[Photos] Bushwalking - Maralla Bushland 01 (Bush Forever 300)

[moonvoice]

Five minutes away from us,
well by drive, not by walking.
But still ridiculously close.
It feels so good to be discovering bushland again,
especially now that I'm allowed sun exposure once more.





CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP



Reclaimed farmland



The beginning of the path. On the left there is a Zamia (the fern-looking plant at the bottom) which is a relic of a time when Western Australia used to be rainforest. We have one in our front garden too.



Reclaimed farmland, and you know, actual green grass (weeds) because winter. The paperbark on the right is a really nice specimen.



Conostephium preissii In full flower.



Dead banksia. Trees like this, which hollow easily due to storms and termites (and Banksias are not a hardwood tree), provide invaluable nesting spots for animals that all prefer tree hollows to nest: which is many parrots, some lizards and snakes, many owls, some possums, and more besides.



Fungi at the base of a dead tree.



Drosera / Carnivorous flora.



Balga grasstrees looking nice and healthy here.



Close up of dead balga grasstree 'bark' (which is just snapped off / dead needles/leaves).



Paperbark and fungus.



Paperbark and fungus. Behind it, is a demolished dead balga grasstree. Possibly done when they were laying the path, but they are brittle enough that general vandals could've done it. They do not fall apart like this naturally.





Despite several monched leaves, this Eucalyptus is getting ready to flower.



Adenanthos obovatus or the Basket Flower





Lava tree. (Fungus bursting out from a rift in a dead/burned tree).



Banksia menziesii also known as the Firewood Banksia or Menzies Banksia. Petals are probably kinked out halfway through to a heavier bird landing on it and feeding directly from the blossom. (The flowers are large!)

Comments

[alias_sqbr]

These are lovely :)

[moonvoice]

Eeee <3

[cmcmck]

Such a different landscape to the one I'm used to!

Love the fungi.

[moonvoice]

Yeah, it's quite interesting bushland in general, too! There's still a lot left to explore. :D

[konsectatrix]

Absolutely gorgeous-- and so very different from what I see wandering the pines here.

[moonvoice]

I love many different kinds of landscape there are in the world! The closest we have to walking amount pines here is pine plantations, which is not the same! :)

[sundog]

I love these and makes me miss Australia so much. Thank you for posting these and I'm so glad you're able to be out and about to enjoy nature again.

[moonvoice]

I have more to bombard people with! And I'm so happy you've gotten to see some of Australia like SO happy <3

[redsixwing]

So beautiful!

Your fungus on burnt tree looks very different than the local fungus on burnt tree, which isn't a surprise but is interesting none the less.

That Conostephium preissii and the grass trees are so pretty. The latter look almost like a Joshua tree. Fascinating.

[moonvoice]

Joshua trees and Balgas do share the same order, Asparagales, but then branch out quite heavily. :D But yeah, definitely at least a familial connection there.

[redsixwing]

Neat! :D Thank you.

[madbutmagic]

amazing work!

[moonvoice]

Thank you! :D

[madbutmagic]

you're welcome! I just joined this place, and your account really stood out to me. i can't wait to keep following your artwork/posts!

[frith]

Those look like gigantic sundews (compared to what I might find in Canada). I'm surprised to see them growing in what looks to me like an arid habitat.

[moonvoice]

They are sundews! Australia actually has more species of sundew (Drosera) than the Northern Hemisphere, so not only do they grow here, but over 100 species grow here.

They do much better in temperate habitats than really wet ones, because the tiny hairs that grow over their bodies actually help protect them from sun exposure, but also because they are designed to die back and go dormant in really hot weather (which is also what helps them adapt to cooler and wetter environs too).

[welshwmn3]

I have gotten too used to FB. I wanted to "heart" every picture!

[moonvoice]

Hee, it's cool that Facebook allows that!

[hrafn]

Such gorgeous landscape! And that Drosera is amazing.

[moonvoice]

I want to go find more Drosera! But that might be the only one in that patch of bushland. :D

[citrakayah]

The abandoned farmland is really pretty. Do you know about how long it's been uncultivated?

[moonvoice]

Not sure, maybe about 20 or 30 years? The kangaroos will keep it flat, because grey kangaroos in particular do better on farmland than in bushland, so reclaimed farmland often stays pretty 'meadowy' if there are grey kangaroos around. :D