Day two of finding different patterns in our new place. Caught the train up to our old station to ride to one of the tracks I used to walk regularly

Train delay made for a trip time over 39 minutes to get to the start of Murrua Trail walk

Mower man has been busy over the site of 3 different orchids that flower now. This one under the bush on the edges escaped. Blunt-tipped greenhood - pterostylis curta. Known spot from years back

Found a few sun orchids budding on the path down the side of the retirement village. Grass against the fence has been mowed too. The onion orchids might flower

Budding sun orchid - hard to tell ID other than bud is tiny

Grevillea time - red spider

Grey spider with a pollinator

Another grey spider with a bee. It posed

In the short grass - maybe an oxalis

2nd orchid of the day down that side - spotted sun orchid. Photo work was hard as it was very windy

Flower just opening - thelymitra ixioides

Did find a budding sun orchid in the mowed grass. Good chance there will be no mowing until after they seed

Back to the main track - found this sun orchid laying on its back a bit

Not often does one get a chance to see the underside right into the column

Walked right past the access to Murrua Side Trail - NP have blocked access with no signage. Walked around when I doubled back. Why? Three specific orchids this way to check on

Budding flying duck orchid - one of south 10 budding

Snake orchid looks healthy enough. Last season someone halved the plant

Walked back to main trail and headed north to the next cross cut. Bearded orchid budding right at the path junction

Sun orchid right in the track earlier than I have seen. The normal spot was bereft - no leek orchid either. Crunched by slashing last year

More purple than blue across the main fire trail

Did find one onion orchid flowering in a known spot. Tough work getting photos as it was very windy

And the whole flower is a little bigger than a match head

The key to ID is the labellum. This one looks quite small and uniform in shape. Going to guess microtis parviflora

A tiny pea flower - a bit bigger than the onion orchid but not by a lot

Part of the mission today was to find waxlip orchids - hard also to photograph as they are on a spindly spike even though they only stand 1 to 2 inches off the ground.

Was pleased to find heaps of sun orchids budding - way more than last year

Back to small waxlip orchids - caladenia glossodia is the new name. Used to be glossodia minor.

A different pea flower. It is the 2nd largest genus of flowers after orchids

Budding pink sun orchid. Was a fun photo as I picked up a small rock to do the backing.

Was not any rock. It was the roof of the ant nest below. I out it back and found another and got no bites

Did find one partly open pink sun orchid - thelymitra carnea. Last year I saw only a few and one open. This year looks like a good season. The tough gig is they self pollinate often before flowering. Good to get one open

This is an orchid. I have a suspicion of what it is as a friend told me the location last year. Will have to come back each week. Good thing is I now have a plan - ride - train - ride - walk - ride home

A few more small waxlips on the way back to the bike

Good to get the ride plan working. Strava map joins things up even though I turned tracker off on the train. Ride to Gordon Station - train to Turramurra - ride to walk and back home. Why train? Not safe to rode up hill on Pacific Highway and parallel routes are seriously hilly. Safe coming back down hill as I can ride as fast as the cars.

Dinner: BBQ to add to the ratouille my wife cooked earlier. Nice and simple
This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io 28/08/2024 12712 Cycling, Daily Activity, House Chores, Photowalking