Minnatonka Falls – Bullaburra – 3 August 2016

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Dave Noble

I was heading up the mountains with Bob, and we were on our way to Mt Victoria for a walk on the Asgard Plateau. On the way, we decided to make a quick visit to Red Gum Park at Bullaburra to allow me to photograph Minnatonka Falls. I thought recent rain may have actually made this waterfall a bit better than with its usual flow (barely a trickle). I wanted a good photo of the waterfall to include in my Waterfalls of the Blue Mountains Website.

Minnatonka Falls

Minnatonka Falls

So, we turned off down Noble Street at Bullaburra and soon were walking down the track into the park. We soon arrived at a lookout. Around the lookout were four round holes. They seem to have been bored into the rock. Each one had a diameter of about 15 cm. I had seen these before on my previous visit, and was quite puzzled by them then. Seeing them again brought up the same questions. Are they man made or made by natural processes? If they are man made – who made them? Aboriginals or later visitors? Even if they are not man made, could they have been used by aboriginals for various purposes?  Continue reading →

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More Fungi at Ferndale Park – 1 August 2016

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Dave Noble

I headed back to Ferndale Park at Chatswood to look for any new fungi. I ended up spending an interesting morning there.

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There seemed to be a fair bit more of the pink waxcap out.  Continue reading →

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Wollangambe Crater Walk – 30-31 July 2016

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Dave Noble

This was a pleasant weekend walk from Bell to Wollanagmbe Crater and back the same way. Su Li and Brent organised he walk, and they were joined by Martin, Steffy and myself.

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It was fine but cool weather. We set off from bell, following an old fire trail that goes down to the south branch of the Wollangambe River, then up the other side to spot height 994. On top of the ridge, we met a party of lost children, accompanied by their father. They were supposed to be walking to Goochs Crater and seemed to have taken the wrong ridge. We showed them where they were on the map. we noticed that one of the children had a map, but another had the compass – so that may have been the source of their problem? Continue reading →

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Wolli Creek Fungi – 29 July 2016

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Dave Noble

On this day, I had the afternoon off, so that gave me the chance for a return trip to Wolli Creek to see how the fungi was going. What a difference a week makes! The fungi that was out was a lot poorer than a my visit of a week earlier. That had been a very good trip, so a “lot poorer” still meant there was a fair bit out.

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On this trip, I started at Girrahween Park and walked along the Two Valleys Track to Turrella Reserve, then little further to near the old quarry and then back to Turrella.  Continue reading →

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Sassafras and Birdwood Gully Fungi – 28 July 2016

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Dave Noble

This was a return trip to Sassafras Gully at Springwood to have a better look around for waxcaps in the middle part of  the creek and also I had time for a look in for fungi in a short section of Birdwood Gully on the north side of Springwood as well.

Gliophorus viridis

Gliophorus viridis

I wanted to see if I could find more of the large pink waxcap (possibly Humidicutis rosella) that I had seen on the previous trip. While I was looking for it, I happened to find another strange fungi – this time a rather large chocolate brown species. I was not sure what it was so photographed it. Later looking at my photos I thought it may have been a Hygrocybe griseoramosa. But this did not seem right, and local waxcap experts Ray and Elma Kearney suggested it may be Hygrocybe badioclavata. 

Perhaps Hygrocybe badioclavata

Perhaps Hygrocybe badioclavata

Nearby was the one I think is Humidicutis rosella. I had a good look around and it was the only one I could find. Continue reading →

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Chatswood to Macquarie Park Fungi Walk – 27 July 2016

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Dave Noble

This was an excellent day of fungi spotting and photography. Conditions were quite good. I started at Chatswood Station and walked down to Ferndale Park, then a short road walk to  Blue Gum Reserve, and I followed a rough track down Blue Gum Creek to the Lane Cove River. Then after lunch, I followed the Riverside Track to Porters Creek, and then another road walk to Macquarie Park.

The Ferndale Park pink waxcap

The Ferndale Park pink waxcap

At Ferndale Park, I had arranged to meet Peter Woodard, a local botanical enthusiast. He has been observing what appear to be pink waxcaps in the park for several years. I was keene to seem them for myself and to collect some specimens. Peter showed me here the pink waxcaps were located – in a small area near the creek. They would have been hard to find without his aid. All the specimens we found were a little dried out, due to recent windy conditions. But they do appear to be waxcaps and they do not appear to be described. The are quite small – caps about 2 cm across in the largest ones, with a rough pink colour. Their stipe is thin and whitish. Gills are distant and have pink – yellow – green tinges.  Continue reading →

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More Colourful Lane Cove Fungi – 26 July 2016

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Dave Noble

This was another trip to the Lane Cove area to look for and photograph fungi, in particular – waxcaps.

Hygrocybe arcohastata

Hygrocybe arcohastata

The trip was quite successful. Here are some photos of some of the waxcaps that I found –  Continue reading →

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Sassafras Gully Fungi – 25 July 2016

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Dave Noble

This was my next trip in my regular series of walk down Sassafras Gully to record and photograph the fungi. I was hoping for a lot of colourful waxcaps to be out, especially after many good finds in areas close to Sydney after the recent rain. And rain records for Springwood were quite good. However, Sassafras Gully, this season, has shown quite a bit of reluctance in producing abundant fungi when compared to last year. Nevertheless, I did manage to find some interesting species.

Perhaps Humidicutis rosella

Perhaps Humidicutis rosella

One fungus I found, and I use the singular because I only found one of them’ was a rather large pink waxcap. In form, it resembled the fairly common purple waxcap – Porpolomopsis lewelliniae. it was a similar size and had a split cap. But there are no pink coloured waxcaps like this in Australian fungi books or waxcap keys. To try and find what it was, after asking local experts, I looked at some New Zealand sites like the excellent Hidden Forest and found one species that seemed to match – Humidicutis rosella. So that is perhaps what this one is. It seems to have been found in Austrailia once before. Continue reading →

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Upper Grose River Walk – 23 – 24 July 2016

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Dave Noble

This was a pleasant walk down the upper part of the Grose River from Mt Victoria to Blackheath. On the way we visited Blue Gum Forest.

The Silver Cascades

The Silver Cascades

The weather forecast was for fine but cold and windy weather. So a walk along a sheltered valley seemed a good idea. But it was still quite windy in the valley. In the party were Su Li, Brent, Wendy, Enmoore and myself.  Continue reading →

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Wolli Creek – Colourful Fungi – 22 July 2016

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Dave Noble

This was a very nice walk via the Two Valleys Track along Wolli Creek from Bexley North to Tempe. After seeing a lot of fungi out at the Lane Cove River and Chatswood the day before I expected some good fungi out along Wolli Creek and I was not disappointed. Conditions here were the best so far this year.

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A lot of what I saw and photographs were waxcaps. Here are some examples –  Continue reading →

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