Cupped Banded Greenhood - one of the weird ones!

There are so many wonderful places to check out our Western Australian Native Orchids, and I like wandering around the bush with my eyes down looking for its treasures.

There are some very unusual and very unique flowers amongst our Native Orchids, this one is a Cupped Banded Greenhood - Pterostylis concava, weird isn't it? My book 'Orchids of South-West Australia' states - 'The orchid is not common'. I'm so glad I found it.

When I look at this, I think, is this actually a flower? I probably saw these years ago but didn't know what they were. Now I know they're part of the wonderful family of flora that inhabits the bush and is waiting for me to find and photograph.

Taken with my Olympus TG5

Late winter at Grandmum's Place

We've had lots of sunny days which has brought the bulbs up and helped them to start flowering, and enough rain to keep everything happy so it's looking very colourful at my place.

Some of the treasures in my garden are flashy and bright, nodding at me as I step outside my back door. The colours change from season to season and as the different bulbs and annuals flower in baskets and in the ground they're always showing off and making this one of my happy places. It's a lovely place to have a cuppa and a read or eat breakfast on a lovely sunny morning.

Taken on my Olympus TG5

The old Jetty

The same place but different ...... sunrise, sunset, sunshine, rain, high tide, low tide ..... yes like I said, always different, even from morning to night.

I've been photographing on and near this old structure for a number of years and it's gradually falling into disrepair, unfortunately, no one is prepared to take the lead to repair and look after it into the future. Princess Royal Harbour is a large area of water and part of the Great Southern Ports area of responsibility.

The Pelicans come and go in all seasons, although there are times when they're missing!

Here's a collection of photos I've taken over the past few years, the last one was taken around midday today..... yes it was very cold and raining, but the Pelicans were there.

Meeting The Queen of Sheba

The Queen of Sheba - Thelymitra variegata - is a very flashy and quite magnificent West Australian Native Orchid. It is one of the sun orchids and only opens when the sun shines.

The West Australian bush has many beautiful treasures which need to be looked after for generations to come, we need to take care when walking in the bush, and when photographing the wildflowers and orchids, you need to look very carefully to find them, then watch where you're putting your feet, especially if you kneel down on the ground, or use a tripod.

 The place where I found this Queen has more people trampling around every year and therefore after seeing numerous beautiful plants over the past few years this year there are very few. So now I have other places where I've found some plants and I keep those confidential, not because I want to keep a secret but because people tell people and very soon the fragile plants are trampled or touched before they have a chance to show off their beauty and then be pollinated for next years plants to flower. 

Native orchids are very particular where they grow and how they grow, I have limited knowledge but have some great books which I use to learn more about this elusive plant family.

I want to continue finding and photographing these beautiful treasures so I choose to be as careful as possible where I go and how I get my photos.

Enjoy this little piece of natures gifts that are available to all who seek out the beauty of the bush. Go for a walk in your local area and see what you can find, this means look at the ground and under the bushes, you may discover a treasure and get as excited as I did when I found my very first Queen of Sheba a few years ago.

Taken with my Olympus TG5 

Reflections on Princess Royal Harbour

Sometimes I feel like I have a mirror!

On a beautiful day in the spring of 2017, the waters of Princess Royal Harbour became my mirror and reflected the surroundings with beautiful clarity. This part of Western Australia has some beautiful coastline, but this is a favourite for reflections.

Every time I drive to town I pass this beautiful place; there's only one road and I often need to stop to take photos, even though I've stopped and taken many over the years, there's always the chance of getting a better one and these would have to be amongst the best.

 

These photos were taken with my Sony Nex 6 Camera with a Sony 55-210mm Lens.

Blue on Blue

It's the beginning of winter here and we're having the most gorgeous weather. It's sure to change and the rain and wind will come, but until it does I'm enjoying the outdoors and the beauty all around me, today I went for a lovely walk and this is what I saw.

King George Sound on the Southern Coast of Western Australia is the entrance to the Port of Albany. The ships come around Bald Head into this glorious expanse of water which is often dotted with ships waiting to come into Port, but today it was empty.

Blue sky and blue water .... a very calming sight to greet the many people who walk or drive around this area every day.

Taken with my Olympus TG5

Hunting for a Winter Spider Orchid

When I find out that an orchid I've never seen is flowering and I'm going to be nearby it's quite reasonable to say I'll be on the hunt to find them.

This orchid doesn't grow around where I live and as I was traveling to the City to see family it was a good excuse to find out as much as I could about where it was, and how to get there.

Collecting a lovely gourmet picnic lunch from Glen Forrest Gourmet I set off across the hill to Toodyay. Not too far, but I did forget to fill up with fuel before I left, so had to keep an eye on the gauge!

I had good directions from friends where to find these little treasures and was soon pulling off the road onto the track as instructed, I only had to walk about 50m and there they were on the side of the track just like I'd been told. So tiny and difficult to spot amongst the leaf litter, but there they were and I must say I did a little happy dance and was very careful where I put my feet as I didn't want to stand on any of them.

Winter Spider Orchid

"Caladenia drummondii"

 Taken on my Olympus TG5

@glen forrest gourmet @toodyay
#wanativeorchids #westaustralianbush #visitwesternaustralia #australianbushorchids #winterspiderorchid #wildflowers #adayinwa