The Clematis The Quarterly Newsletter of the Bairnsdale & District Field Naturalists Club Inc. A0006074C

www.bairnsdalefieldnaturalists.com.au

Issue No. 103 Autumn 2015 Executive 2015

President Pat McPherson (03)5152 2614 [email protected] Vice President Lindsay Simmons (03)5156 4771 [email protected] Secretary (under the Act) Pat McPherson (03)5152 2614 Treasurer Margaret Regan (03)5156 2541 [email protected]

Ordinary members and Coordinators Clerical Duties/Club Enquiries Fran Bright (03)5152 2008 [email protected] Botanic Group James Turner (03)5155 1258 [email protected] Bushwalking Group Noel Williamson (03)5152 1737 [email protected] Newsletter Editor/ Website Manager Pauline Stewart (03)5152 1606 [email protected]

Librarian Pacific Black Duck Photo by John Saxton Dianne Laws (03)5152 1768 [email protected]

Issue The Clematis99 Pa Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE TO: The Secretary, P.O. Box 563, Bairnsdale 3875 www.bairnsdalefieldnaturalists.com.au The Clematis is printed and supported by the Department of Environment , Land, Water & Planning

MEETINGS STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

General meetings take place at: 1. To further the awareness and study of all branches of The Noweyung Centre, natural history within the East Gippsland community 84 Goold Street, Bairnsdale through field excursions, regular surveys, specialist as per program at 7.30pm sharp guest speakers and publications. Committee meetings take place at: 2. To observe and strengthen the laws for the members homes as per preservation and protection of indigenous flora, program at 4.00pm fauna, habitat and important geological features. 3. To promote the formation and preservation of THE CLEMATIS National and State Parks and Reserves. Responsibility for the accuracy of information 4. To collaborate with other groups and agencies with and opinions expressed in this newsletter similar environmental interest. rests with the author of the article. All articles for the winter Clematis must be LIBRARY INFORMATION - Librarian - Dianne Laws sent to the Newsletter Editor by June 1st 2015. • Books are generally borrowed for one month - however you can write on the sign-out sheet if you wish to have it longer. SUBSCRIPTION FEES 2014/15 • Should any library materials need maintenance, please make Single membership $30 me aware of same. Family membership $45 • If you wish to recommend a book, this can be done by writing Mid-year fee (new members only) $15 a short recommendation for the Clematis. This information could be from our library books or from other books that you believe our library could look at purchasing.

FIELD TRIPS RULES TO OBSERVE DURING FIELD TRIPS It is your responsibility to contact the coordinator of each 1. Excursions are cancelled on days of field trip to notify them of intention to participate. TOTAL FIRE BAN. 2. Participants to keep a visual on the car The coordinator will notify you if the trip has to be in front and behind. cancelled due to adverse weather conditions or other 3. When making a turn, give signal, and unforeseen circumstances. stay at intersection until following car has also turned. Please take note of safety procedures in your Bairnsdale 4. If separated from other cars, stop, and & District Field Naturalists Club Inc. ‘RISK MANAGEMENT stay with your car. POLICY’ booklet. Other members will return to find you. 5. The Car Pooling Cost Calculator is used to assist drivers and car pool passengers to share fuel costs.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY FOR BUSH WALKS

Walks vary in distance from 6 to 14 km.

Easy: Flat, good firm track. Moderately easy: Mostly flat, track in good to fair condition. Mod: May be undulating, track in good to fair condition. Mod. Difficult: May be some steep sections, track may be rough In places. Difficult: May have long steep sections, track may be non- existent at times.

Contact the leader of the walk for a rating if it’s not included in the program. Page 3 Issue 103

CONTENTS: Programme March to June 2015 3 President’s Report 4 Lake Bunga to Tostaree 5-9 Nunniong area - Timbarra Plain 10-11

PROGRAMME March to June 2015

MARCH Sunday 1st Bushwalk 8.00am Bridge Club, to Old Orbost Rd., West Boundary track. Leader: Noel Williamson. Rated: Easy Thursday 12th Committee meeting 4.00pm Pauline Stewart’s home. Friday 20th General meeting 7.30pm Noweyung Centre. Speaker: Geoff Williams from the Platypus Conservancy, ‘Water Rats - Rakali’. Sunday 22nd Monthly excursion 9.00am To be announced. Sunday 29th Bushwalk 9.00am Bridge Club - to Lonely Bay. Leader: Noel Williamson. Rated: Easy APRIL Thursday 9th Committee meeting 4.00pm Fran Bright’s home. Friday 17th General meeting 7.30pm Noweyung Centre. Speaker: Brian Jack, ‘The Sandplain Wild Flowers of Western ’.

