A group of eight hardy Field Nats headed out for Deddick.  Our first stop for botanising was near the Little River Falls where we walked up the steep 4-wheel drive Milky Creek Track east of the bridge at the falls.  Part way up the track we saw some of the greenhoods we were searching for.  There was Antelope Greenhood (Pterostylis laxa), whose single green and white striped flower with reddish brown tones has long slender sepals with the lateral sepals bent over or lax; Long-tongue Summer Greenhood (P. aestiva) whose large flower is white and blue-green striped, again with long slender lateral sepals which are held erect; and in bud Fisch‘s Greenhood (P. fischii).  “Aestival” is Latin for ‘summer’.  The rare Rock Daisy (Brachyscome petrophila) has a single mauve flower and lobed leaves part way up the stem.  Another daisy was the minute Blue Bottle-daisy (Lagenophora stipitata).  It has bottle-shaped fruits.  Despite this White Box (Eucalyptus alba) woodland being a rain shadow area, there had been rain recently and the ground layer was quite green.  This also meant that there were a large number of fungi around.  A very stout cream toadstool had a warty cap about 10cm across and an annulus still remaining on the stalk.  There was a deep orange velvety gilled fungus which was not yet open.  Another was very tall, the cream stalk was slender and about 15cm long, the 6cm cap was shiny brown and the gills were cream.  This was likely a Rooting Shank (Xerula australis) whose common name refers to the long tapering, root-like underground extension of the stem.  There were plenty of tiny cream warty puffballs.  As the puffballs mature the warts fall off, leaving a smooth brown thin wall with an apical pore through which the spores are released - fun to puff!!  Birds heard were Spotted Pardalote and White-eared Honeyeater.

Bonang River Falls

After a slightly scary ride down McKillops Road (it is very narrow in some parts with a big drop-off on one side) we crossed the Snowy River at McKillop’s Bridge.  The bridge is very elevated above the river, which is a blessing as the weeds I remembered from my last trip could not be seen!  On the east side was an information shelter with an explanation of the rain shadow effect.  This area is East Gippsland’s driest place; it is next to one of its wettest.  Mt Gelantipy forms a barrier to the prevailing SW winds and air is forced to rise over it.  As air rises it cools.  Clouds form, and rain may fall on the windward side and the top of the mountain.  After passing over the mountain, the now dry air mass descends and warms. 

We travelled on to Kurrajong in Deddick, our house for the two nights.  There was enough room in the back yard for the campers.  The very well-equipped house for six is just across the road from the Deddick River which flows back down to the Snowy.  We were next door to the property Deddick Springs, and discovered that there was to be a big camp draft there the next weekend.  Water was being pumped up to fill several dams.  These were to satisfy the thirst of the 900 cattle which were being driven down from Gelantipy the next Wednesday.  Were we glad we didn’t meet them on the road!!  Presumably the poor animals were going to chased around and terrified all weekend, and then driven back up the road again the following week!  Nearby were many Sulphur-crested Cockatoos roosting.

On Sunday we drove back up the scary road to the Little River Falls again, where we met an Australian Native Orchid Society member and five more of our Field Nats.   We went to view the falls themselves which are very pretty and drop off into a steep gully.  Down the track were the daisies Leafy Daisy (Brachyscome rigidula) which has divided leaves and pink or blue flower heads; Fuzzy New Holland Daisy (Vittadinia cuneata var. cuneata); and Pale Everlasting (Helichrysum rutidolepis); and the pea Matted Bossiaea (Bossiaea buxifolia), a tiny spreading shrub with small stiff leaves arranged fan-like and yellow and brown (“egg and bacon” flowers.  We travelled back up the Milky Creek Track, this time by car, which was a very rough ride.  This time we saw Fisch‘s Greenhood (Pterostylis fischii) in flower.  It has a stiffly erect, tawny coloured flower and the labellum is not visible from the outside, unlike those of the Antelope and Long-tongue Summer Greenhoods.  Cranberry Heath (Astroloma humifusum), of course, was bearing its small red tubular flowers; and there was a very small Pomaderris (Pomaderris sp.) with completely revolute (rolled under) leaf margins.  We left the cars at the junction of Rocky Range Track (which leads to World End Spur!!) and Milky Creek Track, and walked along Rocky Range Track to look for a lost camera, which was easily found (one vanilla slice promised in payment!!).  Here was Bristly Helmet-orchid (Corybas hispidus).  This was a new site, but it had not been seen flowering in this area since 2007.  The Bristly Helmet-orchid has the largest flowers of any Victorian helmet-orchid.  The circular labellum has coarsely toothed margins and a white lamina covered with short stiff hairs.  Other orchids were Small Mosquito-orchid (Acianthus pusillus), Long-tongue Summer and Antelope Greenhoods and Scarlet Greenhood (Pterostylis coccinea) which has a very upright large reddish flower.  A Lyrebird was heard singing.

