Eggbert's Travels

Monday 30^th April

SHE SAID:

It was my first real orchid searching day today. Geoff came along for the day, & we headed for a place that we had searched before. Twice in fact, in early 2015 on our way to Toowoomba, then last year on the way to Tully!

Misty rain & cold greeted us at the Point Lookout, with a distinct lack of flowering orchids. We did find orchids leaves at one of the picnic grounds.

We had more success at Beech Lookout on the Forest Way, with orchids & the weather. Four orchid leaf types were seen plus 3 different orchids in flower! The Mosquito Orchid (Acianthus sp.) was not in great shape, either closing up/seeding or still budding! Geoff spotted several Greenhoods, again a couple not in great shape, but 2 that were good. And the last surprising find was an Austral Ladies Tresses or Pink Spiral Orchid (Spiranthes austral), looking great!

Heading to Point lookout

 

Lichen

Moss & Lichen covered walk to the misty lookout

Austral Ladies Tresses / Pink Spiral Orchid

(Spiranthes australis)

Possibly the Tablelands Greenhood

(Dipodium abruptum)?

HE SAID:

We were up and off on our orchid hunt relatively early. It was before 9am! Anyway, we had about 100km each way to travel, plus side tracks and orchidisings, so it was the right thing to do. Leaving the house the weather was fine, but as we headed East out of Armidale we managed to get mist/fog, light rain, cold breezes, and the car dash instruments showed it was only 7 degrees as we approached 1500m elevation near Point Lookout!

There were orchid basal leaves, and a couple of soggy wallabies, at Point Lookout, but that was all. So we meandered through the mountain tracks to Beech Lookout. Even I had found orchids here before; and I did again! As I have written previously, it is Varena's enthusiasm and joy at the orchid finds that keeps me helping her hunt for the little blighters. And her joy, literally only minutes after she ordered me to find her a flowering greenhood, was overflowing when I found one, and then some more.

But the corker for my day was when I wandered back to near the parked ute, past the picnic tables that we had both wandered by a couple times earlier, and there, standing tall and proud, was a bright pink orchid! We had both missed it a couple of times today, but there it was. I reckon the light had changed (seriously), as while Varena was taking her photos of it I went around behind it and it was barely visible. So, all those millions of orchids I can't find, they are just in bad light!