Sunday 19th Monthly excursion 9.00am Bridge Club or 9.20am at Bruthen to Ensay North. Leader: James Turner. Sunday 26th Bushwalk 9.00am Bridge club or 9.30am at Red Knob - to Buchan Reserve. Leader: Noel Williamson. MAY Thursday 7th Planning meeting /Committee meeting 4.00am Margaret Regan’s home. Friday 15th General Meeting 7.30pm Speaker: Wildlife Unlimited, ‘Fruit Bats’. Sunday 17th Monthly excursion 9.00am Bridge Club to Lake Tyers area. Leader: James Turner. Sunday 24th Bushwalk 9.00am Bridge Club or 9.30am at Bruthen to Bruthen Trails. Leader: Noel Williamson.

Committee meetings and general meetings are now in recess for the winter. JUNE Sunday 21st Monthly excursion 9.00am Bridge Club to Fernbank. Leader: James Turner. Sunday 28th Bushwalk 9.00am Bridge Club to Granite Creek mine site—Cobbannah ar. Leader: Noel Williamson.

CONTACT PHONE NUMBERS and email address’s for meetings and field trips. James Turner 5155 1258 m.0427 290838 [email protected] Noel Williamson 5152 1737 [email protected]

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Summer has been kind to us in East Gippsland. Rain has fallen in the right amounts and the right sequence to keep bushfires at bay and to nourish the bush.

Our year has started on a high note; the Club is still basking in the reflected glory bestowed on us by our field guide - The Orchids of East Gippsland. Just on 500 copies have been sold in outlets throughout Gippsland and beyond and orders have been received from as far afield as the UK and Germany!

Two of the three co-authors, Jennifer Wilkinson and Andrew Bould were guest speakers at the Australian Native Orchid Society meeting in Melbourne in March where their presentation and the book were enthusiastically received.

Another high was our first activity for the year when we invited anyone interested in moths and butterflies to two nights ofinfor- mation commencing with a presentation by Mike and Pat Coupar from Mallacoota entitled Moths and butterflies of East Gipps- land. Pat and Mike are authors of the highly acclaimed book Flying Colours. This was followed the next night by a mothing excur- sion to Fairy Dell where local naturalist and entomologist Duncan Fraser set up a vapour light to attract moths to land on a white collector sheet where they were photographed and identified.

Another high has been the recent discovery in our archives of a folder containing pressed specimens of 62 Acacias of East Gippsland that were collected by members in the 1960s. A footnote names five specimens that are required to complete the collection. This is a very significant find and we are considering how best to preserve it.

Our excursion/bush walk programme for the next few months is available in this edition of Clematis and I commend it to you all.

Pat McPherson

President

A flight of Pink-eared Ducks Photo by John Saxton Page 5 Issue 103

LAKE BUNGA TO TOSTAREE—18 January 2015

By Margaret Regan

At the turnoff to Lake Bunga, a White-headed Pigeon was seen on the overhead wires. While we assembled at Lake Bunga, many birds were seen about the small lake. These were Little Pied, Little Black and Great Cormorant, White-faced Heron, Australian White Ibis, Australian Pied Oystercatcher, Crested Tern, Pacific and Silver Gull and White-bellied Sea-eagle. Our visit to Lake Bunga was firstly to see two species of hyacinth-orchid, Purple Hyacinth-orchid (Dipodium punctatum) and Rosy Hyacinth-orchid (D. roseum). The Victorian species of hyacinth orchids are all leafless epiparasites, with tall stout flower spikes with many flowers. The tepals are all similar and the labellum has a prominent ridged callus. The Purple Hyacinth- orchid grows to 100mm tall with up to 60 flowers. The tepals are not reflexed or recurved and are pink with darker pink spots. The labellum is mostly all deep pink. Rosy Hyacinth-orchid has paler flowers with pink spots, the tepals are recurved and the labellum is striped. We then walked to the Lake Bunga sewage ponds to check out any likely water birds. On the far edge of the water body, three foxes were gambolling. Rarer birds seen on the water were Pink-eared, Blue-billed and Musk Duck. Others were Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead, Chestnut and Grey Teal, Eurasian Coot, Hoary-headed Grebe and Black Swan. In the surrounding bush were Common Bronzewing, Wonga Pigeon, Silvereye, White-browed Scrubwren, Superb Fairy-wren, Brown Thornbill, Eastern Spinebill, Yellow-faced, New Holland and Scarlet Honeyeaters, Little Wattlebird, Eastern Yellow Robin, Welcome Swallow, Galah, Musk Lorikeet, Crimson Rosella, Laughing Kookaburra, Grey Butcherbird and Australian Magpie.

