Back to Seven Mile Beach NP for hyacinth orchids : December 13 2024

Heading south today. Plan is to pack my car and drive into city to switch cars - my wife parked in office yesterday. Got a different route idea out of the city using Cross City Tunnel. That worked a treat - we were on past the airport in 20 minutes. Traffic was a bit slow as holiday and shopping traffic builds.

Unpacked and got on the bike to walk Seven Mile Beach NP. Found this orchid on the roadside not for from the turnoff onto the road - hyacinth orchid - English naming gets confusing - dipodium punctatum

Found this unusual bud formation low down on the track. Normally the buds spread out a hit along the spike. Lots of people call this blotched hyacinth orchid like the one before. Proper English name is common hyacinth orchid. Latin name is precise - dipodium variegtatum. I use that name as the English name

Two plants in frame - dipodium variegatum

Australian native violet - always some open down here

Tried hard to get photos of the labellum in focus - was a big struggle. Need light over the shoulder with a bit of cloud cover. Maybe the best of the day. Not going down the big camera and big lens and big weight path. Camera must fit in a bike shirt pocket

Worked some angles - getting better

Found these two orchids budding in the middle of the track. As this is a bit of a side track from the main cycling track - they may survive

Christmas balls

Normally the flowers open from the bottom and then seed from the bottom. Not this one which has gone in reverse order - last flower open is at the bottom

Coastal palms working hard to reclaim the track

Australian corn flower off track

Thirsty magpie on a 34C hot day - beak open

Seems the best photos of the hyacinth orchids are back a pace - two in frame

Spider feast time

Sticking with the bugs theme - cicada husk

Now this felt like a touch of justice. Just as I leant down to take my first photo I was drilled through my shirt by one of these. It is a march fly. This one has been caught in aspic in a spider web. Note the proboscis that does the drilling

Turned back a bit earlier than normal - budding hyacinth orchid right in the path is a testament to the way I walk and watch. Focused totally on one side

Dipodium variegatum standing tall

Maybe a better close up - still cannot get focus on the calli on the labellum. The flower is bright enough but the light colours grab the attention of the lens

The more normal configuration of flowering from the bottom and then seeding from the bottom

Found a few dipodium punctatum on the way back - one on the road side and a few on a side track at the start of the South Sand Track. Detail eyes needed - Ni spots on the pedicel = the bit the flower is attached to - and the petals do not fold back

A pair of photos in frustration - the calli are not in focus

But the ant which is one quarter in size is almost right

Ride done. Had done the shopping bit first - cycled home - then went bush. First ride in 2 weeks

Cooked dinner for friends - eye fillet on the bbq. No photos sadly

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Cycling, Daily Activity, House Chores, Photowalking, Shopping

Height 183.0 cm		Weight 90.0 kg		Body Fat %
Waist cm		Thighs cm		Chest cm