Whenever I’ve stopped in Williams it always been on the way to somewhere else and I’ve always been quick to get a move on. Well the other day I gave Williams my full attention. There are a few good spots for orchids there and I wanted to visit one in particular as it is the home to the Common Dragon Orchid. Despite its name I’ve never found the Common Dragon Orchid to be very common – in fact I’d only seen a rather manky looking one some twenty years ago. That, as they say, is a long time between drinks.
The bit of scrubby land that is home to the flowers is pretty ordinary to look at. It’s situated on the corner of a busy highway and a dirt track. Judging from the car bodies, rusted metal, bottles and corrugated asbestos it’s been used for fly tipping for years. But situated under the sheaoak trees in amongst the needles were an amazing variety of orchids. Common Dragon Orchids, well they were certainly common there. There were hundreds of them.
The first three images are pretty straight photos using the Olympus 60mm f2.8 macro lens and STF-8 flash or the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 with no flash.
Common Dragon Orchid, Caladenia barbarossa. Williams, Western Australia.
Zebra Orchid, Caladenia cairnsiana. Williams, Western Australia.
Clubbed Spider Orchid, Caladenia longiclavata. Williams, Western Australia.
The last couple were done as focus stacks using the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 and MC-14 1.4x teleconverter. The stacks were assembled in Photoshop.
Common Dragon Orchid, Caladenia barbarossa. Williams, Western Australia.
Zebra Orchid, Caladenia cairnsiana. Williams, Western Australia.
When you arrive at Toolibin Lake it’s hard not to be underwhelmed. It’s a smallish fresh water lake fringed by scrubby trees and populated by voracious mosquitos. While I was there only two other vehicles pulled up, the first visitor walked over to the information board and then got straight back in his car and drove off. A couple got out of the second car and walked down to the waters edge and then they too got back in their car and headed off. Perhaps it was the mosquitoes or perhaps their expectations did not match the reality of the place. Don’t know. All I do know is that it’s a fantastic nature reserve with plenty of nature.
Fringed Mantis Orchid aka Green Spider Orchid (Caladenia falcata).Toolibin Nature Reserve, Western Australia.
A closer look at the Fringed Mantis Orchid.
What makes Toolibin Lake so special? There used to be lots of lakes like this throughout the Wheatbelt, but agricultural land clearances have rendered them saline which has killed off the vegetation around them and destroyed the native animals habitats. Toolibin has miraculously managed to survive and has become an oasis for rare and threatened flora and fauna. If you want to see a Freckled Duck or a Red-tailed Phascogalethen Toolibin Lake Nature Reserves is one of your best bets for finding them. I wasn’t there for the wildlife, I was looking for the wild orchids that can be found in the surrounding woodland of flooded gum, acorn banksia and rock sheoak. What I found was nothing short of spectacular.While species like Cowslip Orchids are ten a penny in the South West of Western Australia it was the quantity of them that was amazing. It was a magnificent sight. I was looking for two species – the Clown Orchid (Caladenia roei) and its cousin the Purple-veined Spider Orchid (Caladenia doutchiae) both of which I found pretty quickly.The Clown Orchid I’d seen before at Wongan Hills, which is quite hike from where I live, but, the Purple-veined Spider Orchid was completely new to me and was the one I particularly wanted to photograph. I decided to photograph both as they can be a bit difficult to tell apart. As it was I passed up a Common Dragon Orchid as I thought it was a damaged Fringed Mantis Orchid. Note to self: next time photograph everything that you find.
Purple-veined Spider Orchid, Caladenia doutchiae. Toolibin Nature Reserve, Western Australia.
Purple-veined Spider Orchid, Caladenia doutchiae. Toolibin Nature Reserve, Western Australia.
Clown Orchid, AKA Ant Orchid, Man Orchid, and Jack-in-the-box Orchid, Caladenia roei. Toolibin Nature Reserve, Western Australia.
In profile. Clown Orchid, AKA Ant Orchid, Man Orchid, and Jack-in-the-box Orchid, Caladenia roei. Toolibin Nature Reserve, Western Australia.
