Flight over the Wollondilly and Nattai Rivers

Several days ago I went for a quick flight with my friend Jim.
He wanted to go west, over the Wollondilly River, to show me a particular geographical feature he had seen on a trip back to his home from Cowra.
We flew just south of Bowral - towards Mt Jellore, which is west of Mittagong, and north of the Wombeyan Caves Road (at High Range). Mt Jellore is a near perfect cone which stands high above the horizon in this view (above where I have written its name). (Click to enlarge image)


Unfortunately, the weather was against us, when we got out towards the Wollondilly River, near Bullio. We circled around to see the clifflines and obvious hills out there, but many features could not be seen because of low cloud.

Here is the Wollondilly Valley, with a cliff line from near Mt Wanganderry
which is the highest point on the High Range, along the Wombeyan Caves Road.

Here is Mt Jellore, seen from close above.

This contour map image shows well how round this mountain is.
It is over 800 metres high, rising out of the Nattai Valley and Wollondilly Valley.

The weather was against us, but what could be seen was pretty wild, and invites further examination - by 4 wheel drive vehicle, and on foot.

This remarkable cliff formation is extremely narrow.
Without checking for names on detailed contour maps, I don't know if it has an official name.
I have referred to it as the Knife Edge Cliff, beyond Mt Jellore.

Even Jim was impressed with it, and graciously allowed another fly past, for me to get this shot.

It looks like a natural spot to find Peregrine Falcons, to me.
Wonderful clifflines.

Douglas Park. Images from Caroline's garden

I am now going back to Caroline's garden, with a few images left over from the other day.
Firstly, here is the Swamp Wallaby again, as seen the other day. Once again, caught in action in Caroline's vegie garden. This time, the target is the cabbage patch.

Here is the result, after it has left.

A Superb Fairy Wren (a.k.a. "Blue Wren"). Malurus cyaneus. This is a male bird, in "eclipse plumage", i.e., a male in non-breeding plumage. The tell-tale clue is the blue tail, and the dark beak and eye. Females have brown tail feathers, brownish beaks and a reddish mark around their eyes.
In the morning light, the leaves of the Pistachio tree were a lovely golden colour, as seen through the window of Caroline's lounge room. I could not resist taking the photo.
I showed an image the other day of a possible Crowea exalata, growing above the Cataract Gorge, in the yard of Caroline's neighbour's property. That plant had shorter leaves than today's plant, and wider-spread flowers.

Here is a better photo taken two weeks previously, of a similar species of plant, at Bombaderry. Although on the South Coast, near Nowra, it was growing in very similar habitat - a sandstone gorge. With a better photo here, I think this may be Crowea saligna. Croweas have 5 petals and a tightly structured cluster of stamens "cohering by their prominently pilose margins, apices spreading during anthesis." (PlantNET).

Recently I found the first flowers (for this season) of the tiny Helmet Orchid (Corybas aconitiflorus) flowering near Robertson. This was in a patch of tall wet Eucalypt forest beyond Belmore Falls. Not an area I had seen any Orchids in before. This plant was flowering just above the leaf litter, which is pretty normal for this genus. Strangely, it was a solitary flower, whereas this genus typically grows in large groups of plants.I promised you a better set of photos of the Chiloglottis trilabra on Mt Gibraltar. Here they are.
You can clearly see the "gland" or "pseudo-insect" on the labellum. This is part of the flower, mimicking in scent a wasp sitting on the flower. It attracts male wasps, which pollinate the flower, inadvertently, while trying to mate with the pseudo-insect.

Here is the flower seen from the side, showing the labellum clearly.
Click to enlarge.

For "Mick", here is the "habitat" in which this flower grows - amongst dry grasses, under a dead wattle tree, on the side of a very rocky hill. It was very hot on The Gib in February and most of the moss beds on the exposed rock surfaces dried out very badly. Many small trees which had grown in the moss beds, died out (including this one). So, a few flat weeds survive, as well as the orchids which were dormant over summer and have re-appeared after the worst of the summer heat had passed. Click to enlarge image, to see leaves and flower of the Orchid (outlined in yellow) and other Orchid leaves to the right.
It takes some practice to find these dark flowers hiding away like this. The paired leaves of the Chiloglottis are fairly easily spotted once you know what to look for. I had, in fact, seen leaves here over a year before, and did not know exactly what they were, but I knew they would turn out to be Orchids - so it was a matter of checking this location on each visit to the Gib, until I found them in flower.

Rivers SOS meeting above Cataract Gorge, Douglas Park

The Rivers SOS group met at Caroline's place at Douglas Park, for our quarterly meeting, in May 2009.

Here are four images of the group, just getting the meeting under way.
Taken from the back end of the room.

From the top end of the room (with light behind me).
Here is a group photo of the Rivers SOS meeting, taken after our meeting adjourned.
It was good to be joined by a number of Environmental Studies students.
Caroline is very proud of the sign writing.
(Click to read the words)

After dinner (and a very fine dinner it was), we were entertained by two very fine musicians, Mirabai Peart (who has been a member of the Rivers SOS group for some time) and Mahesh Radhakrishnan. They play together in "Tapestries of Sound"

Mahesh sings and plays guitar, and Mirabai is a very fine violin player.

Here Mahesh is playing a Thamboura.After the music, we had an informal party.

Next morning, the resident Swamp Wallaby was up nice and early
tasting the delights of Caroline's vegetable garden.
This Wallaby has suffered some kind of injury, unfortunately.
After breakfast (his and ours) we went out to explore the local area.

We started with a quick look over the Cataract River Gorge.

Here is a zoom shot showing the river flowing below.

After the rain of the week before, there was a good flow happening.While walking back I noticed this plant, which I think is a Crowea exalata.
Then we drove over to the West Cliff Colliery.
I could not believe their "Zero Harm" slogan. Can you?

Then we went to "Marhnyes Hole", below Appin.
This is on the Georges River.

Here, Julie is explaining the damage which occurred after subsidence caused by BHP longwall mines. There has been much "remediation" work in this area. And, after a week of rain, the river was flowing reasonably well. Neville and Amanda are looking on.We hope to meet again, next time, at Stroud, to find out more about the efforts of the locals to save Mammy Johnson's River.
Neville ("Chappy") Williams is from Lake Cowal, in western NSW, where Barrick Gold's mine is destroying the lake, with the support of the NSW Government.

Swift Moths love the cold, wet weather

I have some difficulty in identifying these Swift Moths which have been coming to my front porch in the last week, of cool, wet weather. Any help in identifying these Moths would be appreciated. You can see in this image that there is considerable variation in size and colour markings of these moths, yet I assume they are the same species.
I was originally inclined towards the species known as Abantiades hyalinatus (HEPIALIDAE) until I saw the images on Donald Hobern's Flickr Gallery of moths, which clearly showed a violet colour to the hindwings and the upper part of the body. Also his specimens were recorded in January.