Back to Wulgulmerang and then north to Mt Hamilton.  Here we again saw Fisch’s and Long-tongue Summer Greenhoods; also Pale Everlasting (Helichrysum rutidolepis), Showy Violet (Viola betonicifolia) and Bluebells (Wahlenbergia sp.).  There were lovely drifts of Bluebells along much of the roadsides.  Two gilled fungi were a whitish stout one with a deep frilly annulus and a slender one with a shiny grey-brown cap which was striated around the edge.  Opposite the spectacular Hanging Rock and about 2km toward Suggan Buggan from Mt Hamilton was again Long-tongue Summer Greenhood, and also the delicate prostrate Necklace fern (Asplenium flabellifolium).  It has fan-shaped pinnae and the spores are in elongated sori along the veins below the pinnae.  In the road gutter beneath the steep upside of the road an animal appeared to have been digging and had created a small waterhole with water.  In this really dry environment, it seemed to be a very smart exercise, and no doubt other animals and birds would have benefited from this industry.  We heard Spotted Pardalote and a Lyrebird in the distance appearing to go through its imitations of other birds.  We had a spectacular, if brief, view of a Wedgetail Eagle gliding quite close and quite low over the road.  About another 2km down the road and up the steep bank was Large Autumn Greenhood (Pterostylis sp.aff. revoluta).  The large green and white striped flower has reddish tones and stripes towards the apex, and the long curved labellum ends in a long point.  Another orchid was Small Mosquito-orchid (Acianthus pusillus) which has a single heart-shaped leaf, a stalk to 20cm and up to 12 tiny flowers with a dorsal sepal to 12mm.  There was the daisies, white Brachyscome aculeata with simple leaves halfway up the stem and no basal rosette; mauve Rock Daisy; a yellow Groundsel (Senecio sp.); finished Pale Vanilla-lily (Arthropodium milleflorum); yellow Hop Goodenia (Goodenia ovata); and Diggers’ Speedwell (Derwentia perfoliata) which has opposite large blue-green ovate leaves joined at their bases and sprays of lilac flowers. Diggers’ Speedwell is typical of rocky gold-bearing country.  Presumably this is how its common name arose.

At Ballantyne’s Gap were more plants of the Large Autumn Greenhood.  There was also lots of Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra) and again masses of Pale Vanilla-lily, most of which had finished flowering.  A pea was Slender Tick-trefoil (Desmodium gunnii), a small trailing plant with rounded leaflets on the trifoliate leaves and pink flowers.  Its seeds stick to your clothing as a ticks adheres to your skin!!  Another pea was Variable Glycine (Glycine tabacina), a twining plant with trifoliate leaves and purple flowers. We drooled over the perfume of the tiny white flowers of Sweet Hound’s-tongue (Cynoglossum suaveolens).  Again we saw New Holland Daisy and also another daisy Indian Weed (Sigesbeckia orientalis) which is not a weed at all.  Indian Weed is stiff, erect and branched with thin triangular leaves and tiny yellow flower heads and also has sticky seeds.  What a great dispersal mechanism!!  A fern in this dry area was Narrow rock-fern(Cheilanthes sieberi).