Toolibin Lake is definitely a place I’ll be visiting again, although the next time I’ll forego the orchids and look for the Freckled Duck and the Red-tailed Phascogale. For anyone interested in visiting be aware that Toolibin Lake lies in a low rainfall area of the Wheatbelt and consequently it usually only holds water at certain times of year and some years it may not have any water at all. This year while the rains have been late they have been very heavy so everything was in top shape.
Dancing Spider Orchid, Caladenia discoidea. Toolibin Nature Reserve, Western Australia.
It’s that time of year – the natural world here in Western Australia has started to step up a gear andit is time to get out and see it and more importantly photograph it.
I was recently reading a book on Western Australian orchids and I discovered within it mention of a few species that are found in the Wheatbelt, where I live, that I had never heard of before let alone seen. After a bit more research and a consultation with Florabase and Atlas of Living Australia I was all set to head off to Kweda.
Not a very reassuring sign.
Another comforting sign.
The floodway that empties into Lake Mears. Although there was a lot of the water it hadn’t flooded the road.
It was nice to get out and about again, but after seeing a couple of road signs I wasn’t so sure I’d made the right decision. Kweda Reserve is located on the corner of an intersection of two dirt roads and apart from the reserve the only other feature of note was a mobile phone tower. Getting out of the car it seemed as if the bottom end of the reserve once played host to a railway siding. The tracks were long gone only the embankments and a few bridges over creek lines remained. There was quite a bit of water about thanks to the late heavy rains and I was quite surprised as the genus of orchids I was looking for tend to favour drier sandy soils rather than the heavy wet clay that was at Kweda. There were a lot of birds and dragonflies about and I saw a bob tailed lizard happily grazing on some mushrooms.
The bottom end of Kweda Reserve used to have a railway line. The last vestiges of the embankment and bridges can still be seen.
Lots of late heavy rainfall have meant there is a surprising amount of water about.
One of the locals. Bob tailed lizard (Tiliqua rugosa). Kweda Reserve.
Western Wheatbelt Donkey Orchid, Diuris brachyscapa. Kweda.
Western Wheatbelt Donkey Orchid, Diuris brachyscapa. Kweda.
Fringed Mantis Orchid, aka Green Spider Orchid, Caladenia falcata. Kweda.
Did I find what I was looking for? No. But, I did find a couple of species I’d not photographed before so it was worth the effort. I’m also hoping to visit again, and the nearby Lake Mears, looking for wildlife.
The title for this blog entry came from the song by Misty In Roots.
Up until this time last year I had only ever seen one leopard orchid (Thelymitra benthamiana). It is not that they are rare or hard to find, it’s just been that I’ve never been in the right place at the right time. The one I saw wasn’t at its best, but it made me very happy to see it. I went back to the same place last week and I was amazed to find not not one, not 10, but over a hundred of them. It was quite a spectacle. I’ve been saying how unseasonably warm it has been and dry the bush is, but obviously it suits leopard orchids. I was spoilt for choice as I wandered around looking for a good specimen with a good background that was sheltered from the wind.
Leopard Orchid, Thelymitra benthamiana. Wandoo National Park, Western Australia.
The other week I had the privilege of being asked to judge one of Mundaring Camera Club’s monthly competitions. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed looking at all the wonderful photos that had been entered. At one point when looking a shot of a flower I made my oft said statement shoot photos of flowers like they are a portrait of a person. So what do I actually mean by that? After a couple of weeks thought – I’m not the quickest! – I’ve decided to actually write it down.
The following four shots are all photos of the same Winter Donkey Orchid – it’s nothing special it’s just a plant I found the other day. But they do illustrate how I approach each subject.
Winter donkey orchid, Diuris brumalis. Woottating, Western Australia.
The first is the establishing shot, an environmental portrait. It shows the plant in situ and how it relates to bush around it.
The first of the mid length portraits.
The second mid length shot done with the macro lens and flash. It creates a very different looking picture when compared with first one.
