Going to the bogs

Those with the benefit of having attended school in the UK may think that this will be a post about the need to panic buying of absorbent paper products.  I may disappoint some, and relieve others, by revealing its about damp heaths.

The first bit of damp was the power lines opposite Karbeethong Road.

The track on the Southern side of the easement was just as bad.  

My aim in going there, other than a focus for a bike ride, was to check the orchid situation.  In summary non-existent so far.

On getting home I found that Frances had been chatting with a neighbour and found that Diuris pardina (Leopard Orchids) had been seen out at the airport.  So in the afternoon we took ourselves out there.  We parked the car next to the airport fence and walked along fence followed by a loop across the heath.

As we walked along the fence we found a "different" bean.  (I call this family "beans" because the scientific name is Fabaceae and "faba" is the Latin for bean,  It was OK to call them peas when the family was Leguminosae (legume = pea) but if the taxonomists are going to change stuff they must be consistent.)   We couldn't find it under heath in Joy's book but referring to a book about Sydney Sandstone flora got us to the genus Platylobium and then found P. parviflorum shown under Sclerophyll forest (with a note saying also found in heaths).

Then a very impressive red Epacris impresssa which actually photographed well.  

We noticed a lot of water standing around in the drain beside the track and more lurking in the heath.  Yes folks, another bog.   We were surprised to find a metal grid out in the heath with the sound of water running towards the Gun Club.  This must be a holdover from the set up of the airport during WWII draining from the runway into the Betka River.  

Getting back to core business there were a lot of Diuris pardina out there.  While this species is known in the vernacular as Leopard Orchid the genus is usually referred to as Donkey Orchids as the lateral sepals (seen from the right angle, after a few beers) look like a donkey's ears.

We also found a different blue bean which I have decided is Hovea heterophylla.

The specific name reflects the juvenile leaves being ovate and the mature leaves being linear, which I hope is shown in this most-of-plant image..

More bird diet and more orchids

My bike outing on the morning of 19 August was to try to locate some Glossy Black-Cockatoos seen feeding in Mortimer's Paddock.  I quickly found samples of their desired food: Allocasuarina littoralis cones

But the Glossies were absent.  A flock of 27 Yellow-tailed Blacks flew over, and there was considerable evidence of Glossy chewing under the appropriate tree.  So, close but no cheroot!

On our regular morning walk to the lagoon I have been seeing Martins mixed in with the horde of Swallows hawking over the marsh by Fisheries Jetty.  My default Martin is the Tree Martin but I had thought that I had seen, without binoculars,  red on the forehead of one bird.  So I paused to check.  The swooping birds were all moving quickly, as is usually the case with hirundines, but this bunch perched and reinstated the default option.

I did a couple of laps of Mortimer's Paddock 

... looking for the Glossies with no luck but any outing which includes a Bassian Thrush has to be rated a success.  This one was showing it was an early bird.

Heading back towards home the paddock behind the Lagoon was very soggy following the weekend rain.    This had attracted some Ibis and Spoonbills (and, out of image, a pair of Australian Pied Oystercatchers) to create fear and loathing among the frog population.

There was an amount of flowering going on.  Clematis aristata ...

.. Acacia longifolia ...

.. Pittosporum revolutum ...

... and Pandorea pandorana.

One assumes that this is a result of the warm weather of the last few days and the preceding rain.  That made me think of visiting the powerlines West of town to see what was occurring.  "The books" often say that Prasophyllum sp. (Leek Orchids) in particular flower well after fire so that was our target genus.  It was raining at the start so I didn't want to have camera out too long so some of these snaps are pretty appalling.

As we walked up the easement I was astonished to find an advanced bud of Thelymitra sp.  

Eventually we found at least 10 buds.  They are several days off flowering but are surely going to be a few weeks in front of "late September" which is given as the flowering time for nearly all species of Sun Orchid.

We did notice a low forest of Caladenia catenata: at least 100s of plants.

Then we hit a patch of "Prasos" which I believe the ##@@^&^&^%^% ing taxonomists are trying to change to Paraprasophyllum or some such rubbish.  It is a real worry when vernacular names are nmore stable, and thus more useful, than the scientific names.

A more or less in-focus close up.

Showing the emergence from the leaf.

A much greener looking species.

A green double-header!

Definitely an area which needs monitoring.

