Thirlmere Lakes visit yesterday

The Thirlmere Lakes are looking worse than ever. We found some Japanese visitors wandering around in the bush, presumably looking for the Lakes.

But Kirsten and I were looking for Orchids and we found lots of them.
We were barely in the gate on Slades Road when we spotted out first colonies of them. I had Acianthus (just about finished) and Pterostylis nutans on my side of the road, and Kirsten was getting excited about a really good colony of the tiny Trim Greenhoods (Taurantha concinna) on her side of the road. 


We saw hundreds of the Trim Greenhoods along the roadside, especially down beyond the 4th dry lake.


The Wattles were spectacular, the birds were singing, and it was a good day to be out and about.

Hardenbergia violacea

Trim Greenhoods were very common along the road
which runs the full length

of the Thirlmere Lakes National Park.

Trim Greenhood (Taurantha concinna) from rear.

Trim Greenhood - note the forked labellum. (Click to enlarge)

Grevillea arenaria subsp. arenaria (as best as I can work out)

Nodding Greenhood (Pterostylis nutans)

Gompholobium grandiflorum

Pixie Caps (a few still in flower) - Acianthus fornicatus

A roadside scene - Wattles lining the track

Sydney Blue Gum in Blue Gum Creek

 Strange but beautiful growth on a leaf of a native plant.

Deformed growth on leaf. Possibly "galls"? Very pretty, though

Corybas (Corysanthes) Orchids at Thirlmere and Jervis Bay

I wish to show you some Orchids I photographed yesterday at Thirlmere Lakes National Park.


Before showing you the Orchids, though, I must show this photo. It is a composite of a snap I took yesterday, and one that a friend of mine, Angela, took of a family picnic at Thirlmere Lakes in early 1993 (dated by the age of the children).

You need to click on the image to enlarge it. The point of comparison is that what once was a stone wall at the lake edge, is now a wall some 75 metres distant from the Lake. There are Wattles and other shrubs, about 5 metres tall, growing in the dry sand where the lake has receded. Its level has dropped approximately 20 metres. This is a national disgrace.


However, the area is still providing good Orchid habitat. These are Corysanthes fimbriata (formerly Corybas). The Corybas group are known generally as "Helmet Orchids" for reasons which will become apparent as you read on.

Funny little things, they resemble grapes dropped on the forest floor. They are about that size too, 

These were in the wettest part of the Thirlmere Lakes NP, close to the Blue Gum Creek section (about as far as one can go, except on foot). Technically, at this point one is in the Nattai National Park, part of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. In reality, we are still within the Thirlmere area - but there is a definite habitat change in this "far end" of the park. These Orchids were growing in deep leaf litter, in a wet gully, under tall Eucalypts, with some rainforest trees around as well.

Corysanthes fimbriata - face on.

Corysanthes fimbriata -note speckled hood, and fringe visible

Corysanthes fimbriata - viewed just off to the side

Needless to say, everything about the Corybas tribe of orchids involves lying down on the forest floor, to get any decent sort of shots. Fortunately the forest was dry, and the Leeches were all asleep (as befits their Winter Solstice mode), I would hate to do this in summer.


For comparison, here are some related plants, seen at Jervis Bay the week before.

The two sites are similar in one respect. Both are within Sandstone habitats, with deep grey sandy soil. The Jervis Bay site (for the following flowers) is coastal, south from Nowra, the Thirlmere Lakes site is in the heart of the southern "Sydney Basin", close to the Warragamba catchment (see linked "Location" map at the very end of this post - in the red Blogger footnotes).


You can see the Corybas family resemblance. A rounded leaf, flat on the ground, with a funny little hooded flower on a very short stem. Unlike some Corybas species, the flowers of both today's species are open to the outside world, because they are angled back, leaving easy access for pollinators.

These plants are Corysanthes pruinosa

Corysanthes pruinosa - seen from the rear top view.

Note the silvery grey tops of the flowers. whereas the previous ones were dark red and spotty, and very dark inside the flower. Both are heavily fringed around the outside edge of the flower (lower lip).

Corysanthes pruinosa - my best front on view

Corysanthes pruinosa - looking like little spotted "Marbles" on the ground. 