My specimens show a deep russet colour, but not purple
on the hind wings, and the body brown.
This was taken at 1/500th of a second, but still the image is blurred
showing how fast these Moths flap.

However, there is another likely candidate: Elhamma australasiae (HEPIALIDAE) . Don Herbison -Evans' encyclopaedic website on Australian Moths says: "The earliest adults appear in January, but they are most common in March and usually disappear by April."
As these moths have just appeared in Robertson, in the last week, when it has been cold and wet, the timing of Elhamma australasiae, as reported, hardly fits. I have written about these Moths previously, on 2 June 2008 (when it was cold and wet); and before that, on 27 May 2008
So, perhaps it is Oxycanus dirempta (HEPIALIDAE). At least Donald Hobern's images of this species are all recorded in May.
What troubles me is the variability of these moths - not just in my images, but in the available images on other galleries and websites.

Here is a handsomely marked specimen,
with a clear wing stripe.
Long antennae are also evident.

Here is a much redder specimen
with spots on the wings, not the clear wing flash

And a really dark specimen
with wing blotches, not white spots nor wing flash

Here is a very pale specimen, viewed "head on". It does look very similar to this specimen of Donald's Elhamma australasiae, so I am totally confused.I took this image and marked eight different moths
around my front porch at the one time.

I must admit to an assumption that these are all the same species - simply based upon the similarity of habit and timing of their appearance.
As I said at the beginning, any help in identifying these Moths would be appreciated.

Edit:

Donald Hobern came through with an ID - many thanks.
He said they "all look good for Oxycanus dirempta".
That's great.
Thanks Donald

Denis

Crickets and Fungi of the rotten logs of Robertson.

Here is a large Cricket with thick legs. All I can work out is that there is a creature called a "Thick-legged Raspy Cricket", but I can find no images of it, nor any details of where it comes from, what it does, etc. This one was a bit scary, for I know that Crickets like this have huge mandibles (chewing jaws). Its legs were very spiny. In general shape it resembles the Illawarra Raspy Cricket which I have shown before, but this one was bigger and wilder looking, with its powerful orange thighs.

Thanks to Dave Rentz, retired CSIRO entomologist, and Blogger from Kuranda in Queensland, I now know that this wonderful creature is an "Australian King Cricket" Australostoma opacum (Brunner). Dave told me what I had already surmised that these guys can give a nasty bite (remember I had seen their "cousins" up close previously). Also they can exude a nasty cocktail of pungent chemicals fromm their posterior, as part of a defence mechanism. For me, the entire appearance and build of the creature gave me enough warning signals to know to be wary of it, anyway.

This is a fine example of "Icicle Fungi" hanging on the rotten log.These Olive Cups looked to me like a form of Lichen, at first.
But then I realised that in their smaller stages, they looked like a form of Cup Fungus.
Note the tiny one on the right - that stem looks like a classic Cup FungusThis I have seen before, and it is known as a "Pretzel Fungus".
These tiny stemless fungi were hanging from the underside of a rotting log.
From below you can see that they are a form of Gilled Fungus.
This small, but perfectly formed gilled fungus, showing an "annulus" ring on the stem.
It is possibly a Hygrocybe, but that is a wild guess on my part.
It cap was only about the size of a 10 cent coin.
These near perfect tiny Fungi were growing as a pair on the rotten log.
Note the myriad white fibres growing from the base of the stem.
Here is the inside view of the cap of another one of these fungi
which was accidentally broken.
You can see the long white gills.This was a lovely clump of lilac-mauve small Fungi
growing out of rotted wood fibres at the base of a fallen tree trunk.From the underside, you can see the white gills of these pretty lilac fungi.Here is a single "Puff Ball" which we found while on our Millipede Search.

Snails from the Cool Temperate Rainforest of Robertson

Here are some snail images from the same trip on which I helped Bob search for his target Millipede species.
I have received assistance from fellow blogger, "Snail", in tracking down what types of snails these are - at least in general terms. After all, in many cases of "creepie crawlies" identification requires microscopic examination (often of their private parts). So, as an amateur naturalist I would be happy enough to settle for an "approximate" ID. Several I had "sort of guessed" (from Google Image searches), but Snail has done much better than that.

Here is a shallowly curved snail, which is in a group of carnivorous snails. I found this link from Mt Annan Branch of the Royal Botanic Gardens for the Carnivorous Land Snail Austrorhytida capillacea. Here are my own images. Snail has confirmed the identity as "probable".From the underside, you can see how shallow is the shape of its shell, and also how transparent the underside of the shell is. Snail's advice was: "Most of the carnivorous snails (family Rhytidiae) have quite characteristic shells: fine radial ribs on the upper surface and smooth on the underside, with a wide umbilicus." DJW says - So that's why the shell has such a shallow angle about it. It also explains the correctly notes the difference between to upper surface and the lower surface.The next snail is, unfortunately, in the too hard basket. Here it is at about real life size. Tiny!This next one is a cropped image. It is a very tightly curled snail with practically no "angle" on its curl. In other words, it is a flat curl, not a helical shell.
Snail's advice was: "It probably belongs to Charopidae or Punctidae --- both families are widespread in wetter areas. V. common." DJW says - that'll do for me.
Now this is more interesting. When we found these guys, Bob told me that they are in a class of snails known as "semi-slugs". Some in the group have such a reduced shell that it cannot cover the entire animal. Some are reduced to having virtually no shell at all - hence the name. They are in the group of Helicarionids.
Snail was effusive in commenting on this one: "The semi-slug (family Helicarionidae) is probably Helicarion mastersi. I'm a bit vague about the helicarionids because no one has sat down and sorted them out once and for all. Lots of species remain undescribed, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if that turned out to be something unusual. Helicarionds are odd little things. Some species release red slime when irritated. No one's looked at it to see whether it contain repellent chemicals or makes the animal too slippery to hold. (Several camaenids do this as well). Other species thrash about when disturbed. And --- apparently --- another one from SE Qld, I think, sticks itself to the underside of leaves --- by its shell not its foot. The mantle encloses the shell and makes a sort of suction cup. Haven't witnessed this but I've been assured it's true!

Here is another of the same species which I found on a tree trunk.
It was last year, in June, on a really wet day.
The snail was out in the open,
"hoovering" over the fine covering of lichen and algae
on the trunk of the tree.

Snail adds: "Not all helicarionids are semi-slugs, btw, but you can distinguish the fully-shelled species from similar ones in other families by the shape of the rear end. In helicarionids it's pinched vertically into a tail. In the others, it's tapered or flat."

