We took the local bus towards the city and then walked through Queens Park to Centennial Park ( we asked a passerby for directions and she said ‘oh you mean Senteneel Park’!).
We walked and walked enjoying the wildlife there. The first port of call was the area with the Flying Fox bats.
We spotted a couple with big cameras photographing something and enquired. They pointed out a fledgling Noisy Miner in the grass being guarded by a parent.
A short distance away I spotted a man with a big camera and a cap that mentioned a local Wildlife club so I struck up a conversation with him. He asked if we had seen the Tawny Frogmouths and offered to point them out to us. They were so brilliantly camouflaged that you would never has seen them. The one at the front is the male with the female behind.
He then asked if we had seen the Powerful Owls, the largest owl in Australia. Of course we hadn’t and he gave us directions; go to the Park Cafe and look up into the tree right in the middle of the dining area! Fortunately he was there when we arrived which saved hours of peering up into the branches. Again, both male and female were present, but fast asleep. The female is the first photo and the male the second.
Kate and I then walked back around the lakes, photographing birds, while the others jumped on a bus to the ferry to cross the Harbour to meet up with Delphi, an old school friend of Helen’s.
