Cold morning, frost on the grass, but as usual our Bold Birdos were not deterred! Julie, Susan, Pat, Ros, Jim and John set off to explore the conservation area part way down Welch’s Road which Julie had partly reconnoitred a few days previously. Despite the chill in the air it was a morning that positively glowed with sunny good health.
After a brief stop to watch and listen to various birds, including the three male Albert’s lyrebirds promised by Julie, we took the right hand of two steeply declining tracks.
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This led us from a clay and gravel ridge down through steep red basalt banks of lush bracken and other ferns until we could hear the busy rush of water over the rocky bars in Tamborine Creek. Crossing the creek (with a bit of help from our friends!), we clambered up the bank and continued along the rutted 4WD track until we came to a junction of two other tracks, both equally alluring. As it was time to turn back we decided to leave exploring these to another time and all agreed that this whole conservation area, with its gorgeous gullies of wet schlerophyll and rainforest, and which none of us had been into before, is worth a few more visits.
Susan’s sharp eye for the merest trace of a terrestrial orchid detected some leaves here and there along the banks which we decided were Pterosylis species of one kind or another, most probably P. nutans, but without any flowers we couldn’t tell. So shall have to go back at flowering time. Interesting mosses were also observed, half-concealed in bank crevices. The most interesting plant of the day was the white indigofera (Indigofera australis) identified by Jim and photographed (not very clearly!) by Julie. We’d seen the more common pink form of this plan on our previous walk but the white form is not often seen on the mountain.
Several of our most familiar birds were seen and heard and altogether it was a delightful walk that offers promises of further walks in that area to come.
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