DJW Says: What can I add? That comment on the tail being "pinched vertically" was made without the benefit of Snail seeing this image, which I took last year. It looks right to me.
The Australian Faunal Directory does add the following information: Helicarion mastersi subspecies mastersi. This species is found in closed forest, on coastal NSW, from Sydney to Kiama. Spot on, everybody (I live on the coastal escarpment just above Kiama).

These last group of snails had me most intrigued. When I developed the images on the computer, I realised that what had looked like a rough surface of the shell turned out to be a series of fine barbs or rasp-like protrusions on the shell. I started to get excited about this, but what would I know? - I am not a student of snails.

Click to enlarge all these following images, to see the detail.

Snail came through with the goods on this: "The last one belongs to Camaenidae. Probably Austrochloritis metuenda. I thought at first it was A. brevipila, but the books say that this only occurs from Dorrigo to the Border Ranges. Austrochloritis metuenda is an Illawarra species, so that sounds more likely.Snail continues: "The hairs are amazing. They seem to be part of the periostracum, which is the protein layer that overlies the main calcium carbonate shell. The hairs are quite persistent but once they rub off (usually in long dead shells) you can see that they sit on little bumps on the main shell. I am always impressed at how neatly they're arranged."

You can see what is meant by that comment, if you enlarge this image.
Look at the upper edge of the shell.
You can see between the lines of the hairs or barbs.

In a later email exchange, these comments emerged:
Snail wrote - they are called "periostracal hairs".
I did a Google search on that term, and found a discussion of these hairs on a marine mollusc, where it was suggested that it helps as a defence against predators, or other marine creatures, such as Limpets attaching themselves to the marine snail. That made me think.

Subsequently I wrote back:
DJW: Having seen some of the creatures which share these rotten logs (with these Snails), anything to keep them at bay would help.

Snail replied: "A friend of mine did some work on a similar situation with very small snails in the tropics of Borneo. They aren't hairy but have little vanes that seem to act as a protection against tiny carnivorous slugs that scrape through the shell to get to the juicy snaily goodness inside.

http://snailseyeview.blogspot.com/2006/09/heres-some-real-science-from-deepest.html

"I don't know what might be the equivalent in your neck of the woods. I would have thought that most animals would go for the shell aperture but if the snail is clamped down on something and the predator isn't strong enough to dislodge it, then maybe those hairs would prevent them getting their teeth stuck in."
Here is the under-side of the shell, and if you enlarge the image, you can see the barbs or hairs, shining in the light of the flash.
By the way, the Australian Faunal Directory says this snail is found in tall forests, under logs, NSW South-east Coastal regions. Once again, a pretty accurate record.

Conclusion: What started out as an adventure in search of Millipedes has ended up being a discovery tour on Snails as well as a variety of other arthropods, and even lizards, living in wet logs on the forest floor.
Thanks to Bob for the original inspiration, and to Snail for the expert advice on these Snails. It has been a fun learning experience over the last week. I hope my readers have also enjoyed this journey of discovery.

Denis

More creatures from the rotten logs of Robertson

Following up the last post about Bob's Millipede search, here are some (few) other creatures we found while conducting that search.

Inevitably some were too fast for me to get images of, including some nice greenish Centipedes, which do not stay put for anybody. Clearly I would have needed a collecting bucket or similar to have held them in, temporarily, in order to get some kind of image. Some other time perhaps. (A good pair of gloves would be handy too, for them.)

I did manage to get a snap of this nice little golden Centipede, before it woke up to the fact that it was free to go - at which point it departed the scene, rapidly.Here is a two-image shot of a large shiny Ground Beetle. There were many such beetles living in these large rotten logs on the ground in the wet forests.

Left image is underneath side of the live beetle.
Right is top view (just before it scampered off).

Bob took some precautions (gloves) with this guy,
because of the very powerful jaws.
A large black beetle.
This is a Beetle larva (2 images)
Six tiny legs are clearly visible on the front end.
Speed is obviously not a great requirement for these larvae
when crawling around inside rotten logs.
I believe these are "Collembola" - "Springtails", which are apparently related to Crustaceans
(although their body shape does not resemble traditional crustaceans to my eyes.
But I am not an entomologist - or whatever students of Crustaceans are called.)

For some reason, I find these tiny creatures quite cute. I have seen similar creatures (Proturans) living inside fungi previously.

One of the most impressive creatures we saw was this huge Earwig (twice the size of common garden Earwigs). Its "cerci" (its tail appendages, incorrectly assumed to be "pincers") were very formidable. Its bright orange legs presumably have a warning-symbol function, as well as a very practical function of carrying around this relatively large Earwig. It has large antennae. Turning to another "Order" completely, here is a very fine Earthworm specimen. It is NOT the Giant Earthworm which I have seen just near where this specimen was found. But just a very healthy specimen of large earthworm. The Giant Earthworms live very deep in the basalt soil. This worm was in a rotten log.Here are two "Flat Worms" - which differ from the one above in not being "segmented worms".
This one is a lime green colour - with brown lines along its sides.This is a creamy coloured Flat Worm, also with brown stripes.Here is a very fat little Red Velvet Mite. Tiny, and almost "comical" in appearance - to my eyes, but probably not to what ever smaller creature it wants to eat.
Here is a golden silverfish. Not silver. Not a fish. Cute, but determined to not stay out in the sunlight for long. This is a triple image - a composite. Another dweller of the soupy environment of rotten logs.And just to show that some "higher order" creatures also live in this rotted log environment, here is a tiny Skink - a reptile, one of the few vertebrates to make its home in here assuming you discount the local Wombats (which burrow under the rotted logs, instead of living within them, as this fellow does).I believe this is one of those Lizards known as "Three-toed Skinks" - which are famous for being ground-dwellers, by which I mean burrowing lizards. See this quote:"when unearthed [the three-toed skink] thrashes violently, trying to burrow back in the ground." and he's spot on".
Indeed, I have seen these creatures on my block when I first moved to Robertson, when I was doing things like moving rocks out of the way, prior to building my house and garden. I make a habit of not moving rocks now, so as to not disturb my invisible neighbours - the "Three-toed Skinks". They wriggle like snakes, because their legs are so reduced in size and functionality (see the tiny front foot) that they are all but useless for propulsion. But the little Skink can (and did) twist and squirm its way out of my hands, and back into the rotten log, where it felt safe.

An long-lost Millipede rediscovered.

An long-lost Millipede has been rediscovered in the Robertson area.

This event came about following an approach from a Millipede Taxonomist (from Tasmania) - now there's a job description to die for!

Hi, Denis.
I found you through your very nice blog, and have a naturalist's
question.

The background: I'm a millipede taxonomist, trying to rediscover a tiny
millipede species collected by Thomas Steel ca. 1905 at Avoca (NSW). Steel was
an occasional collector around Bundanoon, Moss Vale, Avoca and Wildes
Meadow between ca. 1895 and his death in the 1920s. He made many other
discoveries of leaf-litter creatures besides the millipede I'm tracking.

