This was another walk from Thornleigh to Porters Creek along the Lane Cove Valley to look for fungi. I found a reasonable amount out, but perhaps not as much as my previous trip, and like that one I found no waxcaps out. But I did find lots of Cortinarius out and quite a few different species of spine fungi.
Here are a few photos taken of what I found – Continue reading
I was on my way home from Chatswood and as the train approached Wilsons Point, it looked like there could be a good sunset. So I detrained and spent the next hour or so wandering around Milsons Point with my camera. The problem was that I had been on a fungi photography trip – so I had my 90 mm macro lens – not the best thing to photograph sunsets. But, luckily, in my bag I also had two wide angle lenses – 15 mm and 21 mm. They would be better.
At the start, around 4:15 pm, then lifting was nothing special at all. It was cloudy, but to the west was a clear patch and I knew that when the setting sun reached that things would improve. They certainly did! Continue reading
Last year, on one of my walks down the Lane Cove River, I had walked out to Chatswood via Blue Gum Creek. On that trip, I had followed a rough old track all the way up the creek to the Chatswood Scout Hall and then along a good track to Dulwich Road. On the way up the creek I had found a fair bit of fungi out – including some nice waxcaps. That trip was late in last years fungi season, so I was keen to return to see what was out this year.
Hygrocybe anomola var. anomola
This year, the fungi season has not been nearly as good as last year – probably due to less rainfall. But I did spot some nice fungi along the banks of Blue Gum Creek – Continue reading
This was a nice daywalk with Bob and Rob. None of us had visited Bottleneck Pass, but knew it was found on the Elphinstone (Radiata) Plateau of Katoomba. There are some notes on the pass on Alan Wells website and also on the Dingo Gap website.
We started off from the carpark at the top of the Six Foot Track. We walked down the track a short way, then turned off to the right along a faint road that traversed behind some properties. It was not clear where to head out to the top off the pass. We did find a bit of pink tape on a tree and a very rough pad – but I think we lost the track if there was one. But it was not very far to the cliffs, and we headed out to a point. It looked too steep to continue, so we walked back into the gully where the pass descends and soon found ourselves on top of a rock platform with good views of Megalong. Some rock pools were frozen. In a small overhang, we found an old visitors book. It was in a plastic container that was broken and the logbook was sodden. Bob carried it out. It was clear that we were at the start of the pass. Continue reading
At present, in the greater Sydney region, Bola Creek possibly is the best place to look for colourful fungi. I headed back down to the creek and had another look around. I found a fair bit still out.
Hygrocybe lilaceolamellata
I was pleased to spot a good variety of waxcaps out. This included two clusters of Hygrocybe lilaceolamellata. I had first seen this species in Tasmania on my trip in April of this year. This was the first time I had seen it in the Sydney region. It is a rather dull coloured species compared to some of the other waxcaps – having a brown cap and stipe. I think this makes it larger hard to spot. But it does have very beautiful lilac gills. Continue reading
Some colourful fungi in the Lane Cove area –
Hygrocybe collucera
Most of the fungi I photographed were waxcaps – members of the family Hygrophoraceae. However, when compared to last year the number out was much smaller – both in total quantity and variety. I expect this is probably due to the season being much drier. Continue reading
This was a repeat of a walk I had done in 2012 along the Great North Walk track from Thornleigh Station to Hornsby Station. But my main aim this trip was to look for fungi that may be out near Waitara Creek which you cross not far before you leave the track and climb up to Hornsby. Last year I had done a walk all the way along Waitara Creek from it source. On that trip I had found a lot of fungi out along a section of Waitara Creek very close to a feature known as The Spa – where the creek is crossed by the Great North Walk. A lot of fungi that I saw on that trip were colourful waxcaps, including some quite rare ones. But that trip had been in late July and the fungi was well past its prime. So I thought it about time I had another look.
The Spa – Waitara Creek
I set out from Thornleigh Station around 11:30 am, a bit late perhaps, but the walk is not that far. After a short walk along streets I was in the bush. Early on I saw a big group of RFS personnel – it looked like they were on a training activity. Also, it was a nice sunny winter day and a lot of other walkers were out and about. Continue reading
I went on a walk along the Two Valleys Track along Wolli Creek between Bardwell Park and Tempe.
Hygrocybe aurantipes
My main aim was to look for and photograph the fungi, but I also spent time looking for orchids (There were lot of Greenwood Orchids out) and photographing the flying foxes. Continue reading
This was the next in my regular series of walk to Sassafras Gully to check out the fungi. The day before, I had been to Bola Creek and the fungi there had been quite good. In particular, a lot of waxcaps were out. Compared to that, Sassafras Gully was quite poor. This trip, I could find no waxcaps at all despite a lot of looking in places I had seen them before.
On this trip, I went down via the track from Sassafras Gully Road and then along Glenbrook Creek and out via Magdala Creek and Fairy Dell. Continue reading
A field trip to Bola Creek by the Sydney Fungal Studies Group Inc had been canceled the previous Saturday because of bad weather. I thought I would be worth having a look to see what fungi was out when the weather improved. So I set off by myself for a trip to Bola Creek for a look.
I rode my bike down from Waterfall Station (a short ride, but it a big climb back up later on) into Royal National Park and then down to Bola Creek. Wandering around I found a fair bit of fungi out – including a good range of waxcaps. Not large numbers, but a good variety of types. Continue reading
