Six orchid day on Lovers Jump Creek : August 27 2023

Time to focus in on tasks needed to get the house on the market. One of the first jobs is to repaint my study room - next week. Need to find place to hide the stuff in the room. Pre-task is to clear some boxes of papers in the garage to free up space - started there. The last 3 boxes of papers that survived the last clear out headed into the recycling bin. Was an emotional journey going through break through work stuff from over 20 years ago - all normal now. We were on the leading edge in lots af areas

Went walking the local track on the north side to clear the emotions. This fern growing out of a rock for one of my primary school friends who loved ferns - RIP Robyn

New nodding greenhood open on the track - pterostylis nutans. Not been a lot open in this section or below the track this season. I think the sewer relining work has let sewerage out and killed the orchids below

One budding - late in the season.

Track work has also disrupted the finger orchids - found one open close to a spot where there were 4 or 5 last season

Caldenia catenata hanging right on the edge of the disrupted earthworks

Mushrooms opposite - next stop is to check on king greenhoods.

These have been spared the trackwork and the colony is better than last year. The biodiversity officer knows this is the only site in the LGA. Too bad he cannot influence the brush turkey or lyre bird that has been scratching here

There are a few buds - pterostylis baptistii

Of note is the colony across the track has more plants than last season but no buds

More ferns growing out of rocks

A few more hypericum open

Next progress check on thelymitra pauciflora growing on top of a rock - a few buds showing

Maybe two more weeks to open time - looking healthy

This flower looks like a stardust. Zoomed in photo attempts did not work- zoom on this yourself

More pea flower variety - this one more open than I have seen - that is why I stopped

The spot with these ant orchids now has 4 flowers - last week only one. The configuration is different to the others. Normally the helmet and labellum are at right angles - or no less than 60°. On these they are parallel. Chiloglottis trapeziformis - like a trapeze artist grabbing the bar and bringing legs up to hold on. [Deleted the out of focus photos]

Next mission was to find mayfly orchid. There used to be 20 or 30 in one spot - now only one after the previous round of track work - sadly I missed getting it open last week when I walked

Close up

Nice cluster of pea flowers

One last fern growing out of a rock crack

Kept walking up onto Grosvenor-Gwydir fire trail to look for sun orchids. Got to say I am getting impressed with my orchid spotting success. I saw the shape of the front leaf and stopped. It is an orchid - take a photo and then look up and see there are two. No idea what they are - maybe bearded orchids

Lots of pink flowers- stopped for one Sydney boronia flower. Was confused the day before - 4 petals is the key to ID

This photo is of a flower 4 metres off track. It is the size of a US nickel. As soon as I saw the flower shape and size, I knew what it was - fairy fingers

Closer in - only one flower - caladenia alata. First time find on this track

The close up shows the key ID features- carmine bands and two yellow tips either side of the labellum. And the spike is hairy

First sun orchid on this walk - not yet open

This looks like an orchid plant - single leaf and a spike witha bud on top. Close look at the bud shows more than one flower. Budding milk maids - burchadia umbrellata

And at last an open sun orchid on a rock ledge above the track - thelymitra ixioides. One of 3 plants with one fully open

And behind was a pink wax flower - 5 petals to differentiate from Sydney boronia which only has 4

Saw this spotted sun orchid below the track. Went down for photo as it was at the entry area for a grassy section to check out

Did bash down to the grassy area below the track to look for finger orchids - no luck but the view across Lovers Jump Creek from there was good

Any walk that yields 6 orchids in flower and two budding has to be rated a big win. Lots of steps done too

Got home and tackled some garden tidy up chores including finishing off driveway high pressure water cleaning. There is a lot to do

Dinner: Stir fried rice

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Daily Activity, Gardening, House Chores, Photowalking