No- it's not a Wattle.

Saturday morning saw me out in the Hard Hills east of St Arnaud to try and get a photo or two of the Bristly Greenhood that had spiked up in the Club's big enclosure on L Bray's Rd.

Coming round the corner past the transfer station I was pulled up by the sight of what I first thought was a large wattle in full bloom.

Aha" I thought- a new species although I couldn't place this plant at all in the local wattle list.

The bush was full of bees having a grand time and after taking as close a look as I dared, realised that this was a melaleuca, in fact it was Mallee Broombush Melaleuca uncinata in full fig.

There were only 4 or 5 bushes on the roadside and on reflection I realised that I had rarely seen this species in the Hard Hills although it is on the list for the area.

Has anyone else seen this species in the Hard Hills other than just east of the transfer station?

This is a valuable plant for insects in particular and is a beautiful sight at this time of year.

Along with its cousin, Totem Poles Melalueuca decussata, it provides food for a number of insects, cover for small birds and would be a good addition to any windbreak planting or just in the garden as is decussata.

Totem Pole Flowers

After this small interruption, I went on to our site to find one Bristly Greenhood completely dessicated and the other, vanished!

This is P. setifera in slightly better times 9 years ago.

It is very similar to P despectans(Lowly Greenhood) but without the absurdly long sepal tips.

The trip was worthwhile, as most bush trips are, even if you don't find what you went out for!

And Still They Come

On Saturday last, a quick trip north-west of town to Volcano Rd, Swanwater returned a swag of Crimson Chats, a handful of White- fronted Chats, numbers of Pipits, Songlarks, a nesting Brown Falcon and White-winged Trillers.

As I turned onto Volcano Rd from the Sunraysia Highway I had a momentary glimpse of what was possibly a White-breasted Woodswallow. The birds below were about 300ft (or 100m for the purists) away and over a slight rise so the photo isn't great.

Crimson Chats and Trillers.

Also in the photo is a Black-faced Woodswallow, unidentified until I looked at the next photo and sent it off to the expert for confirmation.

I can't get a positive identification on the top left bird on the fence. Any clues? Black-faced Woodswallow checking out something interesting in the stump.

The broad white band on the tail, the small black mask just taking in the eye and down under the chin, the pale grey head and front and darker grey back are descriptive.

I haven't seen this last species here before and it is not on the Club's Bird List. Another new bird for the St Arnaud district.

It's not over yet!

The hot dry spell we have just had has put paid to many of the our wildflowers, espcually the more showy plants. Heading east out of town on Monday to start the Mid-Spring Bird Surveys, the much improved L. Bray's Rd took me through the Hard Hills to the eponymous Nature Conservation Reserve(NCR) where the Club has two fenced enclosures. The oldest one, established in 1984 to protect the vulnerable Inland Pomaderris (Pomaderris paniculosa ssp. paniculosa) and Daddy Longlegs Orchid(Caladenia filamentosa) demonstrates the importance of controling grazing and browing animals. Outside the enclosure, there is little but mature Blue Mallee (Eucalyptus polybractea) whilst inside the fence, the entire shrub and ground layer of plants is present and flourishing. A few years ago, a count by Club members returned more than 400 plants of C. filamentosa! The newer enclosure was established to protect the newly named Hard Hills Spider orchid (Caladenia ampla) as well as Bristly Greenhood and Inland Pomaderris. However, most of these plants have finished flowering for the year but there is still much to interest keen photographers and naturalists. After climbing through the fence,a scramble through the regenerating Blue Mallee showed big beautiful plants of Scarlet Mintbush- Prostanthera aspalathoides, in every shade of red and orange. These plants despite their turpentiny smell seem attractive to browsing animals and are often browsed low to the ground.

withered rosettes of Bristly Greenhood with spikes soon to flower:

tall stems of Milkmaids(Burchardia umbellata),

drooping bee-infested heads of the mauve Totem Poles(Melaleuca decussata)

still flowering,the coconut-ice flowers of Grevillea alpina- Cat's Claw Grevillea... and meat an

the last flowers of the heath- myrtle,Micromyrtus ciliatus, turning red now:

seed capsules forming on the Hopbushes (Dodonea sp) with attendant beetles

And as a treat the delicate flowers of a Wallaby Grass (Rhytidosperma sp)

So get your boots on, and get out in the bush- the sights are no less impressive than the big Spring wildflower display, just rather more subtle.