Humungous fungus!

I was walking down my creekline, cleaning up, checking for weeds and rabbits and generally enjoying the day when I saw what I thought was a big piece of old rusty metal.

What on earth was this doing on my creek!

All metal bits, old fencing wire and so on had been cleaned up many years ago.

When I got closer, I realised it was a monster fungus emerging from the leaf litter.I only had my binoculars to use as a comparison.

So next day, I went back with the tape measure ( and binoculars again) and measured 45mm length and 26 mm front to back.

I also managed to get a bit of a look at the undersurface which was spongy, confirming that this humungous fungus was a bolete of some sort.

On scanning my several Fungus books I came up with Boletus ( or Phaeogyroporus) portentosus-regarded as Australia's largest terrestrial fungus "with individuals sometimes exceeding 1m in diameter" (A Field Companion to Australian Fungi- Bruce Fuhrer).

So this one was actually a baby.

From the Atlas of Living Australia-https://bie.ala.org.au/species/NZOR-6-3554

"Phlebopus marginatus, known as the salmon gum mushroom in Western Australia, is a member of the Boletales or pored fungi and possibly Australia's largest terrestrial mushroom, with the weight of one specimen from Victoria recorded at 29 kg (64 pounds).

It is an imposing sight in forests of southeastern and southwestern Australia. Initially described as Boletus marginatus in 1845, and also previously known by scientific names such as Phaeogyroporus portentosus and Boletus portentosus it is in fact not as closely related to typical boletes as previously thought."

You can see the difficulties with identification even for the experts.

Bruce Fuhrer's comments on the edibilty of this species should put you off sampling it-"favourite breeding ground for fungus flies, the maggots of which cause rapid putrefaction..." although it is eaten,with relish, particularly in South- east Asia.

As with all fungi- the greatest care should be taken with identification before eating- if in doubt- don't.

Walker's Lake Bird Survey

Wednesday 20th Feb 2019 saw several members from St Arnaud Field Nats and Avon Plains Banyena Landcare Group leave the boat ramp for a round-the-Lake bird survey. Beautiful clear, sunny and cool weather kept any pesky insects at bay and we spent 2 1/2 hrs watching birds and listing them for Birdlife Australia's online Bird Atlas. Walker's Lake, north-west of St Arnaud, one of the waterbodies in the highly significant Avon Plains Lakes system.

30 species were seen, mostly waterbirds or landbirds that are associated with wetter environments such as Magpie-larks. For first part of our walk, through Black Box Woodland to the western end of the lunette, we were accompanied by a small family of Black-fronted Dotterels, moving like little clockwork toys along the insect-laden edges of the water. Moving with the BF Dots, but staying in front of the pack was a pair of Red-kneed Dotterels. You can see the red knees in this on-the- move long telephoto shot by Prue McAllister (APBLG).

Up onto the lunette( a huge sandbank, formed over thousands of years from pelleted clay blown from the lake bed during dry,cold spells) and the bird assembly changed- Welcome Swallows and White-plumed Honeyeaters foraged busily above or in the massive Redgums, Galahs and Long-billed Corellas defended their nesting areas; the Redgums are full of hollows, indicating their great age (150 year of growth before hollows begin to form). From our vantage point we spied a raft of Australasian Darters, diving and fishing in the shallow waters, almost like a choreographed water ballet- all up, then one after the other, down again! It was hard to count how many there were. Male Darter in breeding array Photo A Hughes StAFNC

Several smallish rafts of ducks were seen a good distance away- photos later revealed Pacific Black Ducks, Grey Teal, one lonely Hardhead, the pretty little Pink-eared Ducks and wonder of wonders, a group of 4 Australasian Shovelers, a protected species during the duck shooting season, and not unlike the Pinkies in profile( strange bills) but larger and with more distinguishing marks- white patch and dark rump. This group included 3 males and one female and the very long shot was taken again, by Prue McAllister.

Coming around to the inlet area, we were escorted along the shoreline by a Sacred Kingfisher, nervous of our presence but reluctant to leave us to our own devices for some reason. Photo by Anne Hughes StAFNC

Moving along the southern shore, through the Redgums and Black Box, we spotted 4 White-breasted Woodswallows using the fenceposts as perches.

They were not interested in posing for the cameras but the photos were good enough for identification purposes. White-breasted Woodswallows are seen at the Lake mostly during Summer.

This pair behaved like juveniles, waiting for parents to return with a meal.

Food was certainly on our minds as we completed the 3km walk and headed for our morning tea- the usual relaxed and enjoyable end to our outings at the lake.

Midsummer Joys

The bush is looking pretty dry and desolate now- no rain and a month of extreme heat has knocked all the freshness out of the plants and trees.

Birds are congregating in the lower parts of the landscape- around the creeklines and in gardens where there is water and some respite from the excessive temperatures.

On a recent visit to Dalyenong Nature Conservation Reserve, a large area of Heathy Dry Woodland, to carry out a quarterly bird survey, I was heartened to see Bulokes festooned with the "dayglo" red flowers of Buloke Mistletoe- Amyema linophylla, an obligate on Buloke and thus a threatened species along with the Buloke- and the gorgeous firecracker flowers of the Harlequin Mistletoe- Lisiana exocarpi.

Buloke Mistletoe

Harlequin Mistletoe flowers

I was not the only person interested in the flowering mistletoe; birds of every sort (well, nearly) were attracted to the plants - Honeyeaters, White-plumed, Black-chinned and Yellow-tufted; Rufous Whistlers, Hooded Robin and Dusky Woodswallows were all enthusiastically searching through the mistletoe clumps or hovering over them (maybe that should be "hoovering" as there were lots of insects there too).

On the sector of the survey site where there were no Bulokes, there were no birds!

In the Box-Ironbark areas the mistletoes are Drooping or Box Mistletoe- Amyema miquelii and Fleshy Mistletoe- A. miraculosa- miraculous because it parasitises another mistletoe rather than the tree.

These two species are also flowering at the moment but are much less spectacular than the Buloke and Harlequin varieties.

Mistletoe is a vital bird and insect food especially during summer, providing nectar, berries and cool roosting places during the heat of the day.

The leaves contain more moisture and nutrients than the host plants and when they fall, return those extra nutrients to the soil thus benefitting the host.

I was not the only person interested in the flowering mistletoe; birds of every sort (well, nearly) were attracted to the plants - Honeyeaters, White-plumed, Black-chinned and Yellow-tufted; Rufous Whistlers, Hooded Robin and Dusky Woodswallows were all enthusiastically searching through the mistletoe clumps or hovering over them (maybe that should be "hoovering" as there were lots of insects there too).

On the sector of the survey site where there were no Bulokes, there were no birds!In the Box-Ironbark areas the mistletoes are Drooping or Box Mistletoe- Amyema miquelii and Fleshy Mistletoe- A. miraculosa- miraculous because it parasitises another mistletoe rather than the tree.

These two species are also flowering at the moment but are much less spectacular than the Buloke and Harlequin varieties.Mistletoe is a vital bird and insect food especially during summer, providing nectar, berries and cool roosting places during the heat of the day.

The leaves contain more moisture and nutrients than the host plants and when they fall, return those extra nutrients to the soil thus benefitting the host.