Birds of Bastion

 We took a stroll to Bastion Point on 18 August.  For the first time in quite a while the dredge was active at the boat ramp, possibly reflecting the amount of sand moving around from creeks opening and strong waves eroding beaches to the West.  Also the sea was relatively calm today allowing the dredge to work.

Before descending to the beach we noticed this flower growing beside the stairs.  Obviously a member of the Asteraceae but not one I recognise and there is nothing in Joy Greig's book that looks like it in beach section.  

• After searching a book on Sydney Sandstone plants I concluded that Reptinella longipipes was the best match, but the habitat suggested  - swamps - wasn't quite right.  
• Flora of Victoria marked that species in the area but the photos were not helpful.  
• Next step was iNaturalist which suggested Cotula sp: Joy's book does include C coronopifolia (but habitat = marshes and the plant is said to look succulent).  Checking Flora of Victoria for genus Cotula shows considerable confusion between Cotula and Reptinella 

So I have suggested Reptinella longipipes to iNaturalist.

Getting out onto the sand flats there was much noise by Australian Pied Oystercatchers (26 counted) displaying to each other.  None of them had flags.  Here is the display posture.

Quite a few Red-capped Plovers on the sandbars (and more ~20) on the beach.

The reputation of Solver Gulls for dining on chips is unwarranted.  This one had acquired an eel which was still alive when these photos were taken.

Shortly after the second image was acquired another gull arrived and showed an interest in the eel.  The first bird promptly swallowed 95% of the fish and departed with about an inch poking out of its beak!

We spent some time watching a pair of Chestnut Teal feeding in the mouth. This male was actually moving to the right!

They were swept out into the breakers and disappeared briefly then flew back into the channel to repeat the process!

As well as the flock of Red-capped Plovers there were several Double-banded PLovers of which 2 were in breeding plumage.

By their leaves ye shall predict them

 We'll get to the leaves shortly!  At the start are a couple of photos from the front of our house.  

First is Aseroe rubra, a stinkhorn fungus.  This has appeared in the same place as in June: clearly there is a mycelium under the mulch and the rain stimulated it to chuck up a fruiting body.

We planted some Hardenbergia violacea along the drive.  It is growing well.

Our afternoon walk today was the Betka River loop: primarily to see how the orchids aong there had survived.  At the start it obvious that the flooded area had received the weekend rain.

The track itself was a bit average in condition on a downhill section.

We did't find any new species of orchids along here but did get an additional colony of Pterostylis nutans when we approached Betka Rd again.   All the colonies we did find seemed to be in good order.

There were several specimens of this fungus around.  It doesn't look "right" for Amanita xanthocephala but I haven't got another name yet.

Moving along to the clifftops we found a nicely flowering colony of violets.  I think Viola hederacea.

Finally we get to the leaves!  This one is surely Glossodia major.  I suspect it has several days to get to flowering.

The heart shaped ones here are most likely Acianthus sp, with A. exsertus my main bet.

In the past they have been difficult to spot as they have tended to grow under vegetation. As there is no vegetation to grow under they will be easier to find (and photograph) this season.

Rain event 15-16 August

 Last weekend the BoM forecast Floodmageddon and we scored a total of 5.4 mm.  This weekend the forecast was more restrained so I was expecting zip.  However Hughie has been sending 'er down.  Yesterday we ended with 40.4 mm and today thus far (to 1500 hrs my Weather Station has recorded 35.8 mm.

The BoM site has recorded somewhat more as the system sending the moisture is to our West and we, and the Gabo Island site, are just getting the edge of it.

I was beginning to suffer from cabin fever so went for a drive to see what was occurring.  Its a reverse of a few weeks ago when the water was coming up from the Inlet.  Today it's definitely going the other way.

Mullet Creek usually has no flow: its got a bit today.

A paddock on Sunny Corner.  Not too sunny today!

Distant run-off on the edge of the Park, seen dimly through the rain.

Closer run off!

In part my outing was inspired by a video of water running across Bastion Beach.  Here is the deluge coming under the new steps.

And here is the source of the deluge,  I now understand the comment on FB about needing to unblock the drain!

While out at Bucklands I noticed a lot of Gastrodia sesamoides, also know as Potato Vine.

The raindrops were also quite artistic!

On the Monday 17 August the level of the Inlet was obviously up soI checked the depth gauge at the wharf.  It was basically back to where it was before the big rise which led to the opening.