What an unusually high temperature we had on Thursday. Even the breeze was warm. Maybe it doesn’t bode well for summer, but I did revel in it, and so did the crimson rosellas. Time to get out and about, much as I appreciate the delights of home.
Read more →The native Wonga pigeons here at The Gums in Blackheath have already produced two chicks over winter. The third nesting failed due to that three day rain event in July, but they are discussing whether to try again. Unbelievable! Amid all the Covid-19 angst we humans are
Read more →Isn’t this just the most wonderfully constructed bower? Good, thick walls and a perfectly shaped, oval ‘front door’. You might say Mr. S. has home construction pegged (sorry, I couldn’t resist). He is a builder extraordinaire and a credit to the community of Blackheath. JULY 21 —
Read more →I’m usually writing positive, upbeat stories about Blackheath, so this is pretty disappointing. What a ghastly mess the pond at Soldiers’ Memorial Park is. We have had plenty of rain recently, but the level keeps dropping every day. Is it leaking? This wood duck thinks is less
Read more →We are experiencing an autumn like no other at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains of NSW. Heart-lifting in its beauty, heart breaking in the worldwide impact of Covid19. I cannot think of anywhere better to be living in lock-down. My daily walk takes me past the local
Read more →About 30 metres below the Park Avenue gates in Memorial Park at Blackheath is a huge thicket of invasive weeds; blackberries, ivy, scarlet montbretia, red hot pokers etc. A lone Japanese maple struggles to survive in the centre. The irony is that satin bowerbirds, wattle birds and
Read more →Hello, Well my guardian Pauline Conolly and I have been documenting the life of a satin bowerbird. It lives in Memorial Park, Blackheath, here in the Blue Mountains. I’ve become quite friendly with him. Sometimes I take him a blue treasure, because he collects them to impress
Read more →In the northern hemisphere, Halloween is celebrated during fall, when landscapes are wreathed in eerie mist. Here in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales we are supposed to be in the full glory of spring, but there can be some surprisingly appropriate weather. There are haunting
Read more →The village of Leura in the upper Blue Mountains is famous for its main street avenue of flowering cherry trees. However, even higher up there is Blackheath, with its own, very special ‘cherry walk.’ From the Lithgow Mercury on October 12 1953; In 1953, the women residents
Read more →EARLY DAYS AT THE BOWER It was mid August when I first spotted a satin bowerbird’s boudoir in Memorial Park, Blackheath. I was very impressed by the location. It was secluded and private, but just a short flight to the village shops and cafes. The bower itself
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