Near Buchan we turned west onto Timbarra Road.  Waiting at the corner for the rest of the party, we observed a family of White-winged Choughs in a paddock searching for food in the pasture.  Along Timbarra Road we turned right into Nunnet Road and then right again into Mellick Munjie Road.  Just past Last Straw Road at Paddy’s Link there was a dam with Entire Marshwort (Nymphoides montana)flowering.  This aquatic herb has long petioles raising their leaves to the surface of the water.  The almost circular leaves have a notch where the petioles are attached and sit flat on the surface of the water. The petals of the yellow flowers have fringed margins.  We were fortunate to be there when a breeze blew across the surface of the dam, lifting the edges of the floating leaves and revealing their burgundy-coloured undersurfaces.  It was a lovely phenomenon.  There were some weeds - Blue Pigroot (Sisyrichium iridifolium), a iris which is native to Mexico and South America, with cream flowers with prominent purplish-brown veins; and the yellow daisy Cat’s Ear or Flatweed (Hypochoeris radicata). 

Turning right yet again into Mundys Plain Track we took a track off to Mundys Plain.  There were actually two adjoining plains.  Unfortunately these interesting plains with a rare Eyebright, and others we saw later in the day, all showed signs of Brumby and Sambar Deer damage and scats.  Why are these feral animals still being tolerated in these fragile environments?  The rare Eyebright is Yellow or Rough Eyebright (Euphrasia scabra).  It is a herb to 50cm covered with coarse short hairs and glandular hairs, looking rather like Snapdragon (Antirrhinum), which is in the same family, Scrophulariaceae.  The common name seems to have originated from an exotic Eyebright (E. officianalis) whose seeds were placed in eyes, and the mucilage produced cleared the eyes.  There was also the rare Marsh Daisy (Brachyscome radicans).  In Victoria this daisy is known only from swampy ground on or near Nunniong Plateau and along Morass Creek, near Benambra.  These two plants were growing out in the damp plain.  Around the drier edges was Small-fruit Hakea (Hakea microcarpa); White Mountain Baeckea (Baeckea utilis); the daisies, a yellow Groundsel (Senecio sp.) and yellow Pale Everlasting (Helichrysum rutidolepis); the small single-flowered lily Golden Weather-glass (Hypoxis hygrometrica); Gunn’s Willow-herb (Epilobium gunnianum) which has a pod-like ovary below the 4-petalled pale pink flower; purple Showy Violet (Viola betonicifolia); a deep pink Triggerplant (Stylidium armeria); Mountain clubmoss (Lycopodium fastigiatum) with clubs; and in the lavender family Lamiaceae, purple Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris) with flowers in cone-shaped terminal clusters, which always get confused with Austral Bugle (Ajuga australis) with its purple flowers encircling the stems at the leaf bases.  There were lots of Common Field Mushrooms (Agaricus campestris).

Near the corner of Wheatfield Road and Murphys Creek Track was a grassy plain to the north.  The creek on the lower side was lined with Peat Moss.  Other herbaceous plants were Pale Everlasting, Slender Speedwell (Veronica gracilis), dainty little perennial with blue 4-petalled flowers, and the gorgeous deep blue Royal Bluebell (Wahlenbergia gloriosa).  A dense shrub was white Swamp or Alpine Heath (Epacris paludosa).  Most of the plants seem to have flowered earlier than normal this year. We were delighted to see a rare sight - a fungus called a Stinkhorn.  The Stinkhorns have bizarre forms with strong nasty smells.  The spore-producing  structure develops inside an egg-like sac that is broken by the growth of the structure. The one we saw was bright red with four arms covered with spore-dispersing flies.  The spores are borne in a foul-smelling brown slime which attracts flies and other insects.  The spores are spread after they pass through the insect.  This species Clathrus archeri is most common in alpine plains and woodland and may have different numbers of arms, some with divided tips.  There was a bright green grasshopper with yellow and black stripes and a bronze iridescent beetle.  There were also croaky Gang Gang Cockatoos.

Just down Nunniong Road we again found the Dark-tip Greenhood.  Late in the day we stopped for afternoon tea at Moscow Villa, intending to scout around after tea.  It started to rain, so we set off down to Ensay, only to be confronted by an enormous tree across the road in the pouring rain.  It was much too big to contemplate chain-sawing.  We therefore had to turn back and come home via Bindi and Swifts Creek, which meant we were rather late home, after a very interesting day.  Thank you, James.