red-browed firetails nearby in the open area Pidding Rd end of FOM. Of course, the eastern Spinebills loving the banksia flowers on the low shrubs in the bush as usual.

Pair of rainbow lorikeets seem to be nesting on edge of clearing Pittwater Rd end.

Flock of pardalottes Sugarloaf point.

Plus all the usuals – Grey Butcherbird,grey fantail, Collared Sparrowhawk, the odd New Holland, Treecreepers, east Yellow Robin, Welcome Swallows, White-face Herns, White-browed Scrubwrens, feeding groups, and so on----

Leaf sprite and bark whisper

Jan-Feb 2011 Notes

A few grasstree spikes flowering with numbers of butterflies attracted Sugarloaf Point Hill track.

One dead tree Sugarloaf Point – family of dollarbirds with adult catching insects and feeding juveniles; same tree same time almost channel-billed cuckoo being fed by a currawong; same tree almost same time a sacred kingfisher calling with family answering calls coming back.

Southern Boobook owl flying about near sand track in FOM early morning.  This is the first time I have seen a southern boobook in FOM but have heard them at night regularly.

Spider time: the daily process of carrying a twig to clear the spiderwebs as I walk since I am usually the first along the track in the morning.  When meeting a walker coming the other direction once in a while the usual greeting “Oh I have cleared the spiderwebs for you.”

Anyway this is spidertime it seems since the dewdrops gather and the sunshine highlights them there seems to be thousands of webs about in the bush and the fashion is a curled leaf shelter at the centre of the web. The slightest movement and they disappear inside the leaf.

 

Week 31 Jan-6 Feb – heatwave territory:  so hot 41 degrees on Sat. so humid, so dry, some mornings a good dew, so many dead leaves about – flows of leaves; but still so much new growth everywhere – more wattle blossoms set to open soon, etce etc

Lane Cove River early morning sunlight.

 

Wonderfully delicate color looking into the sunlight through dead leaves – an early morning delight in Field of Mars Wildlife Refuge.

dewdrops in a head of grass FOM

Sunlight early, dewy morning FOM

Mangroves Field of Mars area

Late Nov/ Early Dec 2010 notes

Quite a few sacred kingfishers – its nesting time for them; lots of red-browed finch nests around;  the two collared sparrowhawks have left the nest and I have seen one near nest on a number of occasions sometimes flying awkwardly around; had a great time watching a family of whipbirds a few metres away from me up Ryde end interacting in the bush, feeding and calling to each other with different calls than the well-known whipbird calls; lots a new wildflowers, lots of new growth everywhere, lots of seedpods around; group of five stormbirds (channel-billed cuckoos) flying around loudly calling; dollar birds; family of six young black ducks and their parents always there; flowering geebungs, fascinating peeling bark and so many spiders-----

 

Some Field of Mars Magic – spirit of the bush

 

--poetry of life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FOM is full of seedpods at the moment – remarkable sights

Seedpods of all sorts – so many extraordinary seedpods – green, open, closed, eaten, growing – remarkable sight

This one from my walk this morning.

Collared sparrowhawks – note size difference in the young

also this morning – sacred kingfishers calling  lots at various places along Buffalo Creek – nesting time; red-browed finch nests around; silver gulls fishing in Lane Cove River for small fish jumping – saw a gull take a fish jumping two days ago.

Collared Sparrowhawk young Field of Mars

Last couple of days – kookaburra have left nest,  good glimpses of a number of whipbirds,

watched a silver gull fishing successfully in Lane Cove River, Dollar birds around, lots of small bird activity – brown thornbills, spotted paradottes, red-browed finches, white browed scrubwrens; the bush is full of seed pods ripening –opening so lots of good seed food around, thousands of actinotus minor ( tiny flannel flowers)