Our next search was at the corner of Blackfellows and Lyles Bridge Roads in the Colquhuon State Forest. Here were again two hyacinth-orchids, only this time it was Rosy Hyacinth-orchid and Blotched Hyacinth-orchid (Dipodium variegatum), which has bracts at the base of the stalk, and the flowers are paler with large maroon blotches which extend to the ovary and flower stalk. There were a surprising number of other in flower. Beneath Red Ironbark (Eucalyptus tricarpa) and White Stringybark (E. globoidea) the plants in flower were all small. There was red Cranberry Heath (Astroloma humifusum); purple Hairy Fan-flower (Scaevola ramosissima); a tiny pale pink Grass Trigger- (Stylidium graminifolium); the deep blue herb Tall Lobelia (Lobelia gibbosa) whose irregular flowers have the lower 3 much larger than the upper 2; cream Common Rice-flower (Pimelea humilis); a tiny orange Small St John’s Wort (Hypericum gramineum); and the cream daisy Satin Everlasting (Helichrysum leucopsideum). The birds seen or heard here were Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Rainbow and Musk Lorikeet, White-throated Treecreeper, Superb Fairy-wren, Brown Thornbill, Spotted Pardalote, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Red Wattlebird, Grey Shrike-thrush, Grey Fantail and of special interest here, Australian Koel, Scarlet Honeyeater and Cicadabird!

Australian Koel Photo by John Saxton The Clematis Page 6

Further west along Blackfellows Road were more plants of Blotched Hyacinth-orchid, and tiny Blue Bottle-daisy (Lagenophora gracilis) with a dark non-hairy stem. Near the corner of Blackfellows Road and the Princes Highway is an area beneath power lines, where the vegetation has been slashed. These open areas are often great sites for searching for plants, being easily accessible and smaller plants have less competition. Here was again Rosy Hyacinth-orchid, but also Large Tongue-orchid (Cryptostylis subulata), Horned Orchid (Orthoceras strictum), and an onion-orchid (Microtis sp.). Large Tongue-orchid has an erect leathery ovate leaf which is green on both surfaces, and a flowering stalk to 80cm with up to 20 flowers. The plants have an upside-down flower with a large (to 30mm) red and green labellum, with the other tepals much reduced. The labellum is held at an angle, its margins are recurved, and there is a bilobed shiny black callus (scrotum!!) near the tip. Horned Orchid has linear basal leaves and a stalk also to 80cm with maybe 9 yellowish green to dark brown upright flowers. Each flower has a hooded dorsal , tiny hidden petals, a dark labellum with a central yellow stripe, and the common name comes from the tall erect lateral . Other flowering plants were brown Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra); white and yellow Button Everlasting (Coronidium scorpioides); Common Rice-flower; tiny pale blue Angled Lobelia (Lobelia anceps); the yellow 2-lipped flowers of Swamp Goodenia (Goodenia humilis), a dwarf perennial of marshy ground with a rosette of oblanceolate leaves; mauve Common Fringe Lily (Thysanotus tuberosus); a tiny bluebell (Wahlenbergia sp.); and a tiny climbing semi-parasite with cream flowers, Slender Dodder-laurel (Cassytha glabella). Slender Dodder-laurel parasitises other plants by means of suckers. It is not host- specific; it may attack many different plants. The suckers penetrate the host plant stem tissue and seek out the conducting tissues. As the Dodder-laurel is a rootless plant, it takes water and salts from the host. The Dodder-laurel is green with chlorophyll and can photosynthesise its own sugars. The very small fern Screw fern (Lindsaea linearis) was hiding in the vegetation. Screw fern has prostrate sterile fronds and upright fertile fronds with spores, and the fertile fronds twist in a screw -like fashion. There was some excitement when a Cicadabird was heard again.

