Wild Flower Watch II

Well Deb had a bit of work to catch up on , and I was pottering around the house so it was pretty late before we got out and about yesterday. It was sunny and very still so although it was just an hour or so before sunset we headed out so I could see if a week had made much of a difference to the varieties of wildflowers on display at the old Queenstown Cemetery.

At first glance there didn’t seem to be much different from last week. The minute pea flower and the bearded heath.

I decided to have a closer look because many of these wildflower species are very hard to spot among the grasses.

Within a minute of making that resolution I spotted one bright yellow flower hugging the ground.

Not a brilliant piccie but worth sharing 

I think it is a “Trailing Goodenia” (Goodenia lanata). There were a number of Goodenia plants hiding among the grasses. But thus far it was the only solitary bloom.

Then within a step I saw this delicate beauty.

This tiny half opened flower is of a “Tall Sundew” probably (Drosera peltata)

Here some buds that have not opened these tiny buds are less than 6mm (1/4 inch across)

And the sticky carnivorous leaves that give these lovely killers their name.

 

If you look closely

 

I mean really close, this one has caught a passing ant.

 

Then I thought I would catch some more shots of bearded heath, because I love this amazing little thing.

It wasn’t until I looked at this piccie on my camera I even spotted this minute insect.

 

It was tiny, less than an inch long (including antennae). It looks something like a cross between a stick insect and a grass-hopper. 

I couldn’t resist trying a closer shot. Alas I am no more an entomologist than I am a botanist so I will let you speculate what it is

 By the time I finished playing with my insect friend it was the last of the light.

I paused briefly to shoot this sundew flower, 

 

again this flower is just over 6mm so I am really blowing it up.

Then finally as I was about to head for home I saw this solitary orchid.

I had never seen one of these before (although they are not particularly rare) I am almost certain it is a Waxlip Orchid (Glossodia major), 

This flower was much larger than any of the others I have photographed in the cemetery at a bit over 25mm (1 inch).

I think it is exquisite, and spent perhaps 15 minutes trying to get my camera into different positions to capture its beauty.

Alas It was just too dark to do it real justice and I don’t have a macro flash (anyone have a spare $500?)

I was hoping to get back today if the weather was decent, but unfortunately it was blowing a gale, which effectively makes it impossible to get good wild flower shots.

 

SO here’s looking forward to see what has come out next weekend.

A promise

I promised my third post on my latest visit to the Grampians would feature wildflowers.

On our third day I went for a very short walk (about 800 metres) to get a shot of this amazing formation which was once called "the Jaws of Death"
Now I would like to say more but I am out of time tonight so I will let the flowers speak for themselves. This is a sample of the dozens of species I saw along that short path.

Most of these are flowers I have never seen before. Oz flora is so diverse that you travel a few miles and you will find a very different plant community.
No idea what this one is
Or this one, I guess from the structure that it is an orchid.
There was a little patch of them growing in one boggy area.
I would guess from the flower structure that this is a Melaleuca species (but I could easily be wrong)
Some kind of native Iris (I think)
This is a tea-tree of some variety (a much larger flower than most)
I know these
Holly Grevillea opening
And fully open
and a whole bunch with a pea flower of some kind in the background.

Dozens more to come

Killers in the Cemetery

Back to Queenstown Cemetery tonight. I couldn’t leave it at the few flowers I posted.

Tonight a few more of the flowers. The only one I can confidently name is this Showy Parrot-Pea (Dillwynia sericea)

I photographed dozens of flowers and in this small area (probably only an acre) there were probably dozens more species.

I quite simply ran out of time.

At a glance these two look to be the same species.But if you look closely the stigma and anthers seem quite different. I would guess a botanist would say they are two varieties.

This one was one of my favorites. I “know” this flower I am sure. I have been racking my brain and just can’t recall it. More research is called for.

The only trouble is there are literally thousands of Oz flowers many only known by their scientific names.

These tiny flowers were lurking down among the grasses, to give an idea of the size each petal is about the size of a rice grainSpeaking of lurking.

Nestling down in the grasses across this site are dozens of killers.

