Seeking Out Australian Native Orchids #62 - Royal National Park, NSW

Always exciting to seek out orchids in a new place. My friend, Jan posted photos from his walk in Royal National Park. What I wanted to see was the bashful greenhood that hides its labellum when you disturb it and the mayfly orchid which I have not seen before.

Royal National Park is inland from the eastern coastline of Australia, just south of Sydney. It’s characterised by coastal cliffs, secluded beaches and eucalyptus-rich bushland. Trails crisscross the park.

http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/royal-national-park

It is a paid entry park if you want to park the car. I had initially thought of catching a train part way and cycling down. Timing was way better to just drive though I did need to get a National Parks pass. I cycled down the day before to my local National Parks office and asked to renew my pass there. I need your car registration detail. Promise to email them to me says the very obliging young lady. She was excited to see the photos I had taken that morning (see Orchids 61).

I asked Jan for the location information which he posted on Facebook. I noted that I needed to get down to Audley and make a right turn (or was it a left turn?), make my way to a picnic area and walk along the track that follows the Hacking River. He deleted the post before I could write it down - we do like to keep the locations of orchids private to protect the orchids from being removed. I made the drive - only about an hour from my home to cross right to the South of the city. I got a map of the park from the office which showed two picnic areas and two tracks running along the river.

I thought he said turn right - so I went that way, parked the car and started walking along Lady Carrington Drive. That was a good omen as that is my surname. The track is an old carriage road that goes from the village of Audley (now in the middle of the National Park) up to the main road up to the top of the saddle. It is a popular cycling way and there are a few people walking and cycling - school holidays still. Not 50 metres from where I accessed the track from the picnic area I see along this rockface a colony of orchids. Turn left or was it right does not matter now.

Photo work today is a mix of cameras - the small Canon Powershot G16 and the serious Canon EOS 600D. The downloads tell me I have a lot of work to do to perfect the Canon 600D. What amazes me in this picture is how tall these stems are - 12 inches at least. I have only ever seen these at 3 or 4 inches tall.

Nodding Greenhood - Pterostylis nutans

http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Pterostylis~nutans

Taken at f/7.1, 1/100 sec, ISO-6400 - with the plant in the sun ISO could have been toned down a lot. I was trying for the small aperture - almost certainly the lowest I have achieved. A little further on I spied a colony of leaves and a few buds ready to show themselves.

Turn left or right? This is the reason I came this way - the bashful orchid is here

Tall Greenhood - Pterostylis longifolia

http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Pterostylis~longifolia

I do like the way the spider web is pulling the leaf on the left tight. Note the fact that the plant has more than one flower - they do have anything from 1 to 7 flowers. . I have called this the bashful orchid because it likes to hide when the air pressure around its flower changes - breathe on it and it is gone. My first finding did just that a few weeks ago.

Photo taken in the sunlight taken at f/5.6, 1/50 sec, ISO-1600. Brought the ISO setting down but there is still quite a bit of noise.

Photo taken at f/7.1, 1/60 sec, ISO-3200. What the photo does not show is how hard it was to get close enough without inuring bashfulness. In front of the base of the plant was a big puddle - I had to stand quite close to the plant with one foot and splayed legs to the other side of the puddle. The fact that I got several photos tells me I now know how to photograph Pterostylis longifolia

A little further along the track I notice a different shape of greenhood above eye height on the top of a rocky bank. The cobra is standing ready to strike.

Cobra Greenhood - Pterostylis grandiflora

http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Pterostylis~grandiflora

Taken at f/7.1, 1/40 sec, ISO-1600. The plant was standing in full sunlight - easy to see - I could have done with getting the ISO right down.

I must say I find these orchids a challenge to photograph too - there is such depth to the hood that getting a solid focal point is challenging. I walked for quite some way up the track and orchid sighting were becoming a bit slim. They picked up each time I got back a little closer to the river or there was a segment of rain forest. This next orchid was hiding in the grass. The greenhoods do cope with competition a lot better than other orchids - mostly because they grow taller.

Sharp Greenhood - Pterostylis acuminata

http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Pterostylis~acuminata

I walked for a long way up the track away from the river. Orchid sightings on the bank side of the track became very sparse. I got excited at one point as there was a pink ribbon tied to a tree. This is often a way orchid spotters mark their finds. I searched - nothing. Then a bit further I saw another. The Parks people also use them to mark off alien species. This lot were marking off all the culverts that go under the track. Excitement over. I did chat to an old guy enjoying his walk. He asked where I come from - near Ku-Ring-Gai Chase NP. Oh he says. "You have lyre birds up there. None here." New information for me.

I turn around after a good 4 kms walk (over an hour) and made my way down focusing on the other side of the track. There are long stretches with no orchid leaves at all. There are quite a few heart-shaped leaves but in clusters. I am looking for heart-shaped leaves too - mayfly orchids have them. There is finally reward amongst the rosette of greenhood leaves - another nodding greenhod. They are kind of funky as they nod off to sleep.

Nodding Greenhood - Pterostylis nutans

The psychedelic mushroom caught my eye - too bad the reflection off the cap killed the light metering

Taken at f/7.1, 1/60 sec, ISO-3200. Because the nodding greenhood had been in the shade I had changed the ISO setting. The heart-shaped leaves did yield a flower - I got right down onto the ground to get the photos - plant is maybe 1 and a half inches off the ground. It is not an orchid - 5 petals.

The track climbed a little away from the river and awarded me with a grandstand view of this little coot - pure tranquility.

And not much further down the track I see a bird walking down the track ahead of me. The tail feathers are distinctive - it is a lyre bird. Man in the purple t-shirt was wrong. I am diving for the camera to get this quick shot - these birds are so timid - gone in a flash. Hooray - I got a photo.

Well was I in for a surpise. The lyre bird stopped scratching for food and stepped onto a branch on the side of the track and started preening himself. Time to get out the Canon 600D as it has a bit more zoom.

Preen he did. Zoom helped.

It was a lot better than that. He was so comfortable that I could get to within 4 feet and take video - here we go. A David Attenborough moment with no voice - I did not want him to scoot off.

I made my way back to the picnic area and enjoyed lunch in the park facing the river and watching the occasional canoeist coming by. Should I go and follow the other track - I have not seen the mayfly orchids yet?

Note: Photos taken with Canon PowerShot G16 and Canon EOS 600XD on July 5, 2017