My wife and I visited the area collecting millipedes (with a permit) at
the beginning of this month. We found millipedes, but not the Steel
species. I subsequently borrowed 'berlesates' from the general area from
the Australian National Insect Collection in Canberra. These are
collections of bugs extracted from soil and leaf litter. Again, I found
lots of millipedes in the samples, but not the Steel species.

I'm now thinking I was looking in the wrong forest type. This particular
species may have a habitat preference for heavy wet sclerophyll. The
geology and pre-1850 vegetation maps tell me there was wet sclerophyll on basalt
both at Avoca and the Wildes Meadow area prior to clearing -
Steel may have been looking in the last few remnants.

So, my question is: are there still patches of heavy wet sclerophyll
(tall trees, big rotting logs, lots of moss and thick litter) in the
Belmore Falls section of Morton NP, which unfortunately we didn't get to
last trip?

Best wishes,
Bob

The forest type he described does exist at Belmore Falls, but it is more likely to be sandstone based, there, not basalt. The Avoca area (where the particular Millipede he is looking for was originally found) has basalt soil. So I wrote back to Bob suggesting a few local places where we might find relatively undisturbed forest on basalt soil - for the soil substrate seems to be critical in determining the habitat in the Southern Highlands.
Click to enlarge map.
We went out yesterday, and found lots of Millipedes (and centipedes and beetles and spiders and even lizards) living in some really old rotten logs. Many photos of other larger and more handsome Millipedes, which we found are shown below - but ironically, they were not the "unusual" one Bob was in search of.

After several unsuccessful sorties we eventually found some creatures which Bob was hopeful were his specific quarry - a species of tiny white Millipede.

He could not wait to get back home to examine his specimens (he is a licensed scientific collector) under his 100 power Laboratory Microscope. You need to understand that the particular identifying characteristics of this species require microscopic examination of the gonopods of mature males (the sex organs). See this image of examples of Gonopod structural variation between different species of Millipedes - even closely related ones.

Rear views of gonopods of A. bashfordi (left) and A. johnsi (right).
Source: Bob Mesibov's Tasmanian Multipedes website
Specific page:

Although this may sound bizarre, it is a common practice in modern taxonomy, and is a technique used also in distinguishing moth species from eachother, and no doubt many other tiny creatures as well.

This evening I received an email from Bob, now back in Tasmania.

Hi, Denis.

Yes, that tiny pale bugger was the millipede I was after, so history (small h) was made on Thursday! Many thanks again for your help!

Best wishes,
Bob

I believe this is the tiny white Millipede in question.
I had tried to take some other photos,
but in a dark forest, it is often hard to focus on such tiny creatures.
Bob has corrected me here. It is a juvenile of another species, unfortunately,
"Tiny white fuzzy is probably a juvenile paradoxosomatid."

So, not only was a Millipede known only from a single collection made in 1905, found again for the second time. But this species can now be properly classified by a modern taxonomist, based upon good specimens, and using modern techniques. No doubt Bob will publish his results in due course.

I am pleased to have been able to play my small part in the making of this piece of "history (with a small h)". When Bob publishes his report, I hope to be able to explain more about why this discovery is so historic.

This rediscovery is reminiscent of a search for Giant Earthworms in the local basalt soil areas, which was organised in 2000 by R.J. Blakemore, a leading expert on Earthworms, who sought to "rediscover" a particular species of Giant Earthworm which J.J. Fletcher had identified at Burrawang in 1886. That a story is written up in Eucryphia, the journal of the Robertson Environment Protection Society, Vol 54, July 2001. I have written about that search, and its report by RJ Blakemore, previously.

Photographic examples of Millipedes found in wet forests on Basalt soil, in the Robertson area. (Click on images to enlarge them)

Creamy white Millipedes, with prominent brown lines along their sides.
Bob commented: "Small cylindrical form with racing stripes is likely to be in Spirobolida,
but currently in 'too hard' basket"

A large black Millipede, with red legs, which curls into a helical spiral (on my glove)
Bob comments: "Dark, cylindrical form with pale rear end is in order Spirobolida. Genus and species possibly already named and known, but currently in 'too hard' basket".

This one curls up in a flat spiral.

These large Millipedes were a greenish grey colour.
Bob commented: "Large greenish-gray cylindrical form is in order Spirostreptida. Hundreds of species in Oz, very few named, no one working on this group."

Bob referred to these next Millipedes as "Beakies" for they have a prominent snout.
They were quite active and sought to crawl away, rather than curl up.
Bob has commented: "'Beakies' are in order Siphonophorida. These are largely tropical millipedes and the highlands forms (species unknown)
are probably the furthest-south species in Australia."
Bob abd I discussed at the time that Robertson is well known for being
on the end of distribution ranges for many species of plants,
for example, where they are either the furthermost north extent (Eucryphia moorei)
or the furthermost south (Chiloglottis sylvestris).
So, a similar distrribution for "Beakies" does not surprise me. It is interesting, though.

This was a very fine specimen
of a brown and black segmented patterned Millipede.
Bob commented: "form with medium brown colour, dark annular rings is another paradoxosomatid common in your area, soon to be named by a specialist."

I believe these are two images of one Bob called "Flat Backs"
They hold their legs more out to the side than other Millipedes.
(Click to enlarge the image to see the legs positions.)
Bob has corrected me here - these are not the "Flat Backs".
"Form with pale paranota (small projections on side) and two parallel pale stripes down back
is Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae, an undescribed species in the genus Somethus."

This is a smallish white millipede - but not the species Bob was seeking.
Bob has advised: "Similar looking all-white form is a juvenile paradoxosomatid, could be anything. Para's only acquire full colour and pattern when adult."

I have transcribed Bob's comments, from an email, so I any possible errors will be as a result of that process.

You can find out much more about Millipedes from Bob's websites:
Dr. Bob Mesibov's Home Page
Millipedes of Australia
Tasmanian Multipedes (This covers Tasmanian Centipedes, Velvet Worms and Millipedes)

Stonefly larvae in pools on the sandstone.

Here is a tiny pond creature I found in a pool of water beside a track, out on a sandstone plateau. It was only about 0,5cm long (5mm). It is equipped with a formidable set of jaws, and its other most noticeable feature is the prominent paired cerci (tail appendages). I knew enough to know that Mayflies have distinctive triple cerci. So what was this? Obviously not a Mayfly larva.

Here is one of these tiny creatures photographed from the underside.

Another image of the same specimen. Unfortunately, some pool debris is attached to the tail, confusing me as to its proper shape. Fortunately the dual tail antennae are clearly visible in the first shot.

