Orchids get lively

 Our afternoon exercise walk today was the Betka loop.  I am completely bewildered why Parks (or EGSC - who knows who is responsible for this track) still have the track signed as closed.  It is in far better condition now than it was before the fire (or the more recent flood).  Judging by the amount of stagnant water beside the track, left by the flood, the big risk once the weather  warms up will be mosquitoes!

The spot where the track first gets close to the River has been a good orchid site in the past but I suspect today it was still too damp.  Our first orchid was a single Caladenia catenata a little higher up.

Then our (OK, Frances') eye was caught by some Hardenbergia and on looking that a colony of at least 40 Pterostylis nutans came into focus.

I suppose this is the reverse: pea in focus, orchid nor!

The greenhoods have not mutated: I put red dots in my image of this section of the colony to count them.  There are 17 here, covering a bit under half the colony.

At the top of the hill we found a small colony of P. concinna, in the same place that we did last year.  Note the notched labellum.

Again as last year a small colony of P. pedunculata was nearby.

Finally, as we approached the road a solitary P. grandiflora was encountered.  That used to be the commonest species in the earlier flooded site.

More burnt wood art!  In this example contrasting with a bed of green moss.

Looking down into the River an Australian Darter was spotted alongside a Little Pied Cormorant.  We disturbed a fair number of Cormorants as we walked along: they seem to have moved from the traditional tree in the estuary (with very little depth of water) upstream.