Back to Muogamarra

Field Trip

For fathers day day this year the family took a trip back to Muogamarra Nature Reserve. Muogamarra is located about an hour north of Sydney just off the old Pacific highway past Cowan. Visiting is a bit of a treat as the reserve is only open to the public for 6 weeks per year. It’s closed at other times to protect sensitive natural and cultural heritage areas.

It rained a bit on the way up but by the time we got there it had cleared. much better than last year. We opted to do the point loop trail. Even though we’d done it before it was the best suited for the time we had. Also one of the Nation Parks and Wildlife ladies said that the wildflowers were especially stunning this year and could not be missed! The point loop is an easy 2km loop with a lookout over the Hawkesbury half  way along.

The flowers didn’t disappoint, there were seas of yellow bush peas and pink wax flowers. Also a stunning Waratah by the side of the trail, a much better specimen than the one we saw last year.

Waratah growing by the side of the trail.
Pink wax flowers. Good to be able to identify them after the post a few weeks ago

We had a packed lunch at the lookout, the view was great, it looks north towards the Hawkesbury over an ancient maar volcano. It would have been a relaxing if it wasn’t for the kids antagonizing each other, running toward the cliff edge and destroying and hacking at the bush in front of the Nation Parks staff.

At the lookout at Muogamarra

Lunch at the lookout

Next year I’d really like to take the crater walk down into the old volcano, it’s a longer walk but I’m sure the family could do it, we just need to get away early in the morning.

Spitfire Caterpillar

Animals, , , , ,

Perga dorsalis

First up it’s not a caterpillar, it totally looks like one but it’s not! It took a bit of searching to find it’s actually a Steel Blue Sawfly Larvae. Sawflys are large flying insects that are closely related to wasps. Caterpillars on the other hand are the larvae of butterflies and moths. The Steel Blue Sawfly Larvae is commonly known as a “spitfire” or “spitfire caterpillar”.

A sawfly larvae, AKA spitfire, on my hand. Just after the photo it had a big “spit” of yucky yellow fluid onto my hand

I found this one out the back while putting the clothes on the line. It was crawling on the grass near a small hole that looked like it had been recently dug by a bandicoot. Spitfires are distinctive looking, quite a chunky things growing up to 8cm long. Their bodies are black and covered by sparse tufts of short white hairs. They have six large distinctive legs near the front of their body, this gives the larvae the appearance of having a long tail. The tip of the tail is yellow.

Steel blue sawfly larvae
Spitfire head and legs. The hairs are softer than they look.

The Spitfire name comes from the larvaes behaviour of excreting a smelly yellow liquid from it’s mouth as a defence when disturbed. Growing up we were always told that it would burn and cause an irritating “bite”, this one had a spit in my hand when I picked it up and it didn’t do anything. It was pretty yuck though, I wiped it off.

Spitfires like to clump together in groups during the day, presumably for protection, then at night they venture out alone to feed. By coincidence I’d observed a clump of them on a small shrub only 2 weekends ago while visiting Leura in the Blue Mountains. I took a photo because it looked interesting but at the time I didn’t know what they were.

Spitfire clump. They clump together during the day for protection then split up at night to feed.

Spitfires are active during late winter and spring, after which they burrow into the soil to make a cocoon and pupate. They can remain in the soil for two or three years before emerging as an adult saw fly. I think the one I found was trying to bury itself or had just been dug up. I had no idea what it was at the time, so after picking it up and taking the photos I placed it in a Banksia tree. It would have been double pissed at that because they only eat eucalyptus leaves! Oh well, hope it found it’s way back down to the ground.

unhappy spitfire caterpillar
Look at the size of those legs! It was arching it’s back, I don’t think it was happy

I couldn’t find much information of where they live but it looks like they are considered to be an Australian native. From the various sites and Atlas of Living Australia occurrences they are at least found in Eastern Australia from Brisbane in the north down through Victoria in the south

Resources and References

Coral Lichen

Lichen, ,

Cladia retipora

A few months ago I took the boys for a ride on the center track in Ku-ring-gai National Park. We all had a great time on the way out and a good play on a large sandstone pavement that crosses the path. They were pretty tired by then, the trip back wasn’t as happy! Even though it’s quite close to the local bush there were many plants that I’ve not seen in Garigal.

I found something that was completely unfamiliar, have a look at the photo:

Coral Lichen – Key for scale.

It was just by the side of the path on an exposed ridge top. You can see by the car key it was quite small, it had a networked branching structure that looked like it was made from an open sponge like material with holes all through it. It was tough to identify, I thought it was either a lichen or a fungus, it turned out to be a lichen, which is actually a symbiosis of a fungus and an algae! This one is a Cladia retipora, known as Coral Lichen. It’s been difficult to find detailed information but it appears it’s a common lichen that is found in Australia from Cairns in North Queensland following the coast south and around to Adelaide, with extensive records all through Tasmania. It’s also been recorded on the West Australian coast near Perth.

Coral Lichen close up
Happy times on pavement. It didn’t last.

Resources and References

Sydney Boronia

Plants, ,

Boronia ledifolia

“The hardiest and also the earliest flowering of the local species” – NPOS p.116

Tom was the only one that had been home all Sunday, by late afternoon he had a bad case of cabin fever and demanded to go on a bushwalk, and one he’d never been on before. We took a path that joins the usual route, but past where we normally finish, then ended up doing the river loop in reverse. A few different wild flowers were in bloom, it really felt like the start of spring. I took pictures of these small purple flowers, I had a hunch they were a species of Boronia and I was right. Boronia is another one of those plants that everyone seems to be familiar with except me.

This particular one is a Boronia ledifolia, commonly known as Sydney Boronia. It’s a common plant, abundant in heath and woodland and also the earliest flowering of the local Boronias. The plant itself is small only growing to 1m in height. it’s flowers are four petalled and a sticking pink in colour, approximately 4cm across. Leaves are thin with a waxy shine, deep green in colour with pots and recurved margins.

Sydney Boronia – The first local Boronia to flower. When you see this then spring is on the way
Sydney Boronia
Shorts and t-shirt, must be getting warmer

Resources and references