The trick with these plants is to look for their leaves - on the ground. Find them, and then look closely for the flowers. See one, you might realise there are many around.


Unfortunately, my flash unit ran out of battery power at this point and it was way too far to walk back to the car to get spares. So this is the best I can offer.

You'll get the point, however.

I have called these the "Three Wise Monkey" Orchids.

Three Wise Monkey Orchids - Corybas pruinosa.

Perfect grouping.

Completely natural.

Aquifers and Dentures - something to chew on

Cartoon by Matthew Martin in the Sydney Morning Herald

Miss Eagle back guest blogging behind Denis's back.  I spoke to him on the phone a few minutes ago and he told me that he and our friend Caroline Graham had made Page 3 in The Sydney Morning Herald to-day.  So if you are a German who lost your false teeth while on holidays in New South Wales, please get in touch.

FOOTNOTE (DJW 9 June 2011)

Thanks to Brigid for posting this, covering for me during in my "sick leave".

After fielding questions from afar, I finally was asked to send information to the German editor of Dental Tribune International. Of course. That makes sense.

This is what is meant by "going viral" on the Internet.

We cannot get any coverage of the World Heritage Lakes drying up, but persuade a journalist to write a story about a pair fo 30 year old False Teeth and the story goes around the world.

Blogger back up again. Brief post from Thirlmere Lakes, NSW

You may have seen Martin's report of problems with Blogger.
Earlier on tonight it was simply unaccessible at all. But its up and running again. Let's be grateful for small mercies. After all, we don't pay to use it (at least I don't) nor do I try to make others pay via "Adsense".

Am I a dreamer, or can we keep Blogger operating and keep it free?
If nothing else, it gives great kudos to Google. Not sure they count kudos points as readily as they count dollars.

Lets move on.

On Monday this week I went to inspect Thirlmere Lakes again. The main two lakes are both now lower than I have ever seen. The last lake in the system was made more interesting by speaking with members of the family who ran the place for more than 50 years. I inspected the lake, which has previously had as much as 30 feet of water in it. David demonstrated how he recalled swimming with his head just out of water, and being able to touch his toes on this old tree trunk (then submerged). Here he is trying to demonstrate the height of the water level he remembers from his childhood.

Click on image to see details

When I was there, several days ago, the lake was totally dry,
(It has been for two years at least, if not more).
The lake had just one soak hole, scratched out by animals,
in search of a few mouthfuls of water to drink.

This sombre spectacle was made somewhat funny by finding a set
of False Teeth (upper mandible). David said the family reported a
friend having lost his teeth when "duck diving" in the lake.
Here they are.

and an old Tonka Truck model of a Bulldozer,

and several home made oars.
Proof of the previous existence of water in this now dry lake.

Of more usual interest value to me and readers of this Blog, is this image of Chiloglottis diphylla.

Click on image to see details

Chiloglottis diphylla
note the rolled edges of the labellum
and the incomplete coverage of glands on the labellum.

It is the first of this species which I have ever identified. (I may have seen it before, but not recognised it for what it is.) I confess to assuming, at first that it was Chiloglottis trilabra, but after discussing it with Alan Stephenson, and checking all my images carefully I am sure it is "diphylla" because of the "rounded shoulders" of the labellum (they fold under slightly at each edge). That and the fact that the insectiform calli (glands) do not go right to the tip of the labellum, whereas Ch. trilabra has calli which run in a tapering, narrow line, right to the tip of the labellum.

Chiloglottis diphylla - side view.

Click on image to see details

Note the "clubs" (petals) hanging straight below the labellum
not reflexed as in Chiloglottis reflexa.

My colleagues Colin and Mischa Rowan have shown this species, also photographed at Thirlmere Lakes, with photos taken back in 2008. They also have some interesting colour variants of the same species. Mine were all reddish, not greenish in the base colour, as Colin and Mischa's plants were.

Here is another plant of the same species
I also found at Thirlmere Lakes.

Click on image to see details

And large leaves of Chiloglottis diphylla on the ground.

The specific name ("diphylla") is a bit silly, because all Chiloglottis (that I have seen) have two leaves - always opposite, or nearly so. If one were to find a single leafed form, that would almost certainly be a damaged specimen. But I have never seen a triple or quadruple leaf set.

