ANPS causes rain to avoid Wanniassa Ridge

In fact we pretty much scared it away from the ACT!  That is shown by this image from the BoM website showing rain accumulation since 9am.
 It was however rather cloudy for most of the day ...
 ...  but the 9 bold members who turned out were all warm and dry throughout.

The main attraction for the walk was the flowering of Leucopogon attenuatus
 Here is one of several large 'drifts' encountered on the Ridge.
 This is just a snap with a spike of Leucopogon with a Eucalyptus bridgesiana behind it.
 Cryptandra sp. Floriferous was also in flower.
The objective of this shot was to contrast the colours of the Cryptandra in the foreground and the Leucopogon in the background.  I am unsure how well that has worked but trust me, the distinction is obvious in the field.
These are the buds of Eucalyptus nortonii.  The key attributes are the glaucous nature and lack of stalks.
 From buds to fruits.  The first offering is Persoonia rigida.
Next a rather sad Styphelia triflora.
 Some more flowers: Leucochrysum albicans tricolor.
 Vittadinia cuneata
 Hovea heterophylla: an early bean.
A mistletoe, Muellerina eucalyptoides growing on E. polyanthemos.  This was a new species for us a couple of years ago but is turning up quite frequently.  I think this is an increase of our observational skill rather than the species going for world domination.
 We found several Acacias in flower.  The first was A melanoxylon.
 A ulicifolia.
 A dealbata
 A really seriously naff image of A. gunnii, but it does show in a blurry way the leaf shape to distinguish it from A ulicifolia.  Which is all it has to do, not win a photography prize!
 Cheilanthes distans - a much smaller plant than the usual C austrotenuifolia.
  A diagnostic for C distans is the white tuft at the tip of the leaf.
 A bracket fungus ...
   and a dark brown one that I have not (yet) been able to ID.
I am fairly sure Julie showed us a nest of an Australian Raven.  Shortly afterwards this potential owner turned up ...
 .. and gave close attention to some potential material.
 This nest was much larger with heavier sticks.  I am confident it is a Wedge-tailed Eagle nest, and as it is increasing in size may well get used later this year.
Finally I noticed this quite early in the walk.  I find it surprising that a broken bottle can hang around for close to 60 years.

Comments

Flabmeister said…
This received by email from a friend with a property at Nimmitabel (aka Nimmy).

I enjoyed the read, as per normal, Martin. Over the last couple of years at Nimmy we have found 1955, 1956 and 1966 beer bottles, though intact, and they will be incorporated into a bottle feature wall at my brother's place as they just happened to be significant dates (one of birth and another the only year St Kilda has won a premiership!). Thanks for the botany lesson too.
25 June 2015 at 08:40:00 GMT+10
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