Author: ockendencreek
-
Historic Bathurst, NSW
We did something quite unusual on New Year’s Day taking an 8hr road trip to Sydney, NSW to visit our family for a late Christmas catchup . The roads were reasonably quiet which was a great help. We stopped overnight in Cowra in southern NSW to break up the trip. It was a warm summer’s…
-
Zig Zagging in the Blue Mountains, NSW
We visited our family in Sydney back in October on one special day we decided to go for a stream train ride. We had been talking about do this trip for some years and finally did it. A great family experience. Touring at the Zig Zag Railway near Lithgow. This BP 218 engine was built…
-
Visiting Lake King, in the centre of Rutherglen township.
We visited this area with the Birdlife Australia-Murray Goulburn branch members as part of a weekend trip to Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park. We were fortunate to visit this small lake beside the caravan park in the middle of Rutherglen. here is a link to the location; https://maps.app.goo.gl/X6k6y3WSDq1r8Gto8 We were pleasantly surprised to see Latham’s Snipe…
-
Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park is Wonderful in late Spring.
Hard going for this young eucalypt growing in a small crevice on this large granite outcrop at Mt Pilot. View from Mt Pilot, looking NW. There are large outcrops of granite across the Park. https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/places-to-see/parks/chiltern-mt-pilot-national-park These images were taken in mid October in North East Victoria, Australia. The Park is a well known birding hotspot.…
-
Norfolk Island Trip Rap Up
Here is a snapshop of some images from our September 2025 visit. Our bird list was fairly limited. eBird records shows 132 species have been observed. We visited before the main migrating shorebirds, but we still saw lots of interesting new birds. The Island is an important stopover point on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway look…
-
Masters of Disguise.
Tawny Frogmouths are certainly an unusual nocturnal bird species. They are reasonably common across Australia although they are very difficult to locate. They can even be found in the leafy suburbs of our major cities if you are lucky. Their plumage resembles the bark of trees which allows them to blend in and they will…
-
The Joys of Train Travel
We have had a wonderful time experiencing slow touring between Wangaratta and Sydney, visiting family. It’s an 8hr journey, with a rather slow section between Cootamundra and Harden as the train meanders through the quiet countryside of southern NSW. We passed through a rural landscape that in parts could be English, with weeping willows along…
-
Local Herons.
I stumbled across this beautiful White-necked Heron (Pacific Heron) recently with its breeding plumage on full show. It was beside a small dam as I walked by. It’s sometimes called a Blue Crane in Australia. The White-necked is uncommon around my location as they are more associated with larger wetlands and streamsides. The White-necked Heron…
-
Round 3 Norfolk Island a Bird Haven.
The Masked Booby influx was just beginning when we visited (3rd to 10th September 2025). This species is one of the first to arrive, on this occassion we were at Point Howe on the north eastern tip of the island. They just find a grassy patch and plonk down for a nest place. I joined…
-
Norfolk Island (Round2)
Norfolk Island Pines were the dominate species when Captain Cook discovered the island in 1774. It wasn’t until Lieutenant Phillip Gidley King arrived under orders from Governor Arthur Phillip with convicts from Port Jackson in March 1788 that a settlement began. The Colony in NSW was on the point of famine and King was sent…
Walking Glenrowan and Beyond 