"Stoneflies, order Plecoptera, are distinguished by two long thin tails projecting from the rear of the abdomen. The body is somewhat flattened, and there are two claws that extend from the three pairs of segmented legs. Stoneflies are considered crawlers and crawl around looking for food. They are not tolerant of water pollution."
Links courtesy of the St John's Water Management District, Florida USA.

After some time studying this pool, it was obvious that there are other far smaller creatures moving around in there, which I would need a laboratory magnifying lens or microscope to study. Stonefly larvae are classed as "crawlers" by people who study pond life.What surprises me about finding many of these tiny larva is that I have only once identified an adult Stonefly.
It was a moderately large flying insect (as large as an average Dragonfly). This one was found beside the Wingecarribee Swamp in November 2007. But here were lots of Stonefly larvae out on the sandstone plateau, but I have never seen adult Stoneflies there. A puzzle to me.

Another New Orchid (for my photo collection)

Last week Colin and Mischa and I walked along an excellent track in a Nature Reserve at Bombaderry Creek (near Nowra). I remember expressing some scepticism, in view of the apparently unprepossessing location, but Mischa assured me that the walk "was good for the soul". That was a surprising "review" of a walk, I thought, but indeed she was right.

It turned out that the walk went along the edge of a narrow gorge, through which the Bombaderry Creek runs. It is a classic Sandstone gorge, with many huge rocks which have fallen from the cliffs, some 50 metres above.

Magnificent Spotted Gum growing up against the cliff,
has been rubbed against the rock
and it formed a huge callus plate.
(Click to enlarge the image.)
What looks like a chopped off branch is the callus,
where the tree has rubbed against the cliff line.

The only Orchid which we saw in flower is the unpopular "Dog Orchid" (Cestichis reflexa, formerly known as Liparis reflexa), which get that common name from supposedly having an unpleasant odour - but I COULD NOT detect it. These Orchids were almost everywhere, on the rocks, in the wet gullies and steep cliffs and rock faces. They are epilithic (lithophytic) preferring to grow on rocks, but we did see a few growing in the soil just below rocks.

The flowers appear to show more yellow as they age.
But they start out as green flowers.

From the front, these flowers look quite square, with the column standing up prominently like a little hammer.
Here is the botanical illustration from PlantNET, which shows this shape well.
Here is Colin walking in front of a bunch of these plants ground thickly on a rock, just above head height. Most of them were growing very high on the cliffs. That habit explains why this is the first time I have photographed this species up close. They are not rare, it is just that they tend to grow in inaccessible places, rock ledges and narrow crevasses, in wet places, generally.Here are the same plants.There are also some Dockrillia striolata growing here too.There were many birds in this gully, including the rare Origma ("Rock Warbler"). There were many Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters present, as well as migrating Yellow-faced Honeyeaters. It was a very good place for a walk (approx 3 hours, and not a walk to be rushed). As Mischa said it was indeed "Good for the Soul".

Huge Boletus Fungi

I went to visit Kim and Peter this morning, and no sooner had I arrived than I saw a huge Boletus Fungus growing amongst the grass below a stand of Eucalypt trees.

I took a photo.
Before I left I mentioned this to Kim, and she said:"Did you see the big one?" I pointed to the one I had photographed, and she said: "Oh no, that's not the big one". She was right. This was huge. I took another photo with the same lens cap for scale, as with the first shot. This is Phlebopus marginatus, (follow link to Gaye's photo), said to be the largest fungus in Australia. Some specimens have been recorded up to a metre in diameter. Mine would be approximately 500 mm across the widest part (it was not perfectly round). The lens cap is 68 mm external diameter.

Then, we took a shot with Kim's Gum Boots for a human scale. You can see that this is a pretty huge Fungus.And then I thought I would try one with Lena - for a variety of scale images. Lena could not see the point of this photo - but I can. Small dog - Huge fungus.

Kim had recently harvested over 150 Pumpkins from her vegie patch. These are some which she has not yet given away.I was given a very nice Butternut Pumpkin (my favourite), which I look forward to eating. The big greenish-blue ones are Queensland Blues, and there are many JAP Pumpkins, along with two different varieties of Water Melons.

"Little Dumpies" found (at last) on Mt Gibraltar

I have been told for several years that the oddly-named "Little Dumpies" Orchids grow on The Gib. The name is not very flattering, but the flower itself is quite handsome, in a Greenhoodish kind of way. It is a relatively large flower, a little heavy in the front end of the "hood", but on a short stem. That is the reason for both the common name, and its scientific name Diplodium (or Pterostylis) truncata.

Here is the Botanical illustration from PlantNET, (from the linked site above).

Here is one growing amongst native grasses, in a fairly open position.

I have searched "The Gib" for these plants for two years, but my friends Colin and Mischa, came up from Victoria this week, and they had seen them here previously, and knew what to look for, and more importantly where and when to look for them. As with all Greenhoods, these plants go dormant, and become impossible to find. They are hard enough to find, even when in flower, because they tend to grow amongst grasses and other small plants in little rock crevices.

Note the heavy front end of the "hood" and the very fine "points" or "ears".

Colin's camera lens adds a sense of scale.

Fron the front end, you can see the blunt hood.
This specimen had nice "points" either side of the hood.

After Colin and Mischa's success in finding this Greenhood, I showed them some other leaves of other Orchids which I had been monitoring for some time, but without ever finding flowers on them. We scoured the patch of dense grass where the leaves were, and Colin found a flower. It turns out to be a large "Wasp Orchid" - Chiloglottis trilabra.

Botanical illustration courtesy of PlantNET (from the linked site above).Note the "glands" on the labellum going almost to the fine end of the Labellum
Also note the Labellum has a central "tip" which is clearly illustrated above.
Sorry the photo is so dark. I shall take a better image soon and replace these.
(Click to enlarge the images)
From the side, you can see the Lateral Sepals hang more or less straight down.
They are neither "reflexed" (as is Ch. reflexa)
nor bent forward underneath the flower, as is Ch. diphylla

I say large, compared to most of the other species of "Wasp Orchids" I have seen in the Southern Highlands, but of course, it is small compared to the Simpliglottis chlorantha, one of a related group of plants, which have now been split off from the Chiloglottis, (for very good reasons, I believe). Those larger flowered plants are better known as "bird orchids".

Interesting little creature from a Budawang pool

I wrote yesterday about the trip into the Budawangs from Tianjara Creek in search of migrating Honeyeaters. While there, at what is known as the "cross-roads", just below Kangaroo Hill, I was exploring the exposed rock shelves, while we had a cup of tea.There were many shallow pools of water, in natural depressions in the rock face. One of them (and probably all of them, if I had checked) had small black creatures swimming around in the bottom of the pool. I took a photo of one of these mysterious creatures on the sandy bottom of this little pool.At first I took them to be tiny tadpoles. But on closer examination they did not have tails.
If not Tadpoles, what were they?

