Tidbinbilla Visit: July 2020

[calissa]

My sister and I went for a hike through Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve today.

It was not the ideal outing. Today was the last day of the school holidays and there were a lot of people around. Even though we took the Lyrebird trail--which is a bit of a steep climb in places and generally one of the less frequented areas of the place--there were more people than I've ever seen. As we parked, a convoy of SUVs showed up, disgorging a group of a dozen mums in activewear with babies strapped to their chests. They were very polite and considerate when they passed us on the trail (twice), and I admired their fitness. They did not set a slow pace.

The second group was less delightful: two mums with half a dozen teens and tweens, most of whom were very noisy and disrespectful of the landscape. We'd heard a lyrebird calling towards the start of our hike, but he made himself scarce once the racket started, much to the disappointment of the retiree twitcher who'd come out specifically to spot the lyrebird.

While we saw no sign of the lyrebird, my sister and I did come across a pilotbird towards the end of our hike, when things had quietened down. The little creature was very bold, hopping towards us without fear. They're rumoured to follow lyrebirds, eating the bugs the bigger birds flush out. We had no idea what it was until we got home.

It wasn't wet enough for there to be too many mushrooms, but there was plenty of moss and lichens. Here are a few of my less blurry photos.

Comments

[onewhitecrow]

Alas for all the crowds, but what magnificent bracket fungus! Are the green elfcuppy things native? I hope you know you are Good At photography now - that with adverse conditions like all that you could still make a patch of moss (lichen?) glow like an artist who'd drawn it all out and painted it with a brush.

[calissa]

Are the green elfcuppy things native?

I'm not entirely sure. It appears to be of the cladonia genus, which Wikipedia informs me is a primary food source for reindeer and caribou. However, I need to hunt down a proper field guide on local lichens and mosses.

And thank you. Green can be such a hard colour to photograph accurately, so I was particularly pleased with how that first photo turned out.

[starlightmagpie]

Your photos are stunning!

As for crowds, yeah, I hear you on that one. I'm always a complete misanthrope when out and about, but there seem to be so many more people getting outside right now. Which on the one hand is good - the more people who connect with nature, the more who will want to protect it, in theory - but the mess :( It's awful.

I'm sorry your hike was somewhat spoilt, but glad you spotted a pilotbird.

[calissa]

Thank you! I still have a lot to learn.

My sister and I have made a standing date to head out to some kind of green space once a month to take photos. So, we should have plenty of more peaceful opportunities in the future.