Elbow Orchid (Thynninorchis huntianus) Photo by John Saxton Page 7 Issue 103

Just beside the highway near Vogrigs Road Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria spinosa) plants were covered in cream blooms, and we stopped to see what insects might be visiting – collecting nectar and pollen, and pollinating in the process. Unfortunately, the day wasn’t very warm, and we didn’t see anything much. However a Koel was heard calling.

Near the beginning of the track to Lonely Bay on the south side of the Princes Highway in the Lake Tyers State Park, and beside a small fire-fighting waterhole, we found again Large Tongue-orchid. We also saw the bizarre and minute Elbow Orchid (Thynninorchis huntianus) growing beneath Black She-oak (Allocasuarina littoralis). The Elbow Orchid is leafless; the flowering stalk grows to 20cm with up to 6 insect-like reddish green flowers. The upside-down flowers have slender tepals held back over the ovary. The dominant feature is the hinged mobile labellum covered with long coloured hairs, black calli and a pair of glandular tails. The weird structure of the flower is designed to attract the pollinating thynnine wasp. There were, of course, other plants flowering. There were masses of small pale blue Angled Lobelia near the waterhole. There was the shrub to 2m with cream flowers, Dusty Miller (Spyridium parvifolium) where the flower heads are surrounded by whitish floral leaves; a deep pink Common Heath (Epacris impressa); mauve and white Ivy-leaved Violet (Viola hederacea); purple Twining Fringe Lily (Thysanotus patersonii), which like all fringe lilies has the margins of the petals fringed with long hairs; and a Flax-lily (Dianella sp.) with beautiful deep blue berries. Flitting around the Red-fruit Saw-sedge (Gahnia sieberiana) were some brown and yellow Varied Sword-grass Brown butterflies. The larvae of these butterflies feed on saw-sedges. Birds noted were Musk Lorikeet, White-throated Treecreeper, Red Wattlebird, Grey Fantail and Jacquie’s sharp eyes saw a White-throated Needletail flying above the trees.

Varied Sword-grass Brown butterfly Photo by John Saxton

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On to the Nowa Nowa Trestle Bridge where we heard again a Cicadabird. Another bird of note was a Brown Gerygone. Other birds were Rainbow and Musk Lorikeet, Crimson Rosella, White-throated Treecreeper, Superb Fairy-wren, Eastern Spinebill, Lewin’s, Yellow-faced, Crescent, New Holland and White-naped Honeyeater, Red Wattlebird, Grey Shrike-thrush, Grey Fantail, Welcome Swallow and Dusky Woodswallow. The area beneath the trestle bridge is quite damp, so again the Red-fruit Saw-sedge was attracting its butterflies and the tiny Common Grass-blue butterfly was also flitting about. The Common Grass-blue belongs in the family Lycaenidae. Members of this family, including the Common Grass-blue have an unusual association with ants; the larvae have specialized glands that secrete substances that may attract, appease or reward ants. The compounds may be so attractive to the ants that they will protect the larvae. The Common Grass-blue is occasionally attended by ants. We had come to see Austral Ladies Tresses (Spiranthes australis), but there was also an onion-orchid. Austral Ladies Tresses has a basal rosette of shiny green narrow leaves and a flowering stalk to 40cm. The numerous (up to 60) tiny, usually pink and white, flowers are arranged in a close spiral around the stalk. Each has a white frilly labellum. An unwelcome plant was Bidgee-widgee (Acaena novaezelandiae) which adhered to everyone’s shoelaces, but was particularly aggravating to the photographers’ bottoms! Not irritating at all were cream Pale Knotweed (Persicaria lapathifolia) which is always found near water and whose leaves are peach- like; another water plant, white Austral Brooklime (Gratiola peruvianum) with toothed stalkless leaves; a tiny bluebell and the introduced purple Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris) which is in the lavender family. Three ferns were Common maidenhair (Adiantum aethiopicum), maybe Ruddy ground-fern (Hypolepis rugosula) and Fishbone water-fern (Blechnum nudum).

