Stirling Ranges National Park Orchids, Western Australia

 Hi everyone, I hope you and your families are all doing ok. 

Back in September we stayed for a few days in the Mount Trio Bushcamp and Caravan Park which is located at the foot of the Stirling Ranges in Western Australia's south west.  I blogged about it briefly here - Scarlet Banksia

The Stirling Ranges National Park was devastated by last summer's bushfires in Western Australia. More than 40,000 hectares was lost through the bushfire which swept through the Park.

The Park is a biodiversity hotspot containing more than 1,500 species of plants, at least 87 of which are found nowhere else in the world and some of which may be lost forever. Conservationists say it may take centuries to recover.

While we were there we went on a guided bushwalk with Jarrad in the bush around the edge of the camp. This walk is run daily, depending on numbers and weather, from 1st September to 31 October. During the one and a half hour easy walk we saw 26 wild orchid species as well as many other wildflowers. Jarrad said that if we came back in October we would see other varieties. Over the years they have seen around 50 varieties. During our own explorations around the National Park we saw another 10 varieties. 36 in total.

According to my "Guide to Native orchids of South Western Australia by Bob Liddelow, there are over 300 orchids species in Western Australia.

This week I share them with you. If you click on the collages below you can see the names. However I am not an expert so I apologise in advance for any inaccuracies. 

You really have to watch where you are walking and have eagle eyes because some of these orchids are tiny, as you can see here. My husband is a great orchid spotter. 

Below are the 36 orchids

Some orchids, like the Red Beaks love burnt earth and often grow in colonies where there have been summer bushfires. We saw lots of these growing in the burnt ground around the Park. We were told some orchids can lay dormant for years waiting for a bushfire. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed seeing these orchids. 

References:

Guide to Native Orchids of South Western Australia - by Bob Liddelow

Wildflowers of the Stirling Ranges - by B Fuhrer and N Marchant

Colour Guide to Spring Wildflowers of Western Australia - Part 2, Perth and Southwest - by Eddy Wajon

Guide to Wildflowers od South Western Australia - by Simon Nevill & Nathan McQuoid

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Stay safe and have a wonderful week.  

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

All Seasons 
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.
Thankful Thursday 
Der-Natur-Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
 Month end link up @ Live love craft me

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Catching up my Covid photo a day project - September 2020

 Hi everyone, I have been missing for a couple of weeks because I broke my wrist on 17 September, and required surgery where they inserted a plate. So I gave myself a little break from blogging. Typing is painfully slow one handed, but I have still be doing my Covid photo a day project. Mostly just phone photos...nothing flash.... 

But I have recently resurrected my old point and shoot Canon Power Shot Pro1 camera which I retired several years ago when my DSLR took over. Keeping everything on automatic this smaller lighter camera has allowed me to take a few half decent photos... and even some flower shots with the Macro facility. It is spring here - wildflower time - so I am happy to be able to take a few photos at least.

Below you will see my photo a day project for the month of September. Honestly when I started this Covid project in March I didn't expect to be doing it still in October. It will certainly be an interesting record of this Covid year. 

I truly hope and pray you and your families are safe and well. We in Australia have been relatively lucky with low numbers. Most people are compliant with the Covid safety suggestions and restrictions, and this has helped enormously. 

Below are my September photos and captions. Gosh I am glad I can copy the captions from my facebook page...I've just about had enough typing for tonight. 

Tuesday-1 September 2020 - a wet day is a good day to stay inside

Wednesday - 2 September 2020 - sunset outside the Art Gallery on the way to flamenco dancing

Thursday - 3 September 2020 -working on a photo project merging photos - the top is one photo merged with another, the fish at the bottom. 

Friday - 4 September 2020 - donkey orchids in the little bush block near where we live

Saturday - 5 September 2020 - a little flowering bulb in our front garden

Sunday - 6 September 2020 - Father's Day - old and new technology combine with co-operation

Monday 7 September 2020 - red kangaroo paw flowering in our garden

Tuesday - 8 September 2020 - We took a little 4 day trip to the Stirling Ranges. The destruction caused by the summer bushfires on Mt Trio in the Stirling Ranges National Park is still devastatingly evident

Bonus shot - Tuesday - 8 September 2020 - this wildflower was caught by the heat of the bushfire as it was about to bloom

Wednesday - 9 September 2020 - We stayed at Mt Trio Bush Camp and Caravan Park at the base of the Stirling Ranges National Park for a few days - canola flowering in the foreground with Mt Trio in the background

Bonus shot - Wednesday - 9 September 2020 - Vanilla Lemon scented sun orchids 

Bonus shot - Wednesday - 9 September 2020 - emergence from the summer bushfires on Mt Toolbrunup

Thursday - 10 September 2020 - Scarlet Banksia - Banksia coccine - in the Stirling Ranges National Park

Friday - 11 September 2020 - Dancing spider - bee orchid - caladenia discoidea. This last week I've been working identifying the wild orchids we saw in the Stirling Ranges. I have 36 different varieties which I hope to share next week. 

Saturday - 12 September 2020 - last year little birds nested here in our garden. Sadly a Kurrawong took their babies. I wonder where they are nesting this year? Postscript - they repaired the nest and have nested here again. I hope the babies survive.

Sunday - 13 September 2020 - going through my wildflower books to identify wildflowers I photographed in the Stirling Ranges, Oh just realised I left one out!

