Kwinana Rockingham Mandurah Branch, 26 – 28 September 2026
With 15 of our 18 active KRMB members and user-friendly weather, we enjoyed a 3-day trip over a long weekend at the start of the school holidays.
We met at the Visitor Centre on Saturday at noon and headed to Lake Thetis, where we had a picnic lunch, then walked around the lake, viewing the stromatolites. The main plant was Samolus, with white flowers, stretching from the lake edge into surrounding stunted vegetation. I had only seen this plant previously as single plants. Other plants were the usual coastal ones similar to the Rockingham area: Scaevola, Olearia, Myoporum, Conostylis, and various sedges. Pigface and Patersonia were noted on the trail back to the car park. Eucalypts planted beside an old quarry had grown to make a shady lunch spot. We were joined by another member on a day trip. A walk along Jurien Bay beach saw some White-winged Blue Fairywrens.
On Sunday, we set off for Mt Lesueur National Park and were amazed at the sheer variety of plants in flower right at the park entrance.
Despite visiting a range of habitats, including the Jurien Bay Township, Lake Thetis, Lesueur National Park, Dynamite Bay, the Pinnacles, and the Nilgen Lookout Reserve, the number and diversity of insects we saw over the long weekend were shockingly small. Especially at Lesueur, despite the stunning carpet of kwongan wildflowers, it was almost completely devoid of pollinators; even introduced honeybees were in very low numbers. Total insect variety across the six locations was a mere 38 species, and most were seen only once.
The only insect group seen in any variety was ants, with ten species ranging in size from the enormous Mymrecia gulosa-group Bullants, the heat-proof Melophorus Furnace Ants in the dunes at the Pinnacles, the sluggish and spiky Meranoplus oceanicus, and the minute Sneaking Ants of the genus Cardiocondyla.
Sunday 27th, Mt Lesueur by Anne Bellman
On the road out, we passed hedge-like masses of flowering Scholtzia, then, closer to the park, yellow spikes of Flame Grevillea and Smoke Bush. At the park entrance, we stopped at a wonderland of flowering plants, including Petrophile, Isopogon, Hakea, Grevillea, Acacia, Hibbertia, and Melaleuca, along with the Lesueur Southern Cross creeper, with its large white flowers, draped over shrubs. The foliage was so crowded it was hard to walk through without damaging a plant, with many species of pea flowers and paws. Daniel was excited to find 10 Stylidium species in that small area.
We saw Melaleuca, vistas of Macrozamia, and Hakea and Banksia (some flowering), several red Verticordia grandis and yellow Verticordia nobilis. Some stunted Jarrah trees were flowering, making the flowers more obvious to see. Sabine found red-flamed ground cover, a Darwinia plant species and an unusual plant.
Our lunch stop at Cockleshell Gully revealed completely different plants – Wandoo, Marri, and Blackbutt. The gully also had native hibiscus with purple/mauve flowers. Also seen were Flat Leaf Wattle, Conostylis, Patersonia, Lasiopetalums and a Microtis orchid. This was the only place we heard the delectable buzzing of insects.
At the Green Head stop on the way back to Jurien we found the usual coastal plants: Rhagodia, Enchylaena, Olearia, sedges, Tetraria octandra, Hardenbergia, and Frankenia. It was worthwhile venturing up to the lookout near Dynamite Bay to view the three bays.
On Monday, the last treat for Pauline, Penny and Chris was a 30-minute walk behind Badgingarra Roadhouse, to see carpets of everlastings, albeit in showery conditions.
Pauline Dilley
See page 2 for the Birds List by Gill Beadell