ANPS gets Shipwrecked

Shipwreck Creek that is: they haven't started studying kelp (as far as I know).   A group of 12 members came to Mallacoota on a Field Trip and I joined then on an outing to Shipwreck Creek.

One would have to describe the state of the road as far as the Park boundary as "average, going on ordinary".  It obviously hasn't been graded for a fair while and some good quality potholes are developing.  Along the way I saw 6 Swamp Wallabies (one of which had an RHG at diving under my wheels) and 4 Red-necked Wallabies (which displayed more sense than the average redneck).

Here is the route we followed the stretch heading SW is the heathland element.
Almost as soon as we headed off we encountered Acacia myrtifolia.  This was common, especially through the heath.
Some of the plants were less well developed than others.
There were very few birds around (apart from a cluster feeding on blossom near the crossing of Shipwreck Creek near the junction with the Centre Track.  This Great Egret, at the mouth of the Creek, was an exception
Hakea decurrens was everywhere in either pink or white mode.
Hybanthes vernonii was very common in the base of the heath alongside the path.  I didn't go exploring to find out the situation off the path!
Quite a few specimens of Comesperma volubile were noticed.
The common bean is still Dillwynnia sericea.  (A member of the group also reported Pultenaea daphnoides but I didn't take a photo.)
There are a couple of species of Drosera in the area, but I am reasonably confident this was D. auriculata.  The raindrops were a bonus!
This caused me some grief.  It didn't match any of the Acacias in the book and I was beginning to wonder if I had gone nuts over a Melaleuca.  Fortunately iNaturalist .org leapt to my aid with Acacia verticillata with the common name Prickly Moses.  (Which is probably under suspicion as an anti-Semitic cognomen!)
Clearly a Leptospermum.  The book gives L. continentale as the only option.
This Acacia puzzles me a little, but I think it is A. suavolens in the wind blasted habitat of the heath
Allocasuarina nana is the 'basic' species in the heath.
I only found one example of Burchardia umbellata (Milkmaids).  When we first came to Mallacoota n't seen such a display since.the airfield in particular was covered with them but I have
Acacia longifolia is the backdrop to Hakea decurrens.
Hovea heterophylla took over as from Hybanthes as the common blue(ish) plant once we got into the woodland.
One of the two species of Pomaderris (P. ferruginea) found soon after entering the woodland.
We finally found some greenhood orchids but I was not confident what species they were - or even if there was more than one species.  Watch this space.  An orchid expert has advised that they are Pterostylis grandiflora: the problem was that the book described the rosette but didn't say explicitly that the rosette was distant from the stem

A new genus for me Zieria smithii.
Monotoca elliptica caused a few ID issues as I expect Monotoca to be a small shrub and this was a pretty large bush  Flora of Victoria gives a vernacular name of Tree Broom Heath.
A gall on capsules of Eucalyptus sieberi (Silver top Ash) one of the common gums in the area.
On the subject of gum, here is some emerging from a Bloodwood (Corymbia gummifera).
Here is a link to my full species list for the outing.

Comments

Unknown said…
Wonderful! thanks for sharing. I love that area.
26 August 2019 at 20:26:00 GMT+10
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