The June field trip to Goodale Sanctuary was planned to be a weekend event, but the rain set in on Saturday evening and resulted in a change of plans for those that were to visit on the Sunday. There was a good turn out for the Saturday, with eight KRMB members and four other visitors joining Bob Goodale.

The lakes on the property, which had been dry through the summer, were starting to fill after good rains.

Winter is the time for fungi and Goodale Sanctuary has a great diversity of fungi on show, from tiny Pixie Caps to the large Ghost Fungus (Omphalotus nidiformis). Many had been partially eaten, possibly by Brush-tailed Possums or Southern Brown Bandicoots. It was interesting to see how various types of fungus had adapted to a particular niche in the ecosystem. Two types of dung decomposers were found on pellets of Kangaroo dung – Dung Buttons (Poronia erici) and Dung Cap Psilocybe (Psilocybe coprophila) while Banksia cones were found with colonies of Mycena terrenima. Golden Wood was common on fallen branches and old tree trunks and the Southern Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus australis) was also found in large numbers. Scotsman’s Beard, (Calocera guepinioides) was common on fallen Banksia trunks.

The Autumn Leek Orchid (Prasophyllum parvifolium) was in flower as was the Banded Greenhood (Pterostylis vittata) while Jug Orchids (Pterostylis recurva) and the Warty Hammer orchid (Drakaea livida) were in bud. Lomandra nigricans was in flower.

Invertebrates sighted included a Tapeigaster cinctipes on a Ghost Fungus, it is a sun fly that breeds in fungi, (the males challenge rivals by facing off, spreading their forelegs and boxing one another) and also a Gum Leaf Grasshopper nymph.

The weather was not the best for a night stalk, but the area near Bob’s caravan was visited by several Quenda and a female Brush-tailed Possum during the evening. A walk along the track back to the camp site resulted in many Moaning Frogs being spotted. From the lakes the calls of the Slender Tree Frogs and Sandplain froglet were heard through the night. Bob and Colin Prickett were the only ones to stay overnight and experienced several heavy showers that persisted until breakfast.

With the weather deterring other visitors the activities on Sunday morning were limited to a check of the area where the hammer orchids grow and some photographs of some of the wonderful fungi. A total of 31 species of birds were recorded for the weekend. The Bird List is shown in the following table.