- 1 x brown sandal
- 1 x piece rope
- 1 x golf ball
- 1 x small tennis ball (squeaky)
- 1 x abandoned beach shelter
- 1 x food container (empty)
- 1 x watermelon skin
- 1 x sunglasses (Aldi cycle)
''The unusual event was to spot an insect on some Lantana flowers near Mullet Ck. Initially I thought it was a fly, but later on my PC with enlargement, it was an insect with a cool pair of sunglasses (see enlarged pic).''
Only bugs can truly appreciate the beauty of flowers. - Don Davidoff
Profile of the Week Brett Babicci, President of Whale Beach SLSC 2025-2026 Season, and Boat Captain Whale Beach SLSC is going through a huge renewal of its Surf Boat Division, with Boat Captain and Sweep Brett Babicci leading a growing group of enthusiastic surf lifesavers into the next big charge of this legendary club on a favourite surf sports discipline.
Having joined Whale Beach as a teenager, Brett has served the community as a volunteer lifesaver for over three decades and held several positions at Whale Beach; Competition Secretary and a member of the Competition Committee, Boat Captain (for over 10 years), serving on the Management Committee, and Patrol Captain.
As Competition Secretary Brett helps coordinate the Whaley Sunday events, the Club Championships, The Noel Greenfield Point to Point Swim, as well as Surf Boats at Branch, ASRL Open, State, and Aussies Competitions.
On February 25th 2024 Whale Beach SLSC revived an old event, and ran the Inaugural Babicci Trophy Black Rock Ski Race.
However, Brett’s passion is surf boats, stating in Whale Beach SLSC’s 2023-2024 Annual Report as Competition Secretary:
‘’Near and dear to my heart is the thrill of adorning the sky-blue cap with a yellow stripe and the famous brown ears, putting all that training on the line, listening for the call “Gun’s Up” competing against your mates from other clubs until the sweep yells “stop rowing” once the boat is up the sand.’’
The 2026 NSW Surf Life Saving Championships are currently underway. This year they have returned to Blacksmiths Beach, often considered the unofficial home of State Champs.
The Open & Surf Boat Championships run next weekend, 27 February-1 March 2026 at Swansea-Belmont SLSC. After that, everyone will head north to the Australian Surf Lifesaving Championships, the Aussies.
This Issue, Brett shares a few insights on where the Whaley is at now that we’re at the pointy end of the surf sports Season, and why he devotes so much of himself to his community surf club.
The State Library of New South Wales has digitised an album of photos of the NSW VJ Championships, held on Pittwater, 25 February 1956, hosted by the Palm Beach Sailing Club, and 70 years ago this coming Wednesday - or a Saturday then.
This wasn't the first time the young sailing club hosted the State Championships - their first was soon after they formed, in 1950, then again in 1952 and 1954. In 1953 they hosted the Australian VJ Championships.
This week a few insights from one founding member, Max Boorman, also a 60+ years member of RPAYC, and a look into how Palm Beach at Sand Point, and Iluka Park, looked then.
End of Summer Dispersal of birds From Birth Nests
Pittwater residents, including our local Vet, have been hearing lots of owls at night of late, a classic end-of Summer nocturnal music as these juvenile birds begin finding their way in the world, having grown out of their birth nests.
This Powerful, photographed by PON's Features Photographer Michael Mannington OAM of Community Photography, was spotted in Mona Vale this week.
He's a boy and has been checked by Sydney Wildlife volunteers a few times over recent days. Apparently there are possums in the vicinity and he’s waiting for a dusk feed. He also ranges through Kitchener park as part of his new domain.
Another nocturnal music being heard by those still working late are Flying Foxes feasting on what is blooming - in the PON yard at present that's Pittwater Spotted gums - and they're joined in nocturnal flight by the microbats pair that also live in these same trees.
The birds watched growing up this past Summer are also dispersing or have already gone - off into the greater expanses of blue hills meeting green hills meeting blue skies.