Further east on the Princes Highway past Nowa Nowa by the side of the road and on private land was the Wairewa Reserve. Here we found Small Tongue-orchid (Cryptostylis leptochila) and Slender Onion-orchid (Microtis parviflora). Small Tongue-orchid has an ovate erect leaf, but unlike the Large Tongue-orchid, this leaf is green on the upper surface, but purple below. The flowering stem grows to 40cm with up to 15 blooms. Again the labellum is large and curves up and over. It is reddish purple with two rows of black calli. The main overhead tree was Silvertop Ash (Eucalyptus sieberi). A small shrub was Rough Mint-bush (Prostanthera denticulata). The eastern Victorian form of the Rough Mint-bush has nearly sessile leaves and rosy-lilac flowers in leafless clusters. Three lilies were Nodding Blue Lily (Stypandra glauca) with tall clumps of leafy stems with hanging flowers whose tepals are reflexed exposing the large ; Yellow Rush Lily (Tricoryne elatior) whose anthers have beautiful feathery filaments; and white Pale Grass-lily (Caesia parviflora). Again we had trouble avoiding the Spiny or Jewel Spiders whose webs were strung between shrubs, and made walking difficult. The large abdomen of the quite small Spiny Spider is black with a mottled yellow and white pattern, and has 6 large projecting spines. This time the butterfly was a Striped Xenica. Striped Xenica is a brown, yellow and silvery white butterfly whose larval plant is Forest Wire Grass (Tetrarrhena juncea) in . Birds here were White-throated Treecreeper and Mistletoebird.

Off to Tostaree and down Irish Waterholes Track to Circle Track. This area was burnt in February 2011, and there is a massive amount of dense regrowth. We had come to see James’ discovery of a pale pink boronia, Boronia polygalifolia). This is the only known site in Victoria. It was originally thought to be Boronia nana var. hyssopifolia. The leaves of Boronia polygalifolia have a noticeable central vein and the flower style is smooth. The central vein of the leaves of Boronia nana var. hyssopifolia is not visible and the flower style is hairy. The anthers of the two species are also quite different. It appears to grow with Common Sword-sedge (Lepidosperma longitudinale), distinguished by its soft pithy (squashable) flowering stalks. Again there was Large Tongue-orchid. Other small plants were Golden Weather-glass (Hypoxis hygrometrica) with a hairy flowering stalk; Swamp Goodenia; Pale Grass-lily; mauve Cut-leaf Daisy (Brachyscome multifida); and the delicate club moss Swamp Selaginella (Selaginella uliginosa). Birds here were White-throated Treecreeper, Jacky Winter, Eastern Rosella, Yellow-rumped and Brown Thornbill, Yellow-faced and New Holland Honeyeater, Rufous Whistler, Rufous Songlark and for some lucky people, Turquoise Parrot!

James then took us up a side walking track to one of the Irish Waterholes! It was serene and beautiful, completely surrounded by trees, with a number of dead trees in the water. On the water were Wood Duck and Pacific Black Duck. Along the edge was Matted Pratia (Lobelia pedunculata), a perennial mat-forming herb with starry pale blue flowers and toothed leaves. Flitting over all were large Blue Skimmer dragonflies. The dragonflies we saw must have been all males, as they had powder blue thorax and abdomen. Dragonflies and damselflies are in the same order Odonata. Stout dragonflies have their hind wings broader than the forewings, and the wings are always held horizontal at rest. Delicate damselflies have both pairs of wings slender, tapering near the body, almost equal in length, and the wings are held against the body at rest. Page 9 Issue 103

There were 12 birds of special status seen on the day. These were White-headed Pigeon, Musk, Pink-eared and Blue-billed Duck, Australian Koel, Scarlet Honeyeater, Cicadabird, White-throated Needletail, Brown Gerygone, Mistletoebird, Turqouise Parrot and Rufous Songlark. Many thanks to Len.

Thank you James for another wonderful day.

