Lunar Love

It was chilly and windy night, just the perfect conditions for a bit of astrophotography. Stephen captured these images of a full moon with a partial lunar eclipse.

A partial lunar eclipse means the moon passes through the Earth’s umbra (inner) shadow. Earth’s shadow is in excess of 300,000km so at irregular times the sun, moon and earth line up to create this interesting spectacle. 

Bug hitches a ride

I was riding up one of the many switchbacks on the mountain bike track at Mt Annan when up behind me comes a faster rider, who could that be but Stephen.  He was on his last lap so he did not scream by but stopped to say hello. At the same time this bug, a Amorbus Alternatus landed on Stephen to be admired. Beautiful colours at the moment whilst it is a juvenile in a few days it will turn into a more typical tip-wilter.

Thanks to Martyn a naturalist at Australian Museum for helping with identification.

The Koala Count

K1

Koala scat

K2

Koala scratchings

Today we formalised our koala sightings for last 12 months. The total was 6 untagged koalas over a range of 5 sq km.

The most permanent koala we named K1 and observed over a period of 7.5 months, appearing a total of 80 days.  Following tracks in the fire trails we could see K1 used the cliffs to the east and the trails to move around. One day K1 was even hanging from a branch with one arm like a monkey.

The easiest way to find a koala is by seeing scats (droppings) or scratch marks around the base of trees the looking up into the tree branches. Sometimes if you are on the cliffs and looking out level with the branches you can see a koala nestled in the crook of a tree having a sleep. Otherwise its lots of craning your neck skywards to spot the elusive sleeping koala.

Sightings have been sent off to Lynn who maintains the database for sightings in the Campbelltown area. 

A scary encounter

Today whilst riding in Western Sydney Parkland’s we came across a Red-bellied Black Snake sunning itself along the side of the path. We generally see these snakes in the vicinity of water as they love to hunt frogs. Maybe with all the rain we have had this snake decided to go further afield for lunch and tried the bike path. 

Happy Birthday Rosco

Today is Rosco’s 3^rd birthday and he found his own present, a new koala. 

It was a rainy day and in between showers Stephen and Rosco went on a walk behind Lynwood Park. To their surprise they found a koala only a few metres up a tree. Maybe it heard them coming and decided to go upwards? The koala was untagged, looking very dishevelled and had a funny growth on its foot. 

The following day it was still there, just higher up the same tree. Alas the following day when I went for a look the koala had moved on.

Bright blue day

A quick trip south to Cudgeree Island off Windang on the South Coast this morning to see birds. This Lesser Crested Tern insisted on getting its photo taken as it was enjoying the morning wind and waves. 

Exploring a canyon

Today we explored an easy canyon called River Caves out along the Newnes Plateau.

First we headed down a gully through lots of bush to make it to the actual river, then we meandered along over boulders, through knee deep water and climbed a few waterfalls. It was a very pretty area with lots of ferns, water and colour. A nice day out for everyone.