The next two are mid length shots. Two different techniques are used to try and produce the same effect. One is a single shot taken with a macro lens and flash, the other is done with a long telephoto lens as a focus stack. The aim is produce a shot with a nice clean back ground.
The tight “head” shot.
The fourth shot is a close up portrait – a head and shoulders if you like – to reveal some of the characteristics of the flower.
It is how I work the subject. Unlike Austin Powers I’m not asking the flower to be a tiger, but, what I am doing is taking a series of photos from different angles to bring out the best in the subject.
As an aside the clip of Austin Powers is its self a parody of another famous screen photographer – the protagonist of Michelangelo Antonioni’s masterpiece ‘Blowup’. I certainly don’t behave like David Hemmings’ character did when photographing Veruschka von Lehndorff in the film. That would be a bit strange.
Based on the evidence of what I post on this blog I go out to take nature and wildlife photos, but actually I go to be out in nature. The photos below are what I love being out in.
The warm light of sunset reflected by the trees in the Oswald Sargent Reserve.
Driving back home from the Oswald Regent Reserve at sunset.
Augusta is a small coastal town on the furthest southwest corner of Australia – next stop Antartica. It is home to roughly 1000 permanent residents and swells to over 5000 for the Christmas holidays.
When we first visited over thirty years ago we didn’t much care for the place. It looked boring, dreary, dull, and because we went in late winter had crappy weather. Thirty years later we’ve developed a new appreciation of the place. I suppose it seemed to my 28 year old self a bit like the English “Costa Geriatrica”,between Eastbourne and Worthing on the Sussex coast. When I went to Worthing in my late teens and early twenties It appeared that the average age of the population looked as if it was 109. It wasn’t helped by the fact that on the main road into the town was an enormous cemetery and crematorium.But I digress and Augusta isn’t all about prostate problems and incontinence pads. Oh no! It is an amazing place because of it’s rich biodiversity and beautiful scenery. It has taken all these years for me to fully appreciate what it has to offer.
The Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is continental Australia’s most south westerly point. The 39m tall lighthouse was built in 1895 and automated in 1982. As well as being an important navigational aid it also functiona as a weather station.
We’ve just got back from a wonderful break down there. It was fantastic to walk in the forest, along the coast and observe nature. Our first port of call so to speak was the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse. Not because I have a thing about large phallus shaped buildings but because we wanted to see Rock Parrots (Neophema petrophila). I have tried to photograph them before at Denmark but not had much luck. The main reason is that their colouring means that they blend in perfectly with the grasses and sedges found on the coast. At the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse the parrots often feed on the lawns surrounding the buildings. Well maintained cut lawn would mean less foliage for the parrots to hide in. I settled into place and while I waited an Australian Pippit bobbed around in the longer grass at the edge of the lawn. After a while five or six rock parrots landed and started to feed. I waited patiently and as luck would have they moved closer and closer to me. After a while I had this distinct impression that someone or something was behind me watching. I slowly stood up and turned around and there on the water tank behind me was a solitary rock parrot. I was so close I could have reached out and touch it. Amazing stuff! Thankfully he/she was happy to sit there while I grabbed a few photos.
“You’ll find the rock parrots over there!” Welcome Swallow, Hirundo neoxxena. Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia.
This Australian Pipit, Anthus australis, was the warm up act for the main star of the show. Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia.
Rock Parrot, Neophema petrophila. Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia.
“Whose a pretty boy?” Rock Parrot, Neophema petrophila. Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia.
Our next foray was to Hamelin Bay where we hoped to find Southern Emu-wrens in the bush behind the dunes. Despite it hammering down with rain I did manage to find some, but taking a photo of them was another story. Those little buggers are fast and they don’t sit still for very long at all. All I got for my troubles was very wet and some photos of Silvereyes. We admitted defeat and retreated back to Augusta for an excellent fish and chip lunch.
Silvereye, Zosterops lateralis. Hamelin Bay, Western Australia.
In-between looking for birds I also spent some time looking for orchids. It is amazing to go to a place you’ve visited several times before but still find new and unusual species It was also very nice to meet a couple from Queensland who drive over very year to see Western Australia’s orchids. That is dedication!
