Rats and Orchids

One of our interests on our morning walk is observing the Swamp Rats (Rattus lutreolus) that hang out near the town end of the Lagoon Boardwalk, They have been a little absent for the past few months but two were visible this morning.

One bolted into the bush on the inland side of the walk but the other stayed in view at quite close range for several minutes before diving into its hole in some brushwood.

Note that these are placental mammals not marsupials.  Also on a point of detail I think the hole depicted is a proper burrow, while the animals on the inland side dive into tunnels in the grass more properly termed a smeuse (and I really urge you to follow that link and read the comments about pronunciation and the Danish equivalent!)

On our way to Merimbula this morning (for reasons that will become apparent in later posts) we paid a swift visit to check Sun Orchids. The yellow ones on the Miners Track have not developed at all in the past week. Sun and warmth are clearly needed.

The Gipsy Point cemetery however is beginning to fire up rather nicely.

While most of the red buds are staging a go-slow there are now a nice collection of Thelymitra ixioides. Most of the are the usual blue spotted jobs ...

 ... but some, thought to be of that species, were pink with blue spots.  My orchid-expert friend has advised: "The pink one is almost certainly a cross between T ixiodes and T canea orT rubra, I suspect the latter.  It is a recognised cross because they are often fertile Thelymitra X  irregularis."

This has a status of 'rare' in Victoria.

Others seem not to have any spots (the flowers seemed too big to be part of the T. pauciflora group).

The area below the graves is well endowed with Onion Orchids (I think Microtis unifolia.)  Here is a close up to show the labellums.

 Here is a group photo!