See: Summer BirdFest 2026: Play antics of New Locals - Blue-faced Honeyeaters Breeding In Pittwater or All February 2026 Environment News
It's all classic end-of Summer in Pittwater stuff.
Please slow down at Dusk and Dawn
The powerful owl (Ninox strenua), a species of owl native to south-eastern and eastern Australia, is the largest owl on the continent. It is found in coastal areas and in the Great Dividing Range, rarely more than 200 km (120 mi) inland.
The powerful owl has a long tail and a small head, giving it an atypical silhouette for an owl and imparting a more hawk-like appearance than any other large owl. The protruding bill and distinct brow ridges enhance the hawk-like appearance of the species.
This species measures 45 to 65 cm (18 to 26 in) in length and spans 112 to 135 cm (44 to 53 in) across the wings. Unlike in a vast majority of owl species, the male is slightly larger than the female on average. Body mass in males has been reported at 0.99 to 2.22 kg (2.2 to 4.9 lb), with 13 males averaging 1.45 kg (3.2 lb), while females can weigh from 1.04 to 1.6 kg (2.3 to 3.5 lb), with an average in 9 females of 1.25 kg (2.8 lb). Among all the owls in the world, the powerful owl is the ninth longest from bill-to-tail, the tenth heaviest and the eighth longest winged. - From Wikipedia and BirdLife Australia
''Majestic is the suitable description.'' - Michael Mannington OAM, February 17, 2026
Generally, this species lives in primary forests with tall, native trees, but can show some habitat flexibility when not nesting. The powerful owl is a typically territorial raptorial bird that maintains a large home range and has long intervals between egg-laying and hatching of clutches. Also, like many types of raptorial birds, they must survive a long stretch to independence in young owls after fledging.
They are an apex predator and are often opportunists, like most predators, but generally are dedicated to hunting arboreal mammals, in particular small to medium-sized marsupials. Such prey can comprise about three-quarters of their diet.
As insects also form part of their diet, residents are asked to slow down at dusk and dawn as they will frequently feed at the sides of roads and this can lead to impacts with cars - please slow down!
If you do come across wildlife that has been injured or needs help, please contact:
Sydney Wildlife: For 24/7 Emergency Rescue or Advice CALL 9413 4300
WIRES: For emergency rescue support 24/7 please call 1300 094 737
Both operate 24/7 with local volunteers ready to help our other local residents - the feathered, furry and scaled. Their mission is to rescue and care for sick, injured, and orphaned native wildlife and to safely release them back into the wild
More of MM's photos:
The Australian Life Saving Team (ALT) Surf Boat Crews have successfully retained the Trans-Tasman Surf Boat Test Series title after a fierce contest on Saturday, 14 February 2026, at Wanda Beach, in Sydney’s south.
For the 2026 Trans-Tasman Series, the ALT Surf Boat Crews were represented by the Currumbin Barbarians (Open Males), the Collaroy Giants (Open Females), the South Curl Curl Burley (U23 Male), and the Palm Beach Pina Coladas (U23 Females).
The Australian Teams dominated the Open Male, U23 Male and U23 Female competitions, winning all three rounds against the Kiwis. However, the Open Female Oar Blacks were able to one up their Aussie counterparts and claim the Open Female category 2-1.
Full race results for the 2026 Trans-Tasman Surf Boat Series are available on Liveheats here, and you can rewatch the races on the ASRL YouTube Channel here.
Palm Beach SLSC's Pina Coladas Win!
In related Surf Boat news, the New South Wales Interstate Team brought home an incredible victory on Friday February 13 at Wanda Beach at the SLSA Interstates. Congratulates to all eight crews who left nothing on the beach.
Once again local surf boat crews were selected to represent, with South Curl Curl's Runaways (U19 Females), South Curl Curl Dribblers (U23 Male) and the Freshwater Freaks (Reserve Women) part of the State Team. Results here
Team NSW has got it done on home sands again this season, they are 2026 Surf Boat Interstate Champions!
The Australian Surf Rowers League Open Championships 2026 runs February 12 to 15 - more next Issue - results available so far are here.
