North Yilliminning reserve is 22 kilometres from Narrogin on the Narrogin-Kulin Road. The road roughly follows the ancient Binneringie dyke, which has been the catchment divide between the Hotham and Blackwood rivers for  hundreds of millions of years.
​Coming from Narrogin prepare to turn off into a rest bay under Red Morrell trees on the right, soon after passing Taylor Road. Armstrong road marks the eastern side of the reserve.

​The reserve is underlain by granite bedrock, which is mostly hidden under pale sandy, gravelly, and ironstone soils. There is only one small rock outcrop in a valley near the south west edge. 
A breakaway following the highway on the northern edge of the reserve is a contact zone between dolerite to the north (fertile York Gum farm land), and granite (sandy soils) to the south. 
Between this breakaway and a horseshoe - shaped  breakway/ridge to the south is a gently sloping upland, which has remained for millions of years as part of a major catchment divide. The old and infertile soils consist of shallow ironstone and sandy gravel with pale sandy hollows. An old vegetation map of the reserve had colourful descriptions, such as 'poor wandoo' and 'useless plants and dryandra'. The 2021 image shows the tree coverage at this time, with darker tone indicating Red Morrell and Rock Sheoak dominant areas.

This is attractive bushwalking country, but regrowth and ironstone rocks  make walking difficult and confusing for visitors. Before a 2022 fire there was a multitude of Cowslip Orchids. Litttle Pink Fairy Orchids with with Sugar, Snail greenhood, Jug, and Donkey Orchids, and a patch of Purple Enamel Orchids. Unlike many surrounding reserves there are very few spider orchids.
A very surprising discovery was numerous Cowslip/Little Pink Fairy orchid hybrids, which have flourished on these soils, and are described in ​this blog. To see them, park near the picnic table and walk up to the ridge. A narrow dead end track (which can scratch cars) on the left leads south downhill. Check the sheoak grove. Do not pick wildflowers.
Radiometric imagery colours in image 3 show general soil types. Orange-brown indicates brownish fertile York gum, jam and rock sheoak soils. Green indicates gravels. Darker colours indicate paler and deeper sand. ​
Since the devastating bushfire, rampant regrowth has created a riot of flowering shrubs and herbs which are well worth a visit, although orchid flowering will be suppressed for some years.

Images below show landscapes in the reserve before and after the fire.

Below top  Banksia attenuata deep sand area on the eastern side. No Banksia regeneration.
​Below ​Jarrah pale sand over ironstone on eastern edge. Jarrah resprouted, rapid herb and native grass growth

Red Morrell loam below breakaway. The fire was not so severe here because it had almost no understorey. It burnt the base of the trees and caused a leaf drop. Trees repsprouting and growing new leaves and vigourous understorey germination.

Wandoo plateau stony gravel woodland bounded by a breakaway to the west was completely incinerated. many burnt wandoos are resprouting and there is a germination of wattle seedlings. 

Rock Sheoak stony gravel plateau slope. This area had numerous Cowslip/ Little Pink Fairy Orchids is a degraded rock sheoak woodland. A profuse understorey flower regrowth and sheoak germination is likely to suppress orchid growth for a number of years.

Thin wandoo sheoak gravel,  sand over gravel on the upland plain. Wandoos reprouted, massive regeneration of the understorey from pre-fire situation

Grass tree group on stony gravel. Most grass trees survived and shrub understorey has been rejuvenated.

​This blog shows year by year changes at photomonitoring sites I set up after the fire.

​Greetings fellow Foxies,
A wet winter has enabled me to see the root structure of Drosera bulbosa/red-leaved sundew. I see it in water-gaining red soil areas in Foxes Lair and in moss beds on or around granite outcrops. Leaf colour varies from green to yellow and red, the latter due to nitrogen deficiency when plants are waterlogged or stressed.

Rosette sundews such as this,survive over summer as a fleshy root tuber. In winter a fleshy stem called a rhizome emerges and grows to the surface where it develops roots and leaves​. At the end of the season, the top withers and dies as nutrients are drawn back into the tuber. Daughter tubers may then be produced, as a base for new plants.
Due to their location, these plants are at risk of being washed away or snapped off by running water, which undermines them or breaks off clumps of moss containing them. A plant below, which snapped of at the surface has developed another tuber to find soil and make new roots.

Images below show plants that were washed out of the soil with roots and tuber intact. One had an emptied tuber as its resouces were used to produce a rhizome in search of soil

​Greetings fellow Foxies,
I have been wandering around Foxes Lair since about 1990 but still make new discoveries. Last year i found a single leaping spider orchid (Caladenia macrostylis). Unfortunately, this beautiful double-header is in a public spot and was picked this year, I still pondering on protection measures. It is yet another of the Foxes Lair orchids, which is an only plant or in only one spot.

​This season I stumbled upon a group of lazy spider orchids (Caladenia multiclavia) in the district. They are amongst the most ornate orchids I have seen, particularly when the sun is behind them. They are also very hard to see in their natural habitat. While very carefully placing dead branches around to protect them, I inadvertently stepped on one. Their location will remain secret as they are locally rare.

​The lazy spider orchid's insect-shaped labellum indicates that it tricks flower wasps into pollinating them, as does the dragon orchid (Caladenia Barbarossa).
Even more exciting was a find in this reserve of the Bent Spider Orchid, which is a Caladenia multiclava /Caladenia polychroma hybrid 

​​The intriguing article below tells how spider orchid species could have evolved from general insect pollination to targetting flower wasps.

The article inspired me to collect images below of spider orchid flowers that show changes in glandular calli (raised, fleshy growths on the labellum) to resemble a female flower wasp more closely.

The ultimate is the flying duck orchid. I have discovered that there is a species in the district and hope to hunt it down next year.

​Another specialist is the elbow orchid Spiculaea ciliata, which flowers on and around granite outcrops