There’s one A bit closerAnd a real close upThese fascinating little plants are Sundews
Sundews are carnivorous plants. The glistening droplets are a sticky trap. Small insects that land on them get stuck then the tendrils fold in like a sea-anemone trapping the victim which is then slowly digested.

This final piccie is one I shot a few years ago (with my old camera) if you look closely you’ll sea this little plant is busy eating a number of ants.NEXT: I rabbit on about my writing

Grampians Part II

I woke early on Sunday. Leaving Deb asleep in the motel I went out for a stroll to see if I could catch some shots of dawn in Halls Gap.

It was a frosty morning (remember it is winter down this way) The local wildlife brave coming down into the town before people stir.

These are eastern grey kangaroos.

I was able to get quite close. It has been a good season so the kangaroos are busy raising their young. Being marsupials they carry their young around in pouches.

Cute aren’t they?After breakfast we headed out for a day in the northern Grampians.I paused frequently to catch shots of the ranges.
At one spot I caught this little wildflower.Along this bush road we came to the foot hills of Mount ZeroI paused to catch more wildflowers.All around the Grampians Heath Myrtle was floweringA close up. Further along the road we reach our destination for the morning,
The Ngamdjidj Rock Shelter on the walls ancient Aboriginal paintings

The Grampians

I haven't entirely abandoned waterfalls, in fact I have piccies of at least a couple more I've shot in the last few weeks up my sleeve. But tonight I'll make a slight change of direction.

This weekend just passed Deb and I have seized the opportunity for a weekend away again. This time we drove three hours west of Melbourne to a mountain range known as 'The Grampians.'Our destination Hall's Gap a little town in the Grampians region of Victoria.

Hall's gap sits in a pass that cuts through the range.
This is the main street of Halls Gap

Although at the moment the pass is not... well not 'passable'. You might remember that back in December/January there were floods in Queensland and here in Victoria. Well the Grampians were hard hit by massive flood events. There were huge landslips throughout the region big enough for many of the maps to no longer be correct and for many of the roads to still be in need of rebuild.

Despite that the area is still incredibly beautiful with an amazing variety of heathland vegetation growing on the impoverished soils of the region.

In terms of diversity of flora Oz has a number of hotspots and perhaps ironically the most ancient and impoverished soils often have the highest biological diversity. I have heard the argument that the Western Australian heathland environments have unequalled floral diversity, matching or even beating the tropical rainforests of the world.
I won't comment on statements like that except to say, people in Oz like grand statements about 'biggest', 'best' or 'most'. Some statements like that are true others, well I'm no referee on the topic.

What I can say is Oz has an amazing variety of unique plant communities and Victoria's heathland has a similar diversity to that in West Oz. Interestingly thanks to the magic of plate tectonics Southern Africa have some communities that are related and look similarish.

Anyway back to the matter at hand. Deb and I set off to the Grampians with an agenda of bush walking (hiking), photography and knitting in mind. We were both going to walk, I'll leave it to you to work out which of us was going to knit and which photograph.

Now I have rambled enough; as it is I am probably going to need two or three posts to cover what we did and saw in just a day and a half.

So after checking in at the holiday park we were going to stay the night we left Halls Gap to check out the Bee Hive Waterfall (you knew I just had to squeeze in a waterfall)

Walking up to the falls I stopped to shoot these amazing rock formations. It isn't quite spring, but the wildflowers are coming out.
A “Wirilda Wattle” (Acacia retinades)These tiny “Cat’s Claw Grevillia” (Grevillia alpina)A “Holly Grevillia” (Grevillia aquifolium) that hasn’t quite come outIt is so gorgeous I had to show an extra closeup.As you get close to the falls you see the rock formation that gives them the name Beehive
I love catching changing light as in these of the 'beehive' wasn’t the only person keen on shooting the falls. This local photographer’s daughter obliged by acting as a scaleOn the way back down I paused to shoot this flower which I haven’t yet managed to identify. I think it might be some kind of orchid, but I am really just guessing.

Then as the evening was drawing in the local wildlife began stirring

I surprised this Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) on the trail. She hopped away because I am so scary.

Just round the corner I caught her friend, another eastern grey