Last Wednesday was a sunny day and quite pleasant notwithstanding the cool breeze from the South West. But the shore line at Deception Bay is sheltered with winds from that direction. With the tide ebbing it was likely that wading birds would be there to take advantage of the drying floor of the bay, the exposed area increasing as the tide receded.
Deception Bay is deceptive. At high tide it appears to be a body of deep water but any but the most shallow draft vessel that moves outside of the dredged channel into Newport Waterways will soon learn of its deceptive nature. So while limiting for boats it is a great feed area for birds.
The first bird I saw as we drove along The Esplanade was a brown and white bird in the water, just off shore. I parked, grabbed the camera and walked towards it, but before I could get near to it someone buzzed it with a drone. It took off and vanished over the trees to the south.
Eastern Great Egret
As the tide ebbed further, more birds came in. Smaller birds included Silver Gulls, Gull-billed Terns, Pied Stilts and Bar-tailed Godwits. Larger birds were represented by Egrets, both Great and Intermediate and White-faced Herons. This was by first opportunity to get a close look and a photo of the White-faced Heron.
Intermediate EgretEastern Great EgretEastern Great Egret
Eastern Great Egret in the shallowsA group of Bar-taited Godwits
Stilts enjoying a late lunch
White-faced Heron
Bar-tailed GodwitsBrahminy KiteInbound Australian Pelican
Sleeping water birds at a mini island in Tuggerah Lake, near The Entrance.
Our destination for the day was Mount Annan, near Liverpool, south of Sydney. Tollways with 80kph speed limits now bypass Sydney. You don’t see a single traffic light until after turning off the Hume Highway at Campbelltown. With a mid afternoon ETA we had time to spare, so stayed east of the Newcastle bypass highway, travelling down the Old Pacific Highway until we turned further east to join the real coast road at Budgewoi.
Most of our drive was familiar, but not all. We had intended to do a run into Caves Beach, just south of Swansea, but missed the turn in the new (to me) road arrangements south of the bridge over the entrance to Lake Macquarie. But we did take a run into Catherine Hill Bay. I wanted to see the old coal loading jetty, last viewed during an inshore tack when sailing a newly acquired yacht from Sydney to Brisbane, many years ago.
The historic Catherine Hill Bay coal jetty is under threat after damage from the bush fires in the area last year.Catherine Hill Bay Surf Lifesaving Club overlooks the beach.
This was a coal mining area, of course. As you approach the beach and jetty, you pass through streets lined by old miner’s cottages, many under renovation, probably reaching seven figure valuations as a result. We parked above the beach so that I could walk down a sandy ramp to the ocean’s edge to take some photos.
The entrance to Tuggerah Lake at The Entrance.In past times Pelican feeding was a feature activity in Marine Parade at The Entrance. Pelicans still wait on a small adjacent island. They must have long memories.
We re-joined the highway via the southern access to the town, passing new houses, including large homes with ocean views and a new subdivision, down in a valley, with no views at all. At Doyalson we turned in again to the coast, driving through Budgewoi, over the bridge that spans the narrow waterway that joins Lake Munmorah and Lake Budgewoi. We then travelled through Toukley and Noraville to The Entrance which we made our morning coffee and photo stop.
Residential accommodation on Marine Parade at The Entrance.
As we had approached The Entrance we both noticed water birds in Tuggerah Lake. With morning coffee done, we returned the couple of kilometres to where we had seen the birds. I fitted my long lens and took a number of photos, including some with which I was reasonably happy.
The road bridge over the entrance to the lakes at The Entrance.An Intermediate Egret showing some breeding plumage.A Pied Cormorant out for a swim.
Retracing our steps, we drove through The Entrance to Long Jetty, on the eastern shore of Tuggerah Lake. Long Jetty is both a suburb and a long jetty. I had heard of it in both forms and driven through the suburb a number of times. Today we called to visit.
Water birds perched on the end of the long jetty at Long Jetty NSW.
The jetty is intended for foot traffic, with a hand rail on one side. The timber deck is about a metre above the water. On the outer end of the jetty I could see a group of water birds, sitting on the rail. My bird lens was not attached to the camera but the smaller one would do. But on the spur of the moment I forgot to change the camera settings from general sightseeing to bird photography. The result was photos of less quality than they could have been. We live and, hopefully, learn and remember in the future.
A closer view of the perched birds on Long Jetty. Australian Darter and Pied Cormorants.Long Jetty suburb at the shore end of the long jetty.An example of what you get when you do not have correct settings on your camera.
We continued south, keeping as near to the ocean as possible, turning east for a better view of the coast whenever the opportunity presented. Then we came to Terrigal and I realised that I had never been there. I was impressed. We drove through town to the bay where the launching ramp is located and where views are to be had over the bay, back to the residential and commercial development of the town centre. This location provided views of magnificent sea cliff top houses, the kind that dreams are made of.
Part of Terrigal across the bay.
After a viewing and photo stop we drove around point Kurrawyba with its two headlands and then via the Scenic Highway to eventually reach Woy Woy. There we did some necessary shopping and returned to the Pacific Motorway near Gosford to continue south. So after crossing the Hawkesbury River and reaching Hornsby we were taken underground for a long sweep to the west on the M7 until we swung back east to the Hume Motorway at Casula. It was then a quick and easy drive to Mount Annan, our destination.
The Skillion is the southern most of the two headlands on the point at Terrigal.
There we caught up with Ruth’s youngest sister Dorothy (Dot) and her family, including newly minted grandson Max. We also caught up with Max’s mum Deahna, our niece Madison, Madison’s fiancé Josh and Dot’s other half, Peter. Max’s dad had work commitments.
Luxury homes overlook the Pacific Ocean at Terrigal Beach.
After much talking and taking of refreshments, Peter took to the barbeque to produce the protein to accompany the other portions of the meal, previously prepared. With a libation or two we all enjoyed a very pleasant evening, called to an earlier close than might otherwise have been the case by our hosts need to make early departures for work the following morning.
A final view of Woy Woy before we re-joined the Pacific Motorway near Gosford.