The NSW ORC Championship opened the 2026 Pantaenius Australia Pittwater Regatta today - a day of light wind and a sloppy seaway under grey skies that caused race officials at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC) to hoist the AP and then shorten the offshore courses – a difficult day on the water for officials and competitors alike.
Division 1’s original 27 nautical mile course was shortened by 10 miles and those that handled the conditions best were John Bacon’s Crazy Diamond, the Melges 32 finishing strongly to beat David Hamilton’s Farr 40, Seeking Alpha by a little over 5 minutes.
Division 2 was originally to sail 21nms, but that course was shortened to 16. Last year’s Division 1 winner, Garry Gudmunson’s ID 35, Organised Chaos, took overall honours by nearly five minutes from Simon Grosser’s Young 88, Young at Heart – a past winner of this event. Third went to Neil Padden’s Beneteau First 40.7, Wailea, with a gap of 11 minutes from the winner.
Crazy Diamond - bow up and raring to go. Photo: Andrea Francolini/RPAYC - Day 1- NSW ORC Championship saw Crazy Diamond, skippered by John Bacon, claim first place in Division 1, while Organised Chaos, under Garry Gudmunson, secured the top spot in Division 2
Saltwater Veterans provides sailing days on Pittwater - Sailing For Connection, Healing & Growth. Photo supplied
Avalon Beach RSL Sub-Branch is a core community meeting point for Veterans who have served and currently serve. Photo: PON
This past week Project Restore reached a huge milestone when they planted 800 endangered Posidonia shoots beneath their recently installed Environmentally Friendly Moorings (EFMs) at Balmoral Beach.
Back in November 2025, they replaced 10 traditional moorings with Environmentally Friendly Moorings (EFMs), in collaboration with the Balmoral Boatshed.
''This milestone represents the culmination of three years of collaboration with the boating community, mooring contractors, public agencies and scientists.'' the Project Restore team said
As part of Project Restore locals have been joining in on the Citizen Science project, The Storm Squad. This group is integral to helping us collect Posidonia australis fragments. They were asking the community to collect naturally washed up Posidonia fragments from their local beach and leave them at our collection points.
Station Beach, on the Pittwater estuary side of Barrenjoey Headland, is one of these collection points.
This is the second Palm Beach sea plant collected to help restore other areas. In 2014 UNSW and SIMS began collecting Crayweed from Palm Beach to help return other places to how they once were.
See February 2025 report: Project Restore: seagrass from Palm Beach Going to Sydney Harbour - Join the Storm Squad + Environmentally Friendly Moorings – Free Trial Available
Station Beach collection point. Photo: Project Restore/Sydney Institute of Marine Science
Sydney Harbour hosts more than 5,000 boat moorings located in shallow bays around the estuary. Traditionally, these moorings consist of a heavy chain and concrete block that allow safe anchorage for vessels. However, with the movement of tides and winds, the heavy chains swing and scour the seafloor—causing long-term damage to seagrass meadows and the important ecosystems they support.
Pittwater has a capped capacity of 3,641 total moorings, covering private, commercial, and public authority, according to local planning documents. Various marinas and clubs in the area also manage, lease, and provide access to hundreds of additional private and member-only swing moorings.
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Profile of the Week Zonta Northern Beaches Club’s President Dr. Lorna Scott: On the IWD Breakfast + 2026 WorksNSW Women’s Week 2026 runs from Monday 2 March to Sunday 8 March, and will see a dynamic series of events, focusing on inclusivity and celebrating the achievements of women across NSW.
Although some of the tropes imposed on women persist in Australian society, as can be seen in the circus foisted on one Australian lady Leader in recent days, cooler heads have prevailed than the exhausted patience prompted in those growing up with lots of brothers and no sisters, and set another example.
This example has been garnered from other women, many of them members of the Zonta Club of the Northern Beaches, who have actioned numerous initiatives for over five decades to quietly create change.
The next event on their 2026 calendar is their March 4th International Womens Day Breakfast at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club at Newport, where Pittwater MP Jacqui Scruby will announce who the Pittwater Woman of the Year is.
