This was another walk down the Two Valleys Track from Bexley North to Turrella (and then a little beyond – to near an old quarry.
On the first section, heading towards Bardwell Park – very little fungi was out – things were quite poor. I kept going along the track and arrived at the rock climbing crag. This was where I had found some good fungi on recent visits. I did find a few green Hygrocybe graminicolor out, some black clubs and some coral fungi. But not too much. Continue reading
Another trip to see how the fungi was going. between this and my previous visit it has been quite dry – so the fungi was not as abundant as before.
Hygrocybe lanecovensis
Here is a selection of what I saw – Continue reading
The Gardens of Stone Alliance are currently holding a photographic competition. Details are available on the Colong Foundation website. The idea is to get photographers to go out and record the stunning beauty of the parts of the Gardens of Stone that is not yet protected in any national park.
I went up with Digi Dave, both of us with our cameras and we spent two nights camping in the area and taking a few photographs. We had nice conditions for photography and I was reasonably happy with some of the images I took. Continue reading
Last year, during the fungi season, I visited Wolli Creek a number of times. It is perhaps the closest fungi area to where I live. But the fungi that I and observed there have not been particularly striking. For a fungi photographer I was looking for bright colours or interesting forms – such as corals or stinkhorns.
This fungi season seemed to start quiet slowly. I visited the area a few times earlier in the year – walking down the Two Valley Track from Bexley North to Turella or riding my bike over and walking down to the creek from Earlwood. On these trips the fungi I found was pretty poor. In May, I visited the area with the Sydney Fungal Studies Group and we found a reasonable amount on nice fungi – but none of it particulate colourful. Continue reading
I like walking down the coastline at Royal National Park along the Coastal Track. There is always so much to see and enjoy. Whatever the season. Always a lot to photograph. On this trip – I walked down the northern half of the track – starting at Bundeena and finishing at Curracurrong.
After recent rain – the track was quite wet. Very wet and muddy. It is only after rain that you realise that a lot of work is needed to fix the track to prevent the erosion from getting worse. Continue reading
In recent days the abundance of fungi near Sydney has been amazing. I’m not sure whether it is due to suitable weather for fungi fruiting (cool and wet) or due to better observing and increased knowledge of what and where to look for on my part. Probably a combination of both.
In particular, it now the best time to see waxcaps – members of the family Hygrophoracae. On these trips I was very fortunate to observe not only some very beautiful fungi but also some species that are very rare and are critically endangered.
Anyway here is a summary of some recent trips –
Magdala Creek – Springwood – 19 June
Just after rain – so the creek was high. Lots of orchids and a fair amount of fungi. I am starting to learn the best places in the upper part of this creek to find fungi. Continue reading
After recent rain another trip to the Lane Cove area was warranted to look for more fungi. I particularly wanted to see more species of the family Hygrophoraceae. This family of fungi are the so called “waxy caps” and includes the genera – Hygrocybe, Hygrophorus, Humidicutis and Porpolomopsis (amongst others). Many of these fungi are very brightly coloured – red, orange, yellow with some green or other shades. Some go through a series of colour changes as they age. Their gills tend to be thick and distant.
Hygrocybe arcohastata
I was very fortunate on this trip. Note only was a lot of colourful fungi out, but I met Ray and Elma Kearney also on a fungi documentation trip, and they took the trouble to show me some of that wonderful fungi that I am sure I would have missed if I had just been by myself. Continue reading
I headed up the mountains with Bob to Medlow Bath. Bob was keen to check out some of the old walking tracks behind the Hydro Majestic Hotel. I had been on those tracks once before and I too was keen to visit some of the places that we missed on that earlier trip – in particular the Colleseum (this is the spelling on the topo map), a large cave below the lower cliff line near the Hotel.
Marks Tomb
It was also forecast to be a wet day, and this walk offered a number of overhangs in which we could shelter from the rain from time to time. It turned out to be a good choice – there was a fair bit of rain on the day. Continue reading
We had two birthdays to celebrate – Jasper’s and Digi Dave’s, so we headed up to the Blue Mountains and out into Wollemi National Park to set up camp at the head of the Dry Canyon. There is a nice sheltered campsite, not too far from where we parked he cars. A short way from the campsite is to be found the interesting Dry Canyon.
After setting up tents, many in the party set of down to the canyon. This is an easy 15 minute walk along a track through open forest. Gradually the pagodas on either dies of the valley draw closer together and then the valley drops suddenly and surprisingly into a nice canyon. The Dry Canyon is usually completely dry – you don’t even get your feet wet! It is also quite spectacular – with two sections of constriction – a short upper one and a longer, darker one a short distance downstream. Continue reading
