An outing to Eden

 We  went to Eden this morning to get a little work done on the Mazda.  While that was happening we went to Lake Curallo and Aslings Beach.

2 Musk Ducks were a nice tick!

I was very surprised by the size comparison of a Little Egret and a Silver Gull.

The relativity with Black Swan was more in line with received wisdom.

A rather young Caspian Tern.

A Royal Spoonbill.

Aslings Beach was as crowded as usual (although I suspect it would be rather different in January),

The folded rocks at the end of the beach were impressive,

This potter wasp was entertaining and I was very impressed with the quality of image obtained by my 400mm lens at about 6m range,

A stroll along the Chip track

In exploring possible sites for future group walks we went to the Chip track on 14 September 2023.  The last time I walked here the track was flooded, but as will be shown below the River has opened! 

I begin the core of the post with the flowers seen, as that was the main purpose of the outing.

The most obvious blossom was of Leptospermum laevigatum.  Surprisingly, that is not shown in "Wildflowers of the Wilderness Coast" but it is the only game in town (or in fact, out of town in the dunes).  Confirmed on iNaturalist.

One of the larger shrubs - possibly advanced to 'tree' status!  

Zooming in to show the density of blossom.  It was interesting that there were no fruits on the plants.

Kennedia rubicunda is still evident but less obvious now than in the 2 Summers after the fore.

Goodenia ovata

Lomandra longifolia

Leucopogon parviflora

This is a lignum Muehlenbeckia adpressa after ID on iNaturalist.

Senecio linearifolius: the specific name means "linear leaves" so is obviously a better ID than a species with a name meaning "pinnate leaves".  That is despite but the Plant app and Joy's book suggesting S. pinnatifolius as the only groundsel in dune country.

After assistance from observers on iNaturalist and referral to "Bush Beauties" this is Caladenia latifolia 'Pink Fairies'.

Banksia integrifolia

Carpobrotus rossii (Pigface).  Another species has leaves that are round in cross section rather than triangular as in this case.

A second orchid!  Pterostylis curta (note twisted labellum).

Melaleuca armillaris.

The banks of the Betka estuary.  Note the huge amount of dead eel-grass left behind as the water has gone.  No wonder there have been lots of swans in the area!

Still a few swans (out of frame) but at least 200 Eurasian Coots.

Wader tracks on the beach.

And here is a wader - Hooded Plover.   It did a mild threat-display which may mean they are starting to nest nearby, so I retreated.

A second Hoodie.  Neither of them were flagged.

A ladybird Harmonia conformis, the Large Spotted Ladybird.

The beach: one more person in 2.5km!

A walk from Pebbly Beach to Two Heath Cove

 On 2 March the weather seemed fine and we were feeling frisky so headed off to walk from Pebbly Beach to a Rocky Cove, somewhat over half way to Shipwreck Creek.  The red colouring here is a fungal infection, although there is - according to an entomologist friend - a mine track made by a moth larva in the lower left 

Cassytha sp, confirmed on iNaturalist as C. glabella, Slender Devil's Twine.

The heath is beginning to get back to how it was before the Black Summer fire.  This is Allocasuarina paludosa: sufficiently mature to have got some cones.

The white patches are another major component of the heath: Hakea teretifolia.

One clump of hakea was close to the track so I got a close-up.  There are two tactical reasons for not going into the heath: 

• the burnt Hakea has left a lot of sharp spiky bits which are easy and painful to trip on; and 
• I reckon snakes need to work for their food, not given an easy meal. 

This fungus is supporting a colony of green algae.

On getting to Two Heath Cove a nice skink was catching some rays.  I think it is Lampropholis guichenoti the commonest skink in the area.  It looks a little plumper than usual so suspect it is a gravid female.  

The rocks in the Cove look like ideal Tattler habitat: unfortunately the tattlers disagreed (or at least kept their heads down).  Frances did spot 2 Gannets passing by.

I was struck by the patterns created by water spilling off a rock.

On the way back to Pebbly we saw a female Scarlet Robin (probably moved down from the high country) and heard a Crescent Honeyeater.  Unfortunately the latter had ceased its "Egypt" call by the time I got my recorder app working.  Back on the beach I had a number of bird species rated as "likely" but only an Eastern Reef Egret fronted.

Why is it called "Pebbly Beach?"

Jones Creek Road (ish)

 These snaps come from a drive with Jeff along Jones Creek Road and related carriageways North of the Prince Highway a few km West of Genoa.  Some words and precise names to follow.

As we drove Jeff had mentioned seeing some monstrous spotty March Flies.  As soon as we stopped some rolled up.  Here is one trying to drill through Jeff's boot.  According to iNaturalist AI the species is Triclista gluttata.

At our next stop there were hordes of butterflies - Imperial Hairstreak Jalmenus evgoras - fluttering around the low shrubs.  Many of them were a tad battered, but this one shows the tails nicely.

This one shows a clump of pupae as well as several imagos. Some of the attendant ants are also there.

Geitoneura klugii - Marbled Xenica

A Skipper of some species.  According to the AI, Splendid Skipper Trapezites symmomus

A nice Goanna - about 1.2 m long.  Jeff commented that nearly all the Goannas around this are are about this size: perhaps they are all from nests that survived the fire, and the bigger adults mostly were killed?  Note the tongue in this first image.

As well as enjoying the colours, check the size of the claws!

We had three target species of which the Turquoise Parrot was obliging.

After that first (Julian Alps-rule: even if a photo-op isn't "perfect" grab in case the opportunity is about to vanish, as happened when we camped at Bled and the chocolate-box lid view was soon replaced by 8/8 cloud) image we followed a sandy track to get a clearer image.  Going against all the rules the bird was still in position when we shifted to get a better view.