Tickets here: zonta-club-n-b-international-women-s-day-breakfast
Zonta NB’s 2026 Breakfast Speaker is Shae Ingram, a Class of 2018 graduate of Mater Maria at Warriewood who has gone on to become a Senior Program Engineer working in the Satellite and Space Systems team at Optus.
Ms Ingram is very passionate about advocating for women in STEM, promoting careers in Space, and participating in outreach programs as a Space Ambassador at Optus, where she spends her time educating young people about space, sharing her career pathway, and creating visibility around what an engineer can look like.
‘’From studying Aeronautical Engineering to working at Optus Satellite and Space Systems, representation and visibility of women in engineering is so important to foster a more diverse workforce, particularly for students who are considering future STEM careers.’’ Shae says
The Speaker is very timely given former South Curl Curl girl Katherine Bennell-Pegg was announced as the 2026 Australian of the Year, and fits with Zonta's own program of getting women 'off the ground'. Former Narrabeen and Mona Vale pilot Nancy Ellis, was, in 1953, the only Australian member of the Ninety-Nines and the winner of their Silver Jubilee Scholarship in the United States of America in 1954. The Ninety-Nines, founded by Amelia Earhart in 1929, is the International Organisation of Women Pilots that provides networking, mentoring, and flight scholarship opportunities to recreational and professional female pilots.
Zonta's own Amelia Earhart Fellowship was established in 1938 in honour of famed pilot and Zontian, Amelia Earhart. The US$10,000 Fellowship is awarded annually to up to 30 women pursuing Ph.D./doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering and space sciences. It may be used at any university or college offering accredited post-graduate courses and degrees in these fields.
This week a chat with current Zonta Northern Beaches Club President, Dr. Lorna Scott on that and what else is coming up this year.
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Bricks with makers marks were gifted to us decades ago by Charles Benko. Charles stated he got these ones from Brookvale Bricks, when they were still around.
He explained the markings on these bricks, which are marked with a pipe in one case, and two thumbprints to make a heart or harp in the other, is made when the maker had completed run of 10 thousand of them. They would place a personal insignia in that 10 thousandth one made to mark the end of a run.
Charles who lived at the back of Manly near Condamine street, and was a Hungarian who spoke of Auschwitz – his wife was French (Suzanne ?), came to Australia after World War Two. He passed away aged 99 years back now, but his gift of old Brookvale bricks, and stories of our area in the late 1940's and early 1950's, prompted a look into brick making in our area.
Mackellar MP Dr. Sophie Scamps at a community event during her Summer 'break'. Photo: AJG/PON
Marine Rescue NSW vessel Cottage Point 31. Photo supplied.
MEREWETHER BEACH, Newcastle, NSW (Sunday, February 1, 2026)
Report by WSL
Today, Milla Coco Brown (AUS) and Lucas Hickson (AUS) won the Kim Burton Pro Junior, the opening event of the 2026 season for the World Surf League (WSL) Australia/Oceania Junior Qualifying Series (JQS). Merewether Beach delivered fun surf in the two-to-three-foot range for the second event in the 40th anniversary celebrations of Surfest Newcastle. The conditions set the stage for the region’s best juniors to compete for valuable ranking points as the race toward qualification for the 2026 WSL World Junior Championships officially began.
Milla Coco Brown (AUS) claimed her second Pro Junior victory in a row, her fourth overall. Credit: WSL / Paul Danovaro
The successful run of Milla Coco Brown (AUS) continued today as the 18-year-old from Pittwater's Bungan Beach Boardriders claimed her fourth Pro Junior victory. After winning the Let’s Surf Lake Mac Pro Junior for a second time to close out the 2025 Australia/Oceania JQS season, Brown made it back-to-back Pro Junior wins to move to the top of the rankings for the new year. Between the two events, she also helped lead Australia to team gold at the ISA World Junior Championship in Peru, earning the silver medal in the U/18 division. Now, Brown is primed in her campaign to compete in the WSL World Junior Championships for the first time.