Then I was able to pick one up easily. That confirmed it was not a tadpole, for it was not hard to catch, nor was it slippery. It was less than 1o mm long. It had a hard shell - looking exactly like a Mussel. But any Mussels I have seen were fixed to a rock base or jetty pole. This one moved around. What was it?Furthermore, it was obvious from watching them move that they did so by beating small protruding "legs" (for want of a better word). What sort of Shellfish could this be?
I sought assistance from some of my Aussie Nature Blogger colleagues, and "Snail" came up with the goods. Thanks to Chai for suggesting Snail as being the right person to ask.Snail replied very quickly - as follows:

• "Very interesting critter. It's a crustacean with a bivalved shell. It might be an ostracod or seed shrimp, but I'm pretty sure it's a clam shrimp. These are related to shield shrimps and water fleas. They often live in temporary water bodies. Really, really temporary ones like your rocky rain pools. Their embryos are enclosed in tough cysts that are resistant to drying out, so persist for a long time after the water's gone. Once the water returns, they continue development. Because of this, they appear very quickly after rainfall. Cysts are also spread by the wind, so these animals can colonise pools. ponds and puddles in the middle of nowhere (but in a very hit and miss way)."

Snail was exactly right. My creature is NOT a shellfish, but a form of Crustacean, a branchiopod, a member of the group known as "Clam Shrimps".

There is an Australian researcher, Brian Timms, from Newcastle University, who has done work as a Research Associate at the Australian Museum (Sydney), specialising in Clam Shrimps.

Clam Shrimp - Illustration - Richter and Timms
His illustration is of a newly described species - not my specimen,
but it is close enough to confirm that my creature is a Clam Shrimp.
Note the antennae (left) and tail (right) protruding, as in my two photos above.
The strong muscle which controls the opening and closing of the carapace
is shown in the top left of this anatomical sketch.
It is inside the carapace, so is not visible in my photographs.

Note: Scale line shown represents 1 mm

While the books do not mention the term, it seems to me that these creatures have adapted in what is known as "parallel evolution", to closely resemble a Mussel shell, despite being totally unrelated to those creatures.

Image of an as yet undescribed Clam Shrimp.
One valve of the carapace is removed to show the animal's body.
These conchostracans live in temporary water in a desert.
Photo by Brenton Knott
Source: Uni of WA, School of Animal Biology - Image Gallery

So, it turns out my little Clam Shrimps are freshwater creatures, close to prawn or a miniature Crayfish, which has evolved a bivalve shell, as a casing. It lives within this shell, and filters the water, in search of its food. The movement comes from beating of its long protruding antennae (not its legs, as one might assume).

Image of Clam Shrimp, (genus: Eulimnadia) showing body - through shell.
In this image the antennae are protruding on the right.
Source: Uni of WA, School of Animal Biology - Image Gallery

Their life cycle is pretty amazing. I have seen this area in a time of total drought, and the moss beds on the rocks were blackened and dry. There were no pools left for these creatures to live in. Where did they come from?
Wrong question.
They were probably there all the time - surviving the drought as cysts enclosing the embryos - a form of suspended animation. They were there, as "cysts" waiting for the rain to fill their temporary pools. A perfect adaptation to Australia's harsh climate on top of a sandstone plateau.

Even though this area is in a high rainfall region, the specific habitat, on an exposed rock shelf, has very little water-holding capacity. So what they do, is lay minute eggs which have a hard shell (cysts), and these cysts can survive an extended drought. Indeed the cysts can even be transported from one place to another on the wind.

These Clam Shrimps are related to "Brine Shrimps" which are known to occur in places like Uluru. Now that is a truly harsh environment for any aquatic creature. It makes the sudden appearance of my little Clam Shrimps on the Budawang Plateau as not remarkable, compared to Uluru.

They are also related to creatures which the Americans refer to as "Sea Monkeys", which are apparently sold in pet shops at the egg stage, which are used as food for aquarium fish, and as pets - for their novelty value. They have the ability to hatch and grow very quickly - exactly the key to the survival of these little creatures in a rock pool on an exposed sandstone plateau in the Budawangs.

As "Snail" said: "Hope this helps. They're really fascinating animals."
It certainly did help - I would never have though of it being a crustacean hiding inside a carapace, looking like a classic bivalve. Too tricky for me. These things make Orchids look easy to study.
Fascinating creatures indeed.

Technical Notes:
Brian Timms and Stefan Richter published a paper naming a new species of Clam Shrimp, apparently the first Australian record in the genus Eocyzicus, and it is a salt-tolerant species which is also unusual (in a group of fresh-water animals).

Within that article, they listed all known Australian species of Clam Shrimps.

• "With this new species the Australian fauna comprises 26 valid species of
  clam shrimps. We provide a list of all described species, including their known localities and a key to the genera of Australian clam shrimps."
  

Most of their records are of arid zone areas, or in the tropics. Only one species, Limnadia stanleyana is shown as having a known distribution which includes "Coogee near Port Jackson, Moore Park, Maroubra, Sydney (New South Wales). Also North Head, Sydney and Kanangra Walls, via Oberon, NSW".

That is the only species which has a distribution which includes "Sydney Sandstone country" at altitude (Kanangra Walls). That is in the Upper Blue Mountains, which is quite close (similar in habitat type) to the Budawangs. Although my record is at approximately 600 metres, which is not nearly as high as Kanangra Walls, that species would be the only one in a roughly similar habitat and geology to my report of this Clam Shrimp.

I shall attempt to contact Brian Timms, and I will provide him with documentation of this sighting. At least that way, someone who has a detailed appreciation of their biology and distribution of Australian Clam Shrimps will be able to note this report.

UPDATE
I have just spoke with Martin Schwentner, a visiting researcher at the Australian Museum. He was very interested to hear of my little Clam Shrimp. I have sent him my photos. Lets see what he can make of them. I might have to retrace my steps, to find these little creatures again.

FURTHER UPDATE:

Martin got back to me:

• I just had a look at those pictures and your blog. That looks very
  interesting.
  I have to say that identifying these crustaceans is very difficult.
  That is one of the reasons I am doing my PhD on this. I try to use
  molecular and morphological approaches to to be able to identify
  species (old and new ones). From the picture I would guess that it
  might be a Limnadia species, so Limadia stanleyana could be right (as
  you have guessed). Brian knows these animals better, but I doubt that
  he will be able to name the species just by the photo.
  
  It would be great if you could send me the coordinates.