Turquouise Parrot photo by John Saxton The Clematis Page 10

NUNNIONG AREA – TIMBARRA PLAIN—22 February 2015

By Margaret Regan

After meeting at Bruthen, a goodly number of intrepid Field Nats headed up the Great Alpine Road to Ensay, where we diverted past the pub, and then north via Little River Road to Bentleys Plain Road. Our first stop was just inside the boundary of the Nunniong State Forest at the corner of an old track near Wild Dog Creek. The area is very dry and little was found flowering. One of the more striking overhead trees was the white-trunked Brittle Gum (Eucalyptus mannifera). It has narrow grey-green leaves and buds in clusters of 4-7. The fruits have 3-4 short valves. There was one lonely burnt Austral Grass-tree (Xanthorrhoea australis) with a large trunk. Small plants with a few blooms were orange Small St John’s Wort (Hypericum gramineum) with wavy-edged leaves; the pink pea Slender Tick-trefoil (Desmodium varians) with sticky seeds; red and prickly Cranberry Heath (Astroloma humifusum); and yellow Curved Rice-flower (Pimelea curviflora).

The mycological photographers were busy with small pure white warty puffballs, possibly Vascellum pretense, and a tiny fawn gilled honey fungus (Armillaria sp.) growing out of the side of a fallen burnt log. Some very sharp and knowledgeable eyes spotted Fisch’s Greenhood (Pterostylis fischii). This rarely seen species has a single upright green and white striped flower with reddish brown colouring near the tip of the dorsal sepal and the petals.

Next we moved on to Bentley Plain, one of our very favourite stops. We were now in subalpine vegetation, and there is a relatively new track with some boardwalk starting along Bentley Creek, which we hadn’t visited. The open plain around the creek had no trees. One of the more substantial shrubs were prickly Small-fruit Hakea (Hakea microcarpa) with sharp-pointed leaves.

Fisch’s Greenhood Photo by Dianne Laws

There were quite a few daisies with sweeps of the gorgeous paper daisy Orange Everlasting (Xerochrysum subundulatum); large yellow Alpine Podolepis (Podolepis robusta) where the petaloid part of the outer ray florets is toothed, and there is a bright green basal rosette of broad leaves; tiny yellow Scaly Buttons (Leptorhynchos squamatus) where there are no outer ray florets, but only regular disc florets; and two species of Brachyscome, white Tufted Daisy (Brachyscome scapigera) with a basal rosette of entire leaves; and mauve Coarse Daisy (B. spathulata) with toothed basal leaves.

There were many small plants – the tiny starry single-flowered lily Golden Weatherglass (Hypericum hygrometrica); pinkish white Alpine Trachymene (Trachymene humilis) with trifoliate leaves and clusters of flowers; pale Tall Bluebell (Wahlenbergia stricta); blue 4-petalled Slender Speedwell (Veronica gracilis); and the tiny deep pink triggerplant (Stylidium armeria). In a wet part of the creek was growing yellow Entire Marshwort (Nymphoides montana). The long leaf stems allow the almost circular blades of the leaves to lie flat on the surface of the water. The pretty flowers have finely fringed petals. There was one very tall Mauve Leek-orchid (Prasophyllum alpestre). Mauve Leek-orchid grows to 35cm with up to 25 upside-down flowers. The brown sepals and white petals both have purplish stripes, and the labellum is white with a frilled margin. It is usually found at altitudes above 1200m. There was also a stout polypore fungus with a brown cap, a yellow pored surface beneath and the stalk had pink streaks at the top. It looked like the Giant Bolete (Phlebopus marginatus), whose caps can grow to one metre across, and is probably Australia’s largest terrestrial fungus.

When we headed around the track and into the forest we were confronted with a wealth of berries. Our sight was first caught by the brilliant royal blue berries of the Tasman Flax-lily (Dianella tasmanica). Right behind our first berried plant was the shrub Mountain Pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata) with black edible berries (if you like things hot!). Next was Mountain Beard- heath (Acrothamnus hookeri) with bright red berries and oblong leaves which are whitish below. Beside it was Elderberry Page 11 Issue 103

Panax (Polyscias sambucifolia) with edible white translucent berries. This Elderberry Panax had large, divided leaves with narrow leaflets. There is a large variation in the leaves of Elderberry Panax. The leaflets can be narrow or broad with entire or toothed margins, and the variation is related to the area they are found in. Further on another red berried shrub was Subalpine Beard-heath (A. maccraei) whose triangular leaves are shiny green on both surfaces. There was also the pale green broom-like shrub Pale-fruit Ballart (Exocarpus strictus) with a few pale succulent fruits. Part of one of the ballarts had died and the stems were encrusted with bright yellow lichen. There was a bright yellow groundsel daisy (Senecio sp.) and a tiny pale pink scrambling Crane’s-bill (Geranium sp.).