"Thanks to Kim Burton for putting on such a good event and the girls for a fun Final," Brown said. "I'm pretty happy to win. It was pretty fun, but tough conditions, so I was stoked to lock back into comp mode after free surfing for a couple of months. Good way to kick off 2026."
A strong southerly change blew through ahead of the men’s Semi-finals, seeing the women’s Final open as largely a battle of single turns. Brown took command from the start with two rides in the 4-point range, before finding a long open face that allowed her to unleash down the line and post a 6.67. A back-up 6.00 from an aggressive single turn provided a 12.67 heat total that closed the door on her opponents.
Profile of the Week SOS (Save Our Suburb) Mona Vale: New Residents Group Launched Shines light on Problems of Overdeveloping a reclaimed floodplainThe next Meeting for SOS Mona Vale will be held Thursday February 26 from 6pm at Mona Vale Memorial Hall. All welcome.
If you miss that one, Thursday March 19, same time and same venue, is next.
History Careel Head Road Shops and the Bangalley- Burrowong Creeks: Some History by William (Bill) James Goddard II, Geoff Searl OAM, John Illingsworth and A J GuesdonAn absolute downpour of 340.5mm at Palm Beach, 258.5mm at Mackerel Beach, 191.5 and 180.5mm at Newport in the 24 hours of January 17-18, Saturday to Sunday, and flooding along the Barrenjoey road from Palm Beach Golf Club, at Pittwater Park, on the corner of Careel Head road, Careel Bay, and through the shopping area of Avalon Beach at the other end, along the 1860’s named ‘Priest's Flat’, coupled with the application to excavate at Careel Bay to facilitate a Dan Murphy’s outlet atop a Childcare Centre, with the ‘feedback’ period running from December 16 to January 15, when everyone has ‘clocked off’ for a few weeks, inspires a look into what may occur during this council approved DA build.
A proposed change of zoning for land in Ingleside could jeopardise the future operation of a planned fauna corridor, including a fauna bridge and underpass on Mona Vale Road East.
This could isolate threatened fauna in Ingleside Chase Reserve, leading to long term decline and possible local extinction.
Fauna bridge on Mona Vale Road East. Ingleside Chase Reserve is on left. Photo David Palmer
The land is a critical element in the pathway for native fauna populations in Ingleside Chase reserve to cross Mona Vale Road east and disperse through bushland in Ingleside to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
The land was set aside in the 2016 Ingleside Precinct Structure Plan, and marked as a fauna corridor. This was part of an agreement between Transport for NSW, (then RMS) and the NSW Department of Planning to create a corridor, fauna underpass and fauna bridge over Mona Vale Road East which would link Ingleside Chase Reserve with Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
However, in the new Local Environment Plan for the Northern Beaches this land has been zoned C3 which allows housing. If houses are built on it, then native animals which cross the fauna bridge or use the underpass will have nowhere to go.
Pittwater Natural Heritage Association secretary David Palmer is calling for action by the Department of Planning to remedy the situation.
“Whilst RMS kept their side of the bargain and built the fauna bridge, the Department of Planning didn’t keep their promise to zone the land for conservation. So now we have a situation where sometime in the future housing could appear on this land and the fauna Bridge over Mona Vale Road would lead into residential back yards and fences, rendering it a useless waste of money.
“We would like Northern Beaches Council to ask the Planning Department for a solution to this problem,” he said.
Cr Miranda Korzy will put a motion to Northern Beaches Council calling on Council to liaise with the Department of Planning, which owns the land, and other agencies to identify ways to protect it.
PNHA hopes that her motion will be supported by other Councillors as the long-term viability of native fauna populations in Ingleside Chase Reserve, which is under Council’s control, will be affected.
PNHA President, Marita Macrae says Pittwater Natural Heritage Association has been advocating for protection of native fauna in Ingleside Chase Reserve since 1994 when much of it was privately owned and threatened by a plan to subdivide it.