On the morning of our day of leaving Deddick, there seemed to be heaps of birds around.  We saw or heard White-backed Magpie, Pied Currawong, Raven, Brown and White-throated Treecreeper, Superb Fairywren, Red-browed Finch, Diamond Firetail, Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, Rufous Whistler, Peaceful Dove, Silvereye, Grey Fantail, Willie Wagtail, Jacky Winter, Eastern Yellow Robin, a young Robin (probably Scarlet)and Yellow-rumped Thornbill.

About 3km along the road to Bonang which follows the Deddick River and is still in White Box woodland, we stopped to see the rare Slender Boobialla (Myoporum floribundum) which is found in Victoria only on dry slopes in rain shadow areas of the Upper Snowy and Deddick Rivers.  It is a shrub to 3m with often drooping branches with white flowers clustered along the upper sides of the branches.  A dense tree was Kurrajong (Brachychiton populneus) which mostly grows on rocky hills.  It has leathery pointed leaves, bell-shaped cream and red flowers and large hard boat-shaped follicles.  There was also a native tobacco, Austral Tobacco (Nicotiana suaveolens) with large lush leaves and large cream tomato-type flowers which exude a strong perfume at night.  Maybe their pollinator is a moth.  At the Running Creek and Deddick River junction again was White Cypress-pine (Callitris columellaris).  The leaves are usually grey-green, much reduced, not keeled and appressed to the stem, and the solitary woody cones have five smooth cone scales.  We had also been seeing Black Cypress-pine (C. endlicheri) whose leaves are much greener and keeled.  Its cones are smaller, darker and spherical, and each cone scale has a small sharp projection near the tip.  There were some interesting grasses, including a Niggerheads (Enneapogon nigricans) whose spikes look like a woolly caterpillar; and Barbed Wire Grass (Cymbopogon refractus).  The Lemongrass of Thai cuisine is a Cymbopogon species.  Because of their aromatic foliage, this genus of grasses is not palatable to stock.  Other interesting plants were Narrow-leaf New Holland Daisy (Vittadinia muelleri), a low dense plant with long-stalked deep blue flower heads; Yellow Burr-daisy (Calotis lappulacea); Variable Glycine; a saltbush with very bright large red fruits; the succulent Common Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) which is a semi-prostrate herb with red fleshy stems, thick, smooth, dark green, blunt leaves and yellow flowers; and Narrow rock-fern.  On the edge of Running Creek were River Bottlebrush (Callistemon sieberi), a shrub or small tree to 3m with slightly drooping branches and cream or pink bottlebrushes; and Woolly Teatree (Leptospermum lanigerum) whose leaves are silvery-hairy beneath.  Weeds were Wild Turnip (Brassica rapa) which has a basal rosette and tall flowering stems with many yellow flowers; and in the daisy family Tall Fleabane (Conyza albida) which is a native of North America.  Another native which can be a weed in cultivation and pastures was Blue heron’s-bill (Erodium crinitum) in the geranium family Geraniaceae.  On the roadside rock face was a small (8cm) native colonial Paper Wasps’ nest.  There are 34 species of Paper Wasps in Australia and each nest can contain one to many hundreds of individuals.  Each nest has one fertile queen and the rest are workers.  The adults feed on nectar, but they hunt caterpillars to feed their larvae.  Just past the Amboyne suspension bridge at an old house site we stopped to birdwatch again and saw Jacky Winter, Diamond Firetail, Red-browed Finch, Restless Flycatcher, Grey Fantail and Brown Treecreeper, and across the road at a small dam were Wood Ducks.

We turned onto the Dellicknora Road and stopped where it crossed the Bonang River to visit the Bonang River Falls.  Near the bridge on powerlines were two Crested Pigeons.  We followed the river downstream.  It was lined with some lovely white-trunked Manna Gums (Eucalyptus viminalis).  At the attractive falls the rock was quite wide with several drops, the highest that we could see from the top was maybe 5m.  Just above the falls was Large Autumn and Antelope Greenhoods.  There was also Urn Heath (Melichrus urceolatus), a shrub to 60cm with sharp blue-green leaves and creamy flowers in the leaf axils; and Prickly Broom-heath (Monotoca scoparia), a larger shrub with long tubular white flowers.  White-throated Treecreeper and Red Wattlebird were heard.

A great long weekend, thanks to James for all the botanising and organising.