EVEN FURTHER UPDATE

Late on Wednesday afternoon (just on dark) I stopped at the Budderoo Plateau Track, and realised there were pools beside the track, with sandy bottoms (over sandstone rock shelves) - just like where I had found my first Clam Shrimps, out at the Budawangs. I looked and sure enough there were Clam shrimps here too. Great. This place is a mere 10 minutes down the road from Robertson - much easier to find them there than a full day trip out to the Budawangs. I will also report this locality to the Clam Shrimp specialists.

Migrating Honeyeaters feeding in the Budawangs.

Last weekend I went in search of the migrating Honeyeaters from the tall wet Eucalypt forests of Canberra's ranges, and the High Country to the south.

As a kid (in the 1960s) I assisted my father, Steve Wilson, and many other volunteers to band migrating Honeyeaters at Pine Island. That is a point on the Murrumbidgee River, south from Canberra where a line of trees follows the River. There are many Grevillea plants which flower at this time of year, along the sandy river banks. So, the Honeyeaters could follow the line of trees, for cover and for resting points, and top up with their favourite high-energy food source along the route. For several years (in autumn and winter), we also banded many Honeyeaters at Tianjara Falls, on the road from Braidwood to Nowra. That stopped after the a huge fire in the mid 1960s burnt out the entire area from behind Marulan, right through the lower reaches of the Shoalhaven to Tomerong, near Jervis Bay.

The odd thing about the migratory route of these birds (Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and White-naped Honeyeaters, and some Silvereyes and stray birds of other species) is that nobody really knew where they were going.

We had assumed (from northern hemisphere models inverted) that southern birds migrate north in winter, but that is a simplistic generalisation. Around Canberra, Max Murn demonstrated that the Honeyeaters went south-east, at least as far along the Murrumbidgee as Angle Crossing. From there they could follow through timbered country to cross to the east behind Captains Flat, and then to Braidwood. But beyond that, where were they going?

Having moved to Robertson, about 6 years ago, I became aware that I was living on a migration route for the same species of birds. And I knew from talking to the late Mrs Crowe, that many of the Honeyeaters migrated past her area at Berrima. Of course, where she was is just on the edge of Sydney Sandstone country, the home of many sweet-nectar producing plants such as the various Banksias and the Lambertia formosa ("Mountain Devil"). So, I knew that there is a wide band of migration tracks for these birds through the Southern Highlands.

Last year I went into the Budawangs for the first time, and ended up at Tianjara Falls. Immediately it was apparent that the Banksias were fully restored, and that the Honeyeaters were there.

So, after Mrs Crowe's death last week, Elizabeth Compston, of the Canberra Ornithologists Group, and I went out to the edge of the Upper Kangaroo Valley, at Mannings Lookout. It is a place where I knew that the Banksia ericifolia would be in flower. Sure enough it was, and there were a few Honeyeaters present, despite the late afternoon timing of our visit.

We decided to plan a trip to Tianjara Falls and the Budawangs, so I could attempt to show Elizabeth that there is a huge area of heath and Banksia country, which is a magnet for the migratory Honeyeaters.

This is very definitely 4WD territory only, as the road had many deep ruts and also long pools of water which needed good clearance and 4WD traction to get through
(Deep Sand + Water = Mud).

I can now confess that it was all a bit hair-raising, really. Two 4WD vehicles with long tow-ropes or winches would have been better preparation for this trip, but we made it successfully. I was quite pleased to know that there were a number of motor cyclists out there, who at least could have helped raise an alarm if we had needed it. But we didn't. My little Daihatsu Feroza short-wheel base 4WD proved it self as trustworthy, and adequate for the task.

Heathland on the Budawang Plateau

And so, on Sunday, Elizabeth and Bill Compston and I met at Tianjara Falls.We went south into the Budawangs, along the Twelve Mile Road. This area is the north-eastern section of the Budawangs. Click to enlarge the map.Technically, the Tianjara Creek is part of the Shoalhaven Valley system, but there is no marked divide between the Clyde Valley to the south and the Shoalhaven system to the north.

Looking South from Mt Tianjara to Pigeonhouse Mtn.
Low heath shrubbery, with Banksias and Hakeas, and some Mallee Eucalypts.
A vast Honeyeater habitat - seldom disturbed by people.

There must be a boundary, obviously, in terms of which way the creeks flow. But in terms of the habitat, it is pretty much of a continuum - low, open heath country interspersed with Stringbark forest on the sides of small hills, where the soil is deep enough to support tree cover.

In patches, there are exposed rock shelves which support nothing more than low heath plants, a mere 30 cm high. This is especially obvious at a point just south of Kangaroo Hill, where two roads meet, from where one can make a round trip, returning to Tianjara Falls via the Tianjara Fire Trail (on the left). Watch out for deeply rutted gutters in the road. The point of this long-winded explanation is that as soon as we left the Nowra-Braidwood Road, not far from Tianjara Falls, we found ourselves in Banksia shrubbery, and there were lots of Honeyeaters seen, flitting across the road, and on occasions, flying down and bathing in puddles in the road. It immediately became obvious that it would be impossible to attempt a census of these birds, as we drove along some 30 Kms of roads and tracks. In some places there were no Honeyeaters, or few. But frequently we would see and hear birds, lots of them, around us.

Where there were isolated trees in the heathland shrubbery, it was common to see small migratory flocks moving along, "leapfrogging" from tree to tree. Mostly these birds were Yellow-faced Honeyeaters. But we did see many Red Wattlebirds as well - sometimes calling from deep cover, obviously in feeding mode. Other times, we saw them flying in their silent groups, typical of migrating Wattlebirds.

In some wet gullies, especially, we saw and heard New Holland Honeyeaters. And in one area of exposed heathland, we heard (and Elizabeth and Bill saw) Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters. Their soft, melodic liquid sounding call was quite distinctive. I had not seen that species for over 30 years, so I was tickled pink to find them (even if I didn't see them clearly).

We also saw several large groups of Silvereyes, in patches of Eucalypt foreast, with Banksia understorey. A few Brush Wattlebirds were seen, but not nearly as many as the Red Wattlebirds. We also saw a solitary Nankeen Kestrel, out over the heathland. Several parties of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. Grey Shrike Thrushes were seen several times. Spinebills were abundant.

In a period of over 3 hours I estimate we saw between five and seven hundred Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, but with such a vast habitat available to these birds, I confidently estimate that there must have been several thousand Honeyeaters in this corner of the Budawangs.

From the Tianjara area, the birds could move east towards the Jervis Bay area, where there is a huge amount of suitable autumn habitat available to them. Alternatively, they can move north, around the rim of the huge Shoalhaven Valley and Kangaroo Valley, all the way to Carrington Falls, while staying within easy reach of suitable habitat. If they do move north to Robertson (and I see them regularly here, passing through), they only have to cross an 8 Km line of unsuitable habitat of Cool Temperate Rainforest, before they find the huge area of suitable habitat in the Woronora Plateau.

