ANPS ascend Mount Majura

The group met at 9:30 at the end of Antill St and I joined them an hour later.  Comments were made about how much they had seen: this might explain why they were only about 500m from the start!

Let me begin with training in identifying unusual things.  I'm sure you will all recognise a Galah.  The blue thing behind it, which will be far less familiar, is the sky.  Yes, it was a nice sunny day!
There were more flowers around than my walk on the previous week.  The first I found was Stackhousia monogyna.
 This week I managed to photograph the first flowers of Hardenbergia violacea which I came across.
Towards the end of the walk I found the first large clump I have found this year.
 Get back into the chronology, I need some help with this one.  I noted "Pimelia linearis" but that doesn't exist!  I think the Pimelia bit is OK - it was apart from mis-spelling Pimelea and finishing the second bit with 'earis' rather than 'ifolia'.  In simple words Pimelea linifolia.
Cryptandra amara longifolia was found higher up than C, sp. Floriferous.
The only 'egg and bacon' bean of the day: Dillwynnia sp Yetholme.
 Stypandra glauca;  first a single flower ....
   ... then the bush as a whole.
 Wattle Day (plus 1) and here is some Acacia dealbata.
The male Allocasuarina verticilata was still in heavy flower  ....
 .. although quite a few inflorescences had fallen to the ground.
Interestingly I didn't see a single female flower, and I looked at many of the female trees (ie the ones with cones). I reckon the lads have got their timing wrong.  At least that meant I spotted this interesting gall while looking for flowers.
 There were some good birds around, but most of them were skittish.  A Red Wattlebird posed nicely.
 I don't think this Shingleback was posing as much as soaking up the rays.
The lunch spot gave nice views over the airport.  It was interesting that the only store which really stood out was the (under construction) Ikea place.  Also known as the home of "hide and seek"!
We also got a good look at the Majura Parkway.
 This annoys me intensely as at the time of opening the GDE the Government had rejected the idea of this road as "too expensive".  Thus a whole lotta native vegetation, including some in Nature Reserves, got trashed and now they have built (most of) the expensive road anyhow.  Oh well, it keeps the construction workers off the (completed) streets.

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