The albino form of the pink fairies orchid, caladenia latifolia. Jewel Cave, Deepdene, Western Australia.
Lodge’s Spider Orchid, Caladenia lodgeana. Flat Rock, Augusta, Western Australia.
Funnel-tipped Spider Orchid, Caladenia infundibularis. Flat Rock, Augusta, Western Australia.
Augusta Bee Orchid, Diuris sp Augusta. Flat Rock, Augusta, Western Australia.
Dusborough Donkey Orchid, Diuris jonesii. Flat Rock, Augusta, Western Australia.
Rattle Beak Orchid, Lyperanthus serratus. Flat Rock, Augusta, Western Australia.
Swamp Mignonette Orchid, Microtis atrata. Flat Rock, Augusta, Western Australia.
Common Mignonette Orchid, Microtis media subsp. media. Flat Rock, Augusta, Western Australia.
White Fairy Orchid, Caladenia marginata. Flat Rock, Augusta, Western Australia.
My last session photographing birds came entirely by accident. We were taking Frida, our wayward bull terrier, for her morning walk on the dog beach when we saw some small birds scurrying around among the grasses and washed up seaweed. We took her back to the car and I grabbed my camera. After a bit of a smelly crawl through piles of seaweed I was delighted to find some Red-capped Plovers and proceeded to lie there taking photos for nearly an hour.
Red-capped plover, Charadrius ruficapillus. Augusta, Western Australia.
In many ways it was sad when it came time to leave. Mainly because we’d had a really good time but also with the realisation that the area is about to profoundly change. It seems that every bit of spare land is being turned into housing estates. Hundreds of project homes are being packed eve to eve on small blocks of land. Within a short while this will have a detrimental effect on the environment as forest and coastal heathland is cleared. What is sadder is that the housing isn’t needed. At the start of this article I said that only just over 1000 people live permanently in Augusta and according to Shire of Augusta Margaret River 44% of the buildings are unoccupied. We have watched the suburban sprawl spread in the Cape to Cape region starting at Dunsborough and slowly spreading to Margaret River and now inexorably down to Augusta. Many years ago a friend who worked for what has become Landgate which is the Western Australian’s land management department in charge of surveying, titles and planning. He said he’d seen plans to develop the Cape to Cape region to such an extent that the only forest left would be a thin fringe along the major roads. Then I didn’t want to believe him, but now I can see it is happening. Hopefully it won’t take thirty years for other people to realise what is so special about the region and try and stop this senseless development.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago we’d gone to Hyden. We’ve been plenty of times before and I have written about those visits here, here and here. Wave Rock doesn’t hold much interest in itself – its just a big rock shaped like a wave. What is more interesting is the nature around the rock. When the winter rains come an incredible amount of water runs off the rock and this means there is a lot of vegetation that has become home to animals around the base. Not far from the rock and the vegetation gives out and you can see a salt plain with Lake Magic. This too is great place for observing animals and seeing wildflowers.
Unfortunately we’d had our beautiful weather on the drive down and the rain really set in – so much so that my walk along the base of Wave Rock, out to Lake Magic and then back via Wave Rock Airport and the Wildlife Park was in danger of becoming an aquatic walk. Thankfully I was dressed for the occasion and swathed in Gore Tex. My Olympus EM 1 mk ii is very well sealed against the elements as are the lenses. Despite my careful preparation the subject matter – orchids and birds – didn’t want to oblige. Regardless of the weather that the walk was really enjoyable.
Hairy stemmed snail orchid, Pterostylis sp. ‘hairy’. Hyden, Western Australia.
Dark banded greenhood, Pterostylis sanguinea. Hyden, Western Australia.
Blue beard or blue fairy orchid (Pheladenia deformis). Hyden, Western Australia.
Hairy stemmed snail orchid, Pterostylis sp. ‘hairy’. Hyden, Western Australia.
Singing Honeyeater, Gavicalis virescens. Hyden, Western Australia.
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