Vale Mrs Crowe, a remarkable woman.

Yesterday I was fortunate to join with the Crowe family, and friends to farewell Mrs Isobel Crowe, late of Berrima.

I first met Mr and Mrs Crowe, when, as a child, my family would call in to visit them at their Berrrima Bridge Nursery, down the end of a funny little road beyond the main Park in Berrima. At least that is how it always seemed to me, then.

My father was a plants man, and he and Claude Crowe were two of a kind. They both spoke "plant". Mrs Crowe was always the gentle and gracious hostess, on our visits, offering us cups of tea, with scones and jam. I remember the seasonal jams, especially the Blackberry Jam, Crabapple Jelly and my particular favourite, Fig Jam.

Many years later, after I moved to Robertson, I decided to call in on Mrs Crowe, one day when over near Berrima. I found the house, and knocked apprehensively on the door, not even knowing if Mr or Mrs Crowe were still alive, or living there. A little old lady came to the door, and I introduced myself - by name only. Straight away she opened the door, asked me in, and said "And how are Steve and Nonie?" (my parents). I was staggered. Here was I, an adult who had met this lady last when I was but a teenager, being welcomed as a long lost friend.

We talked about her family - Mr Crowe had died a few years before - and then we talked about my family, and plants and birds, and my child, Zoe, and my dog. We talked about where I was going to build my new house, in Robertson, and she advised me about the soil, and types of plants which would do well there. What a lovely welcome to the Southern Highlands!

We also did discussed rare Native Plants, for, over the years, she had collected many specimens of rare plants especially from East Berrima, and had sent them to the Herbarium in Sydney for identification, and to add to the Herbarium collection.

It was during such discussions I learnt that Mrs Crowe had been one of the first females to be trained as a Horticulturalist. Indeed while Mr Crowe had had great knowledge of plants, and particularly plant propagation, it was Mrs Crowe who had the formal training, and could identify plants from keys in the Botanical reference books, etc. She was proud to have been a ground-breaker, back in those days.

We talked of my interest in Tree Peonies, and she showed me some of these plants which Mr Crowe had collected and grown. Unfortunately, they were very old and weak plants now, growing in near total shade, under the enormous Cypress trees which had been planted so long ago as wind breaks, but which were now totally over-growing the house and garden. Still, it was great fun to potter around the yard, and ask about the plants. For example, the old varieties of Camellias which they grew are seldom available now, such as the old "Red Waratah" Camellia variety (Camellia japonica "Speciosissima"), which Mr Crowe had collected from the original Macarthur family's plants at Camden Park. A living piece of botanical history.

Every Autumn I would get a few phone calls from Mrs Crowe, asking me: "Are the Honeyeaters moving through yet?" It was in her capacity as an observer of birds that I mostly dealt with Mrs Crowe, in recent years.

Last week I received a call from Elizabeth Compston, from Canberra saying that she was coming up to visit Mrs Crowe, and then she would like to come over and meet me. We have exchanged many emails over the years, about Honeyeater migrations, as members of the Canberra Ornithologists Group. Anyway, arrangements were made for Elizabeth to visit Mrs Crowe in the morning and come over to Robertson at lunch time. She had known Mrs Crowe was not well, but then she heard that Mrs Crowe had been admitted to hospital. I got a call from Elizabeth at 10:00am that morning to say that Mrs Crowe had died during the night. She was distraught that she had missed out on seeing her friend, Mrs Crowe, by just a few hours. The family said yesterday that Mrs Crowe had been noting Honeyeater movements in her diary, right to the end, even over the Easter Weekend.

Noel Crowe, her son, gave the Eulogy at the service which was held in Leppington yesterday. I asked why it was being held there, despite Mrs Crowe having devotedly served as Verger and Warden at Holy Trinity Church, Berrima for half a lifetime. I learnt to my sadness, that the Holy Trinity Church had been closed in recent years, apparently against the wishes of the local community. This had apparently occurred since the appointment of a new Minister to the Parish. Archbishop Jensen had imposed his will on the parish, and appointed someone who the local community had previously rejected when considering candidates. The new Minister then went ahead and closed this historic church, thus alienating the local parish community.

Is this yet another success story for Archbishop Jensen's rule of the Sydney Diocese? I will let you decide.

I stress that the query is based upon my own understanding of the event. There may well be another perspective on these event. But I do know that the Berrima community has been damaged by these events.

***** ***** ***** *****

Anyway - let's move to happier thoughts. Noel's Eulogy included various other stories about Mrs Crowe, which are illustrated in the collage of images, below.
I especially liked the story of Mrs Crowe sitting at the wheel of the 1936 Singer"Bantam", drophead. It seems one of Mrs Crowe's first jobs was with a car company. She posed for the photo, but yet she never drove a car in her life. In discussions later in the day, it emerged later in the day that she was a very good driving "instructor", or at least a great source of advice to other persons doing the driving.

Isobel Florence Crowe (nee Tacon) as born at Cobram, Victoria. She was the daughter of a Minister, the Rev. Russell Tacon and Florence. The family moved around, eventually coming to NSW at Picton, where Isobel went to Picton High School. The family moved to Botany and then Bondi junction, and Isobel completed her schooling at Sydney Girls High School. She then went to the Metropolitan Business College.

Isobel was then accepted for training in horticulture at the "Sydney Tech", as one of the first women students. After graduating Isobel started work at Anderson Seeds Pty. Ltd., Summer Hill, N.S.W. It was there that she met a young technician working with that company, Claude Crowe.

During World War II the Crowes worked on strategic seed collection and storage - the "Mother Seeds" collection, which were important food crop seeds to be safely stored in event of possible invasion of Australia. It sounds a long way removed from the world of 2009, but it was obviously great training for a young couple who went on to run the pre-eminent Nursery in the Southern Highlands. Claude Crowe worked with the local resident and prominent businessman Sir Cecil Hoskins, who was responsible for granting the land along the old Hume Highway near Berrima which Claude Crowe planted as Memorial Driveway plantations. To this day, these Memorial plantations contain a superb collection of interesting trees, notably large fruited forms of Rowans and Crab Apples, and many unusual conifers. A Google Search under the name of Claude Crowe reveals many historic gardens in the Southern Highlands, the Monaro and the Blue Mountains planted by Mr Crowe. His name is well recorded by the Australian Garden History Society and the Historic Houses Trust.

One other photograph of note (in the collage set above) is the one of Mrs Crowe ringing the bell at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Berrima. Note the hat, (which the Reverend Ian Vickery, a former minister at Holy Trinity) - who performed the Service - referred to as her "signature hat". This reinforces the contribution which Mrs Crowe made to the local Church community.

She was also remembered as a contributor to the Boy Scouts Association, and Red Cross, and the Berrima District Historical Society.