Corunastylis pumila - yet another tiny Orchid.

What is it with tiny Orchids?

Many small Orchids grow as part of a large mat of many plants, on rocks. I am thinking of the Bulbophyllum genus in particular.


But this tiny Corunastylis pumila grows as a separate (individual) free-standing plant. 

It is barely two inches (actually 56mm) tall. 

There is always a risk of parallax error in photos like this, 

unless I have got right down flat on the ground. 

I didn't quite get down that far. 

You can forgive some minor room for error, I trust. 

It is a very small plant. 

Needless to say, it is hard to see, and even harder to photograph well. 

With my camera I have no "preview screen" 

so I have to get down and look through the eye piece.

(Note for Kirsten: Fortunately there were no Bull Ants around).

(Note for Colin - No Leeches, either.)

Corunastylis pumila - at 56 mm it warrant the name "pumila".

About as small as last week's related plant - Corunastylis densa. There were about 25 of these plants growing in a moist moss bed over shallow sandy soil out near the quarry at Carrington Falls. That sounds like a lot of Orchids. Spread out over the area of an average suburban house block, let me tell you - there is  a lot of space between these plants.

Corunastylis pumila. David Jones's book shows an all  green form.

David Jones's book shows only the all green form of this Orchid. But Colin and Mischa Rowan have photos of plants looking exactly like this. Alan Stephenson told me the green form is actually the "type form" (from which the plant was described), but that the more common form is the one I have come across.

You can see clearly that the tip of the labellum sweeps upwards.

It is like a mini-ski jump ramp (ironic, given its minute size).
The tip of the leaf stem is visible.

Corunastylis pumila - the form with the red mark at the top of the flower.

The flower on the lower right is facing the camera directly.

The yellowish section is the top of the labellum.

On either side are the petals - each with a tiny white gland on the tip.

The labellum is the barely visible "boat-shaped" green organ. 

It is held very close to the stem.

You can see the shape of the flower more clearly in the next image.

The lower flower is facing the camera directly. Click to enlarge,

Look at the flower on the left.

The red section is the top of the flower,

Then the lateral sepal is the largest organ, (shielding the column)

Next down is the petal, and below that

is the labellum. 

The plant looks like it has "tucked its chin in" (as it were).

Corunastylis pumila - side view.

Note in the image above that the leaf goes higher than the flower spike.
That is contrary to Jones' description.
He says the leaf ends below the flowers.

Just shows the plants do not always read the instruction manual!


In the next image, you can see inside the flower,
as a result of me pushing the flowers back on an angle
(very gently I might say).

The column is visible, with the pollinia showing, (now).

Corunastylis pumila - Pollinia visible inside the flower.

Click to enlarge the image.

Time for me to let off steam:

After a frustrating day the day before,
having travelled as far afield as Thirlmere Lakes,
looking for Orchids and finding only two plants of one species,
it was gratifying to find lots of Orchids.
And this just near Carrington Falls, a few kilometres from Robertson.
Fishermen have a saying for this about novices always
trying to cast to the far side of the river,
when the fish are just under the river bank beneath your feet.

A Miracle for Thirlmere Lakes?

I went to Warragamba Dam today, for the 50th anniversary celebrations.


While I was there, I was interested to see that someone who apparently remembered swimming at Thirlmere Lakes, had created an impromptu shrine to Saint Mary of the Cross. Very timely, on the day of her canonisation.


It was stuck on the fence surrounding the main building at Warragamba Dam. Presumably some children had added the native Bottlebrush flowers.

Thirlmere Lakes are in trouble

This is my contribution to the Blog Action Day on the theme of Water .

While I am not campaigning on clean drinking water (in this blog), I cannot resist pointing out that the UNESCO recognised World Heritage Lakes are drying out (dying) right under the noses of people who are pretending that it is simply caused by "The Drought". Rubbish.
I have done the stats on the local rainfall since the 1880s and yes it has been dry, but the lakes are drying out now, after good rain over the last 3 years, and especially over the last few months. But the levels are dropping, and dropping fast.

Hence this is my contribution to Blog Action Day. I wish to point out what is happening to World Heritage listed lakes at Thirlmere. in the Lower Blue Mountains National Park.

