For many months, since reading Benj Whitworth's postings on the Canberra Ornithologists Group forum about the joys of discovering the plants and birds of Ulladulla, I have wanted to explore the Reserves there. My friend Kirsten, who grew up in that area, kindly showed me around several of the Reserves there, yesterday.
The first place we visited is known as the Wildflower Reserve. At first it seemed to be a fairly uninviting patch of coastal forest. Kirsten will kill me for that comment. But there were many interesting plants there, especially leaves of Acianthus, Corybas and the related Nemacianthus - all tiny Ground Orchids - (upon close examination of the forest floor).
We saw lots of birds, most especially a mixed feeding flock of Silvereyes, Brown Thornbills and Wrens, with Pardalotes and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters in the canopy above, in the Wildflower Reserve.
Kirsten photographing a very thin-leaved Acacia.
Click to see the ribbed stems and 3 flowers coming from each leaf axil.
That species (A. elongata) looks right to me.
This was an unexpected bonus.
Waxlip Orchid - Glossodia major
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM6JL8OjGN-_hafYhWqe7MTN44I8VwU6vCdma_ql-A9-1HLolOIJdZKQpLSr5R0KbuSvd5wML71VtUjPs8RI91G99EEoYFiUaqeK3uQaIqt6bVVazDNVyiFfHokVL8O2RrfasI/s320/Glossodia+major+11.08.13+Ulladulla+Coast+Resv.JPG) |
Glossodia major just opening up. |
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Believe it or not, this was what I had been hoping to see.
Well, hopefully a fresh flower - but this dried flower is still identifiable
because of the long filamentous tips on the sepals.
One of the identifying features, apart from the long sepals,
is the brilliant red underleaf.
But there were hundreds of birds in the South Pacific Heathland Reserve too.
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos.
They love the Casuarinas and Banksias in the Heathland Reserve .
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrIISmfViV7BsBcLaycIaJ3l1VrSwifsYDTJOlRe_zm_DWvT9ghM0-RMf75yfhwdl22v2Jn5nwfkOUUDHeNpii9fVqm5wrAe9NfiCSVfbu9ucOb8DXuEBwn2OyVT5TWDLOjX-/s320/Black+Cockie+head+shot..jpg) |
Head of Black Cockatoo seen on top of low Casuarina bushes |
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New Holland Honeyeaters (3) in Casuarina above Grevillea bush. |
And now to some of the more obvious flowers
from the wonderful South Pacific Heathland Reserve.
The flowers were very fat (I think so anyway).
It is known as the Silver-top Ash.
A young flower head of the NSW Waratah (Telopea speciosissima)
The sweet honey-smell of the Wedding Bush
was almost overwhelming in places where these plants were growing.
Further to our finding the large Waxlip Orchid in the first reserve
in a moss bed in the Heathland Reserve we found a colony of
Click on the image to see the diagnostic dark double "calli"
on the labellum.
Here is a loose colony
on a moss bed.
If you expand the image (click)
you will see the flat hairy leaves of these plants.
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Glossodia minor in a moss bed |
Here is a local favourite at Ulladulla - the rare Grevillea macleayana
It is referred to by PlantNET as the Jervis Bay Grevillea.
It has the classic "Toothbrush Grevillea" flower structure.
Probably my favourite image of Grevillea macleayana.
It shows why it is so popular with the local Honeyeaters and Wattlebirds.
There is a lrge bead of nectar which has leaked out from the flower.
It shows how rich these plants are in nectar.
Here is one of the surprises of our trip
Whenever I glimpse this mountain (always in the distance)
A symbol of our earliest European conquest (and place naming).
My good friend James, believe it ought be called Nipple Mountain.
I wrote that before I checked for the Aboriginal name.
"Didhol or Dithol" which means
Woman's Breast on account
of the distinctive shape of the mountain.
(according to Wikipedia)
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Pigeonhouse Mountain in the distant hinterland behind Ulladulla. |