KRM Branch August Excursion

The August 26 field trip was to the Don Shepherd Nature Reserve, a small reserve located on the corner of Baldivis Road and Karnup Road, Karnup in the City of Rockingham. The reserve is a mixed woodland, consisting of Banksia, Tuart, Jarrah and Casuarinas with an understorey containing some very nice flowering shrubs. A small team of seven members turned out for a walk through the reserve on a beautiful late winter’s morning.

It was noticeable that the City of Rockingham had been performing some upgrades to the reserve, with pathways now upgraded to crushed limestone. A new limestone walk trail loop from the car park takes visitors through an area of woodland separate to the main reserve that was previously not easily accessed. This small section of woodland is a good introduction to the reserve and has recovered well from a summer fire three  and a half years ago. Walking along this short trail we found a variety of plants in flower. These included Jug Orchids (Pterostylis recurva),   Dancing Spider Orchids (Caladenia discoidea) (above left), Cowslip Orchids (Caladenia flava), Running Postman (Kennedia prostrata), Grey Scaevola (Scaevola canescens), Native Violets (Hybanthus calycinus) (above right) and Prickly Moses (Acacia pulchella). The Native Violets were in large groups that made for stunning displays. On the Prickly Moses, Green Scarab Beetles (Diphucephala sp.) were present. Unfortunately we also spotted several specimens of Tree Lucerne (Chamaecytisus palmensis) in flower; once used as stock feed, this plant has now become a weed species. After following the trail around until we were back at the car park we then made our way across the road to the main part of the reserve.

At the entrance we encountered a large number of Freesias (Sparaxis bulbifera) in flower but fortunately the numbers of these home garden escapees dropped off as we moved a short distance along the main walkway and displays of Native Wisteria (Hardenbergia comptoniana) and Hibbertia hypericoides soon took over. We spotted more Jug Orchids, Cowslip and Dancing Spider Orchids along the trail, and we soon added to our list of orchids when we found Slender Snail Orchids (Pterostylis sp. slender), Common Donkey Orchids (Diuris corymbosa) (below left) and also some late-flowering Dark Banded Greenhoods (Pterostylis sanguinea). Most of the Greenhoods had been pollinated and had finished flowering. There were many beautiful specimens of the  Common Donkey Orchid with multiple flowers present on the one   stem. Pepper and Salt (Philotheca spicata) (above right) was in flower and quite common along the trail as was the False Boronia (Phyllanthus calycinus).   At ground level numerous smaller plants were in flower, including Blue Squills (Chamaescilla corymbosa var. corymbosa), small white daisies and Milkmaids (Burchardia congesta), while Conostylis sp. and Purple Tassel (Sowerbaea laxiflora) were in bud.

We came to the Nyungar Trail and turned off and followed it around. Here we found the Red and Green Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos manglesii) in flower and also a Gompholobium confertum that was just starting to flower. The latter is a common shrub in the reserve and will provide a beautiful display throughout spring. Menzies Banksia (Banksia menziesii), Common Brown Pea (Bossiaea eriocarpa), Marcarthuria australis and the Star of Bethlehem (Calectasia grandiflora) were also flowering along this trail and elsewhere throughout the reserve. Throughout the reserve we spotted several species of Drosera, both twining and erect forms, some of which were starting to flower.

Along the walk we came across several invertebrate species. Dragonflies were common but rarely stopped long enough to enable us to identify the species. Numerous tiny orb-weaving spiders were spotted, most believed to be the Western Grass Orb-Weaver (Plebs cyphoxis). Several horizontal platform webs close to the ground were seen but no spiders were spotted. However, eagle-eyed Heather Adamson drew my attention to the resident of one such web. Unfortunately, despite my slow movements to get in position to take a photo, it dashed off to its refuge—hence its common name, the Western Web Dasher spider (Corasoides sp.), though it was good to finally spot one. Heather also pointed out two small grasshoppers, one a thin wingless grasshopper that appeared to mimic dry twigs and the other a wingless nymph with large, dark-coloured eyes.

With our eyes generally looking downwards there was not a lot of effort put into generating a bird list. Those birds that were present included Australian Magpie, Ringneck, Brown Honeyeater, Carnaby’s Black-cockatoo, Laughing Kookaburra, Western Corella, Pallid Cuckoo, Regent Parrot, Rufous Whistler and Striated Pardalote. Having made our way back to the car park we enjoyed a cuppa and snacks at the picnic tables with background music provided by a Pallid Cuckoo.

Colin Prickett

All photos by Colin Prickett