Monday - 14 September 2020 - We went to Perth for a couple of days. These are Rattle beak orchids - Lyperanthus serratus - at Wireless Hill, Perth

Tuesday - 15 September 2020 - Cats paw in Kings Park Botanic Garden in Perth 

Bonus shot - Tuesday - 15 September 2020 - Matagarup Bridge over the Swan River near Optus Stadium, Perth

Wednesday - 16 September 2020 - art exhibition - Emerging Connections - at ECU Mt Lawley, Perth

Thursday - 17 September 2020 - beautiful Lydia singing at the Bunbury Entertainment Center

Friday - 18 September 2020 - our grape vine is starting to grape

Saturday - 19 September 2020 - waiting in pre-op at the Bunbury hospital for an operation on my broken wrist, which I broke on Thursday

Sunday - 20 September 2020 - Sunday morning breakfast in bed at St Johns hospital....with wrist in plaster. Thankfully not my dominant hand. 

Monday - 21 September 2020 - back home and snuggling down on the couch to re-read a favourite book

Tuesday - 22 September 2020 - struggling to hold my camera to capture the beautiful roses from friends who came to visit with flowers and cake and hugs. Thank you girls.

Wednesday - 23 September 2020 - Little birds are nesting in a small tree at the corner of our patio

Thursday - 24 September 2020 - we are bird-sitting our grandsons two Cockatiels - Weiros - for the next two weeks over the school holidays. Moonstone and Pebbles are a constant source of interest but I don't like being woken up at 6.30am for us to take the cover off their cage!

Friday - 25 September 2020 - We went down to the beach to collect cuttlefish for the weiros. This is the old salt water pool on the back-beach.

Saturday - 26 September 2020 - Banksia

2 bonus shots - Thursday - 24 September 2020 - beautiful flowers sent from family and friends

Sunday - 27 September 2020 - Today I went back to my old point and shoot camera Canon Powershot Pro1. Not as sharp as I would like, but at least I can take photos with one hand, This is beautiful climbing Clematis - Clematis pubescens - climbing over a yellow water bush - Bossiaea aquifolium - out in the bush east of Harvey today.

Monday - 28 September 2020 - our son and his family have gone north for the school holidays. We've been following them through their SPOT GPS tracker on our computer. You can see where there are and zoom in to see amazing satellite imagery. This is in the Kimberley - I took a photo of the computer screen. 

Tuesday - 29 September 2020 - Today I had my plaster off and a hard cast fitted. Small steps of progress, The purple goes with the status flowers in my garden.

Wednesday - 30 September 2020 - Snapped this picture on the way back to the car after lunch with a friend in town.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I sincerely hope that you and your family and friends are safe and well and coping ok with these uncertain times. Have you started a new project during Covid restrictions? Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in your comments.

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.

  

And remember

Where there is life there is hope 

   

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

All Seasons

Pictorial Tuesday
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 

Our World Tuesday

 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.
Thankful Thursday 
Der-Natur-Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
 Month end link up @ Live love craft me

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

little blogging break - or "wrist" break

 Hi everyone. I hope you and yours are well. 

I didn't expect to be having breakfast in bed on Sunday morning in hospital. I took a nasty tumble on Thursday and broke my wrist. i had an operation on Saturday where they screwed a plate into my wrist to stabilize the break. It could have been far worse. So I am grateful for that. 

So i am going to take a little blogging break. Typing one handed is slow and arduous. 

I intended starting to share some of the gorgeous wild orchids we saw in the Stirling Ranges National Park in Western Australia's south west, but they will have to wait for now. 

i hope to be back with you in a week or two. Till then take care and stay safe. Did you know photography is an extreme sport! 

Here is one - Joseph's spider orchid - caladenia polychroma - in the late afternoon light.

Take care everyone. 

Scarlet banksia - Banksia coccinea - Western Australia

 Hi everyone, just a short post from me today. We have been away this past week staying at the Mt Trio Bush Camp and Caravan Park adjacent to the Stirling Ranges National Park in the south of Western Australia.  I'm still sorting through my pics! 

The Stirling Ranges National Park was devastated by last summer's bushfires in Western Australia. More than 40,000 hectares was lost through the bushfire in the Park. The Park is a biodiversity hotspot containing more than 1,500 species of plants, at least 87 of which are found nowhere else in the world, and some of which may be lost forever. Conservationists say it may take centuries to recover.  

You can read more here: ABC.net-bushfires-cause-stirling-ranges-biodiversity-to-be-devastated

We enjoyed our stay exploring the Park, but when we visited the devastation was still very obvious and heartbreaking to see. Some areas had started to reshoot, but large swaths of land was still burnt earth with blackened sticks which was once lush bushland. 

Some of our native plants rely on bushfire to regenerate. Some of the orchids for instance, like the Red Beaks, just one of the nearly 30 wild orchid species we saw. But more on that in another post. 

One flower which we enjoyed seeing was the Scarlet Banksia - Banksia coccinea - which only grows in a small section of our state. A truly magnificent plant which grows 1-8 metres high. 

I had only seen them once before in the wild in the Fitzgerald River National Park on our south coast. 

We saw it in one location along a scenic drive which winds through the park. The gravel road must have acted as a fire break - as one side was still lush and the other burnt black. There were several Scarlet Banksias flowering on the lush side, and just one plant on the burnt side. 

We saw many blackened sticks and scorched plants like this. Heartbreaking. 

Learn more here: Australian Native Plants Society

That's it from me for today. I hope to bring you more from the Stirling Ranges National Park next week.

You might also like: Celebration of the Australian Banksia

I am sorry if I didn't answer your comments or visit your pages last week, but we were away and we discovered that internet was virtually impossible.  I hope you and your families are all safe and well. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.  

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

All Seasons 
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity

and Pieni Lintu
Thankful Thursday 
Der-Natur-Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
 Month end link up @ Live love craft me

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.