From Bentley Plain we drove north to join the Nunniong Road, then turned off onto Nunnett Road, and stopped at its corner with Timbarra Track. From here we were able to access part of Timbarra Plain. The tiny creek running through this plain is a tributary of the Timbarra River. Through the forest on the way down to the plain, there were swathes of the small shrub Leafy Bossiaea (Bossiaea distichoclada) which must be splendid in spring, but we only saw a minute number of bright yellow flowers. Leafy Bossiaea has many tiny round leaves with two brown papery stipules at the base of each leaf. There was a prostrate shrub Dwarf Geebung (Persoonia chamaepeuce) with yellow flowers; Heath Pink-bells (Tetratheca bauerifolia); and one plant of Silver Daisy (Celmisia pugioniformis). A fascinating find was a tiny Jacky Lizard with beautiful markings that worked as amazing camouflage. The Jacky Lizard is one of the Dragon family. It has large and prominent scales along its back, in rows from the neck to the base of the tail, and spiny scales on the sides of the neck. The lining of the mouth is bright yellow. Jackies feed on insects and other small arthropods. Females probably breed every summer and lay 3-9 eggs in a shallow burrow. The sex of the young is partly determined by the nest temperature.

Down to the plain where we had some fun trying to get across the small creek without wetting our feet. Again we found the small shrubs Small-fruit Hakea and Pale-fruit Ballart. There were again also many daisies; the ones forming colourful patches being Orange Everlasting and Chamomile Sunray (Rhodanthe anthemoides), a small perennial herb whose greyish leaves are chamomile-scented, and the flower heads have outer white papery ray florets and inner yellow disc florets. Other daisies were Alpine Podolepis, Scaly Buttons, and Tufted Daisy, but also Field Daisy (Brachyscome decipiens) with basal leaves and flower heads with few white ray florets and yellow disc florets in the centre. The last daisy was Silky Daisy-bush (Olearia myrsinoides) whose obovate leaves have a mat of silky white hairs underneath, and the white flowers have only 4-8 florets with only usually 2 being ray florets. Some of the other plants were Alpine Trachymene, the triggerplant Stylidium armeria, Pale Vanilla-lily (Arthropodium milleflorum) with the gorgeous frilled staminal filaments (bring your hand lens!!); and tiny pale blue Matted Pratia (Lobelia pedunculata) right by the stream. An exciting find were numerous plants of the primitive fern, Austral Moonwort (Botrychium australe), if you could discover them! This is a small light green plant where the most obvious frond is the upright tripinnate fertile frond covered with round sporangia. There are also parsley-like vegetative fronds lower down and these were often hidden in the grass. We found plants in all stages of sporangial development, and some were fully ripe with spores, like fine dust, puffing out when the fertile frond was touched.

Birds were not very noticeable during the day, but Len and Jacquie Axen provided this list:

Wedge-tailed Eagle Nankeen Kestrel White-faced Heron

Masked Lapwing Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Australian King-parrot

Crimson Rosella Laughing Kookaburra Superb Lyrebird

White-throated Treecreeper Superb Fairy-wren Striated Thornbill

Brown Thornbill Spotted Pardalote Eastern Spinebill

Lewin’s Honeyeater Yellow-faced Honeyeater White-eared Honeyeater

Red Wattlebird White-naped Honeyeater Eastern Whipbird

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike Rufous Whistler Grey Shrike-thrush

Australian Magpie Pied Currawong Grey Currawong

Grey Fantail Little Raven White-winged Chough

Flame Robin Silvereye Rufous Songlark

Australasian Pipit 34 species

Thank you once again James for an exciting day – Bentley Plain AND subalpine vegetation!! The Newsletter of the Bairnsdale & District Field Naturalists Club Inc. POSTAGE

If undelivered please return to: PAID BAIRNSDALE P.O. Box 563, BAIRNSDALE. Vic. 3875