NSB August Golly Walk

Planning Golly walks to see orchids at their best is not easy when the dates have to be set almost a year ahead. And so it turned out for our visit to St Michaels Park in Connolly. By the third week of August in 2017 there were carpets of Donkey Orchids (Diuris spp.) (below, Don Poynton) and numerous Spider Orchids (Caladenia spp.). Alas, this year, the donkeys were far fewer and the spiders were still a couple of weeks away from flowering.

We did find numerous Green-banded Greenhoods (Pterostylis vittata) in an area where the City of Joondalup had cleared a clump of wattles. It will be interesting to see if they reappear next year, as the area will now be fully exposed to the sun. Numerous single greenhoods were found scattered throughout the bushland.

Fortunately, Anne Clark the co-ordinator of the Friends of Carnaby Reserve was with us and invited us to drive a kilometre up the road to that bushland, which we last visited in July 2016. (⇐ click link to see report)

This 2.2ha patch of bushland contains a good mix of tall trees, including Jarrah that were just coming into flower, an understorey of over 100 species and plenty of ground-huggers such as the four recorded species of Drosera and the native daisy, Lagenophora huegelii. At least 14 species of orchids have been recorded, including two species of snail orchids. We were lucky this time because there was a patch of the Short-sepalled Snail Orchids (Pterostylis sp.) (below left, Don Poynton) close to the fence at the entrance of the park—although due to their size (less than 10cm tall) it took a while for some people to see them. ‘GOLLY! Would never have seen them if the markers weren’t there,’ was a common cry.
 

We did not get to see the snail orchids with the longer sepals (Pterostylis sp.) (Above right, Don Poynton) as it would have meant tramping across an area of fragile bush where Purple Enamel Orchids (Elythranthera brunonis) and Brown-veined Shell Orchids (Pterostylis aspera) were growing.

The rest of the morning was spent walking the circuit around the reserve with stops to observe areas which had been revegetated by direct seeding: some successfully, others not. The most successful is now a haven for small birds and insects as well as a providing a new patch of parrot bush (Banksia sessilis) (below, Don Poynton) for Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris).

Don Poynton