Filling a blank etc

I have recently done a small project to identify the species of birds which, if absent, would indicate that an area in Far East Gippsland needs further 'work' to be regarded as having a representative bird list.  One land area showed up as having no eBird records at all.

So I decided to visit cell A3 to start a list.  This shows the area I chose to attack and the associated tracks.

We parked at the intersection with the Salvage Track: this comes off the Princes Highway, but there is no indication that it is closed at that end.  I assume that there is a swamp somewhere along the road which has got a tad cut up.

This is East Wingan Road: the surface is a little loose in places but basically very smooth and easy to drive.  The Jetta would have handled it with ease.

Obviously the Shire budget for road signs was well funded!

We wwalked down the East Wingan Track.  From looking at the tracks in the sand the only vehicle which has been down there recently has been a bulldozer, probably clearing the fallen trees off after the fire.  The surface was uncompacted and erosion was an issue.

There were very few birds around (both Pardalotes, Yellow-faced Honeyeater and Superb Lyrebird were all we recorded).  None of the Indicator Species.  There were some nice flowers however.  

One of the most obvious was Tetratheca ciliata (identified by the leaves not being in whorls).

Dampiera stricta was very common.

The only flowering wattle I noticed here was A. myrtifolia.

A few specimens of Kennedia prostrata were in one area,

A large white Epacris impressa near Salvage Track.  I tried, but failed to turn this into another member of the genus.

Our walk was 1km out and back.  

I intend to revisit the area and go further  along the Hard to Seek Track with side visits to Sandpatch Track etc to get a bit more coverage of the area.  Going further down the East Wingan Track will wait until I have got new rear tyres, but after curving around somewhat - or possibly more than somewhat  - it rejoins the Sandpatch track.

Our second visit was to the Genoa Creek Track which later in the season is an excellent spot for orchids.  As soon as we got out of the Pajero, Frances found a specimen of Caladenia caerulea.  This was the first we have found in East Gippsland.  Apparently there was a thriving colony here but we had not visited early enough in the year.  Now the site has been dug up for some works - which went to fair lengths to avoid other species - and is no more: hopefully(???) they will come back.

I am was reasonably certain this is Epacris microphylla.  However an expert on iNaturalist has explained that the leaves are insufficiently 'micro' and this is E. paludosa.  Many specimens in exactly the habitat described for that species in Flora of Victoria..

A different wattle.  From reading "Wildflowers of the Wilderness Coast" I am fairly confident that this is A. brownii.

Hovea heterophylla: we hadn't found this in the area until earlier this week.  Now it is going to pop up everywhere!

A member of the Fabaceae: iNaturalist reckons it is Aotus ericoides, which seems sensible.

A puddle in the track held hundreds of tadpoles (aka polywogs).  No idea what species.   Other, apparently similar, puddles had no, or at best very few, inhabitants.

I suspect these are some species of sawfly larva.  Their behaviour was very like the infamous Spitfires.

Some of the puddles were decorated with former insects.  The iNaturalist AI suggests a genus of termites not apparently known to exist in Australia.

Our final stop was in Genoa, looking over the flats North of the town where one Emu was spotted among the cattle.  I hope that there are others who survived the fire hiding in the woodland.