“Our campaign spurred Pittwater Council to take action to protect it which resulted in the creation of the nature reserve. We thought that with the creation of the fauna corridor and crossings over Mona Vale Road, our campaign would be over, but sadly our vision seems to have been thwarted,” she said.
PNHA member Jacqui Marlow has been involved in rescuing native fauna in the area for many years. She says that protection of the fauna corridor land is critical for the long-term survival of native animals.
She explained that “If native animals are not able to move between habitats, they will face gradual population decline leading to local extinction. We have many threatened mammals and birds in Ingleside Chase reserve including Eastern Pygmy Possums, which are listed as vulnerable in NSW. They depend on being able to move safely through the landscape to find food, shelter and mates.”
Eastern Pygmy possum near the fauna bridge on Mona Vale Road East. Photo David Palmer
The map below shows recorded sightings of Eastern Pygmy Possums on both sides of the fauna bridge and underpass on Mona Vale Road East.
Eastern Pygmy Possum sightings near the fauna bridge and underpass on Mona Vale Rd east. Image: Atlas of living Australia 2025
Native animals have been photographed using the fauna bridge, showing that it is working, and as the vegetation on and around it grows thicker, more animals will use it. But if, after crossing the fauna bridge, animals encounter back yards, fences and domestic pets, then it will prove to be a bridge to nowhere.
PNHA has commissioned Pittwater Pathways to produce a three minute You Tube video titled “A Bridge to Nowhere?” explaining the issue. Click on this link or watch it below.
MP for Pittwater, Jacqui Scruby, stated:
“Pittwater is home to extraordinary natural heritage that must be protected. Wildlife crossings were built as part of the Mona Vale Road East Upgrade. For these to be most effective, adjoining land in Ingleside must be rezoned to ensure wildlife can move safely into Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. If this doesn’t happen, the significant investment already made in building the wildlife crossings will effectively have been wasted. I strongly support the Pittwater Natural Heritage Association’s calls to ensure that our precious wildlife is permanently protected.“
Profile of the Week A community legacy: Art Auction of works from the Home of Susan Duncan & Bob Story to Support West Pittwater RFSKey details
- Online auction: Open now, closing Monday 9 March at midnight
- Live auction: Saturday 7 March, Elvina Reserve, 3.30pm
- Approximately 20 works will be concluded live
- Live auction works will pause online bidding from 1.00pm on Saturday 7 March
- All other works remain available online until final close
- Printed catalogue available at the live event by donation
Full event details, images and catalogue previews are available here: airauctioneer.com/the-art-of-living
History On International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2026 we Remember those Lost and the work of Sister Muriel Knox Doherty, Of Avalon Beach, at the Bergen- Belsen CampInternational Holocaust Remembrance Day, or the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, is an international memorial day on 27 January each year that commemorates the victims of the Holocaust, which resulted in the genocide of two-thirds of the European Jewish population along with countless numbers of individuals of other minority groups, by Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945.
The choice of 27 January for the annual commemoration aligns with the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army in 1945.
However, the European Jewish population were murdered in several other Nazi camps as well.
One of these was the Bergen-Belsen camp to which Avalon Beach Nursing Sister, Matron Muriel Knox Doherty, was tasked to when peace was regained. Her letters home described the challenges of trying to help thousands of people, many very ill, all of them homeless.
Bergen-Belsen began as a camp for Allied prisoners of war. After it was turned over to the SS, it became a Nazi concentration camp in 1943. Beginning in fall 1944, the SS deported to Bergen-Belsen large numbers of prisoners evacuated from Nazi camps further east.
As a result of overcrowded and horrific living conditions, where disease and starvation flourished, tens of thousands of people imprisoned there died. Anne Frank and her older sister Margot died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in February or March 1945.
Enthusiastic to provide aid in Europe, Sister Doherty arrived in Germany on July 11th 1945 as Principal Matron for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). Muriel wrote extensive 'Community Letters' to family and friends in Sydney, recording her insights of the camp and the extraordinary suffering she witnessed.
Muriel was then deployed to Poland, to Warsaw. This Issue her insights in her voice.
