Yesterday afternoon, after selling The Drummers old car, we scooted along the foreshore from Canning Bridge to Wireless Hill (on the lands of the Wadjuk). The scoot itself was very pleasant, past loads of people enjoying Fathers Day afternoon by the river.
We had heard the park was bursting with orchids but we were really surprised at what we were fortunate enough to see. There were Donkey Orchids everywhere, along with stunning Kangaroo Paws. Both of these delight me every time I see them, despite how “common” they are.
We were very lucky to see 2 new-to-us types of orchids. The first is the Dancing Spider Orchid (above) that was formerly called the Bee Orchid, and I have seen referred to as a Grandpa Orchid.
The second is the Rattle Beak (below), not to be confused with the Red Beak, that we saw last year at Walyunga and Yanchep. These have now been ticked off in “the book” and added to my own photographic collection.
We also saw other spider orchids (that I can’t tell apart from each other) as singles, as well as in a lovely colony.
There were also some lovely “old favourites” like greenhoods, cowslips and fabulous tall jugs.
Aside from orchids on the Wildflower Circuit, the grass tree on the path to the car park from the highway was spectacular, the fields of Kangaroo Paws were amazing, there were cats paws everywhere (my one photo was blurry) and there were all sorts of other colourful delights. This all on the first weekend in spring (Djilba) and all able to be seen from the paths.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a trip out if I didn’t photograph at least one bird, in this case a cheeky Brown Honey Eater. It was also lovely to see three Blue Tongue lizards, a sure sign that it’s finally warming up.
The Solo Avocado 