NSB June Meeting: Highlights of the 2025 Notley Late Easter Camp
Members Gia Clarke, Arlene Quinn, Sylvia Tetlow and Don Poynton illustrated their personal highlights from the 2025 Notley Late Easter Camp which featured the Wellington Forest and Collie area.
The fifteen members who attended stayed in Wellington Forest Cottages, which are relics of the 1920s when they were occupied by forestry workers and their families.
The group then walked through the jarrah-marri forest behind the centre where the understory was dominated by Water Bush (Bossiaea aquifolium), soapbush or Karri Hazel (Trymalium odoratissimum) and long-leaved Snottygobble (Persoonia longifolia).
On Saturday afternoon, Alison from Forest Explorers guided the group around many of the artworks of the Collie Mural trail. Two murals, Gnaala Karla Boodja by Kambarni and Karda (goanna) by Jack Bromell were obviously a highlight as all four presenter showed photos of these murals.
Sunday saw the group head to Crooked Brook Forest via the 300-500 year old, 40 metre King Jarrah tree.
Just as everyone was finishing the 600m Forest Path Walk at Crooked Brook it began to rain but not before they were able to spot Bunny orchids, Billardiera, sedges, Acacia, Lepidosperma, and Adenanthos that had begun to flower.
Only the hardy ventured on the 3km Wildflower Walk in the afternoon which provided views all the way to Bunbury.
Monday featured a visit to Harris Dam with a morning tea stop at Honeymoon Pool. The latter was not on the original agenda but turned out to be another highlight.
A 30-minute walk took the group into wetlands with lichen and moss-covered trees, sword sedges, and fungi. Don paced out a fallen tree that exceeded 50 metres, and Tanya spotted a pair of white moths, later identified as the female and male Sparshall’s moth (Trichiocercus sparshalli).
After visiting the Harris Dam wall, the more adventurous tackled the walk up the Bibbulmun Track to the ridge top while others joined Jolanda for a bird walk where 11 species were spotted including a trio of robins, white-fronted, scarlet and yellow.
As a result of the heavy rain on Friday night, Tuesday morning walkers were rewarded with many recently emerged fungi, including the Yellow-headed amanita (Amanita xanthocephala) – a Fungimap target species.
Later in the morning, a visit to the Westralia Conservation Park found a very different plant community with Western Australian Christmas Trees and Paperbarks growing along the roadside and several interesting plants further into the bush including Dwarf she-oaks (Allocasuarina humilis), a guinea plant (Hibbertia vaginata), the Candle Hakea (Grevillea ruscifolia) and to Jolanda’s delight, a drosera (Drosera collina).
The packed itinerary concluded with a visit to the Coalfields Museum and the Premier Open-cut coal mine.
Don Poynton