4/12/20
We went on a bit of an orchid search near Kuitpo to see if we could find duck orchids there.
Parking in a safe spot, we ventured up the hill , enjoying the cries and antics of the yellow-tailed black cockatoos on the way. These guys are great characters , but very messy eaters. There was one who thought we should hear the whole repertoire of noises, which was fantastic.
We got a great close up view of a couple of white throated tree creepers who didn’t care that we were nearby and I had an extremely close up view of a gray fantail, which I thought was going to land on me as it flitted right around my head as it searched for bugs. Luckily it decided I wasn’t a bug. Too close to photograph!! Thanks Jan for capturing the moment as best you could.
We took it easy on a quite warm day, and were lucky to be with Ross and Jan as Ross noticed the horn orchid by the side of the track and called us back to have a look. We hadn’t seen any of these before and were happy to see the few of these in the area that we noticed.
There were also some onion orchids around
Some hyacinth orchids are budding, but not yet in flower.
Jan noticed a couple of large duck orchids on the side of the track later on (well done Jan) I didn’t get a photo of these as I was busy picking the brains of Trent and Klaus, who we ran into on the track.
These guys have been looking at orchids for 40 years and had just seen some small duck orchids (the ultimate aim of our search today). They kindly showed us where these tiny little creatures were to be found and we marvelled at the much smaller versions and attempted to take some photos (it was a terrible day for photos) to help preserve the memory. Definitely something to look out for again in the future.
Then it was time to traipse back down the track to the cars and enjoy a well earned cuppa after nearly 5km of amble, while we watched a couple of horses being readied for a ride.
Here are another few things seen on the walk that were part of what made it an excellent way to spend a few hours.
Luvapuzzle 