ANPS finds most of the Cypress Pines track dry

The weather forecast for 9 April was not exactly what one would hope for if going bush with rain and showers in prospect.  Thus Plan B was implemented with a shorter walk, closer to Canberra, going to the Cypress Pines Lookout on Mt Tennant.

Indeed the radar was looking most dodgy between 0530 and about 0730 but Ros held faith and didn't pull the pin.  Although the weather looked murky-minus as we drove down (and those that arrived on time got sprinkled) in fact the weather was great for a walk.  Several folk peeled off a layer due to to warmth.

We'll get to the wet bit towards the end of the post.

Time for some images, and there are quite a few.  I attribute this to the recent rain giving the plants a burst of energy before Winter kicks in.

Correa reflexa (green)....
 ... and pink.
This is a sedge Fimbristylis dichotoma.  An interesting case of the enlarging powers of photography revealing how snazzy the flowers are!
 Barbed wire grass, Cymbopogon refractus.  Ibid.
 There were many pads of Astroloma humifusum along the track
 I was very surprised to find Acacia penninervis flowering at this time.
 Micromyrtis ciliatus plus visiting ant.
 Monotoca scoparia - a tad earlier than expected.
 Eucalyptus debatablis or possibly E. discussionus.  Lets bite the bullet and say Eucalyptus sp.
 Isotoma fluviatilis (which was the object of the image) and a bunch of Drosera sp. (which was a large surprise when I looked at the image).
Glycine tabacina
The trackside and surrounding bush was full of Diplodium reflexum.  At a conservative estimate I would have seen close to 50 flowers, sometimes in colonies of 5-8 plants.
 The stem of this specimen was so straight that I tried very hard to turn it into D. fischii but alas the labellum was visible so "just another" D. reflexum
 The other orchid seen today was Eriochilus cucullatus.
 I think this is a lichen rather than a moss.
There were a good lot of fungi, relatively few of which I could identify , but here are the pictures for your enjoyment.  I'll try to ID some more later.

 This one I know Omphalina chromacea!

 This is a puffball but I know no more than that!
 Ramaria anziana
 A large ant.  I suspect that is what may have bitten Frances.
 Up close and personal to a very photographed Botany Bay diamond weevil Chrysolopus spectabilis
 Some colourful galls.  Penny Gullan has advised that  "The colourful galls near the end of your blog are the tubular galls of males of an Apiomorpha species (family Eriococcidae). The females induce much larger galls, often ovoid or conical and in some species with longish "arms". "
Now back to to wet.  In the upper parts the creeks were running well so I tried to get a few evocative images of flowing water. "Flowing" starts with 'F' which is possibly a bit harsh .


 The granite was colourful ....
 ..and large!
This Australian Raven watched us eat lunch and displayed its throat hackles to demonstrate that it wasn't a Little Raven

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