Governments, both State and Federal are ignoring this issue.

I shall personally write to the relevant Authorities TODAY.

*****

The Thirlmere Lakes are in trouble. They are drying out.

An official inspection of Thirlmere Lakes
Cate Faehrmann MLC and
Rivers SOS representatives Caroline Graham and Julie Sheppard

and Clr Cassandra Twarloh of the Wollondilly Shire Council. People seem to not know why the Thirlmere Lakes are drying out, but coincidentally, the local colliery (see Map linked here) is pumping 4 Megalitres per day of water into the Bargo River. That groundwater is coming from an aquifer somewhere close to the Thirlmere Lakes. So it seems highly likely to me that the Tahmoor Colliery is having an impact on the Thirlmere Lakes.

My brother, the engineer has done the sums for me, to convert 4 megalitres into a unit we can all get out heads around - Olympic Swimming pools.

No more swimming here
- not for a while, anyway.
Sue found a lost Flipper out in the mud.

FINA has set the standard size for Olympic Swimming Pools. At 50 metres long, 25 metres wide and 2 metres deep (the official configuration) such a pool holds 2.5 Megalitres (2,500,000 L).

1. So, the Tahmoor Colliery pumps take 15 Hours to pump an Olympic pool dry.
2. They pump out the equivalent of 1.6 official-sized Olympic swimming pools per day .
3. In the course of a year, they pump out the equivalent of 584 official-sized Olympic swimming pools.

No wonder the Thirlmere Lakes are drying out.

The irony is that these Lakes are part of the Blue Mountains World Heritage area.That means the Federal Government is answerable to UNESCO for the safe management of these unique Lakes.

Orchids of Thirlmere Lakes

There were hundreds of "Caladenia-type" Ground Orchids in flower at Thirlmere Lakes, near Picton.

This is a wonderful natural area, famous for its Lakes, but it is equally wonderful as the home of many beautiful Orchids.

These are all definitely of the Petalochilus genus, as the dorsal sepal is clearly erect. Recent postings of Stegostyla species (with purple lips) are all of strongly hooded flowers.

I am going out on a limb here, with the names of these Orchids, but I will go conservatively, and proclaim most of them to be variants of the same species - Petalochilus catenatus, despite the fact that they vary from white, to palest pink, through to mid pink.

Several are so strongly marked that I believe that I believe they are clearly Petalochilus carneus.

My whitest plant is a near-perfect match for the one illustrated on the PlantNET site.

A white form of Pet catenatusThis is a slight variant - with a pink tip of the column.

A probable Pet. carneus - with red marks on labellum.

A classic Pet. carneus - with red marks on labellum,
and red marks inside the column.

A strong pink Petalochilus, with a green column and white labellum

Presumably a pink variant of Petalochilus catenatus.

With the markings inside the flower

this is presumably Pet carneus.This is the "odd man out".
It is nearly pure white, with a green top of the column.
But the inside of the column is dark red.
If this plant were flowering in June, not October,
I would call it Petalochilus pictus.

The same plant viewed from the side.

Lovely pair of Pet. catenatus

Glossodia major

Here is the matching partner to yesterday's blog.
Glossodia major - the Waxlip Orchid.


Forgive this brief Blog posting, but I am rushing out for a while. But I could not resist matching yesterday's posting with this plant I found two weeks ago at Thirlmere Lakes (where I am going as soon as I finish this post).

A nice tall stem, about 20 cm high
with two flowers.
Well deserving the title "major".

Here is the flower, more or less as one sees it with the natural eye.
And here is is through the Macro Lens.
Please click on the image to see it fully.
Note the densely embossed white patch on the labellum.
It is in fact covered with very densely set fibres.
Above the Labellum there is a yellow protruding callus with two lobes
giving it a Y shaped form.
The top part of this illustration is the bright yellow object
you can see clearly in the image above (if you clicked it).

This is completely different from the two lumps
on the labellum of yesterday's plant.

I was fortunate to find this plant when the sun was dull, (behind clouds).
It can be so shiny, (reflective) in full sun that it is hard to photograph
without getting massive patches of reflected light.
Frequently one has to stand over the plant
to photograph it in one's own shadow - it can be that shiny.