The twelve hardy souls who came out for our early spring walk in Castle Creek on 9th September were rewarded with a range of nature’s treasures – some of winter’s hanging on and some heralding the upcoming wildflower bonanza.

Golden moth orchids (Diuris chryseopsis) were the main attraction, prompting conversations about the differences between orchids and lilies, and how to tell them apart.

Spotting the orchids, Sundews (Drosera spp), Early Nancy (Wurmbea dioica), Milkmaids (Burchardia umbellata) and several tiny fungi highlighted how subtle the wildflowers are compared to what we might find in our urban gardens. We need to slow down and ‘get our eyes in’ in the bush, but once we have, things really start to pop out!

Similarly, our stops to listen along the track yielded lots of birds and frogs, sounds easily filtered out as background bush sounds until we take the time to notice. We chatted about using iNaturalist and FrogID apps to record the species we observed, and how important it is to have these on record for tracking the health of different species.

This week’s spring weather has already put the frosty mornings of just a few weeks ago behind us, and will no doubt accelerate the wildflower season in Castle Creek. Book in for the next instalments with Sue and Karen here.