I had gone up the mountains to visit my friend Wendy, and she had suggested a local walk. The weather forecast was not that good, so we decided on the Blue Gum Swamp loop at Winmalee.
This familiar walk is always a nice one to visit again as it is so beautiful – especially the Blue Gum Forest along the creek. We did the walk in the clockwise direction – down the creek through the forest and then returned via Shaws Ridge.
We were not far along when we spotted our first orchid. It was a Hyacinth Orchid – probably Dipodium variegatum –
And we saw some nice birds. Here is a New Holland Honeyeater –
And another orchid – a Bonnet Orchid – Cryptostylis erecta
And second species of Hyacinth Orchid – Dipodium roseum –
And Dipodium variegatum. Notice the different in stem colour and the petals.
And a Brown Cuckoo-Dove –
And a Red-browed Finch –
The whole walk follows fire trails, but along the swampy section there were some large pools of water to try and skirt around.
The Blue Gum here are particularly nice. They are Mountain Blue Gums (Eucalyptus deanei)
Here is a Rufous Whistler –
Wendy pointed out some marks that were on a lot of the Blue Gums. They seemed to be a few centimetres apart and appear along a diagonal line. We wondered what could have caused these.
Closer examination revealed small holes –
I suggested they may be due to some type of borer, but later, when I posted some photos to Facebook, a knowledgable friend said they were caused by gliders. This seemed reasonable and some Googling confirmed this. The holes are feeding stations made by the gliders to provide steady flows of sap for them to eat.
Here are some more orchids, another Bonnet Orchid and a rock orchid (not in flower).
Back to the forest.
The last crossing of the creek is over a bridge and here the water was flowing down a vortex.
Then we started the climb up onto Shaws Ridge.
On the ridge, we did have some rain, but we found small overhang near the fire road and this was a good place to stop for lunch.
Not long after, Wendy thought she could recall seeing some Flying Duck Orchids at a particular spot. She then looked down and spotted one! Nice. Caleana major.
We later spotted some more.
And a last photo of a pair of Satin Bowerbirds. The male is black.
It was great to catch up with Wendy and spend a day in the bush with her.