Greetings fellow Foxies,

I have been reflecting on the recent fire, which severely burnt sections of North Yilliminning and Birdwhistle reserves.
Most plants in our bush are adapted to fire, but both reserves had been unburnt for about 50 years and were littered with dead material, which fuelled a very hot fire.
Annual plant seed on the surface or rseed etained on plants., was obliterated. Survival of seed in the soil varies with depth of burial.
Woody root plants which regrow from soil lignotubers (most eucalypts) and root suckers should survive well and resprout in the next few months.

Geophytes are fire tolerant perennial monocotyledons, which resprout from dormant underground storage organs each growing season - rhizomes, bulbs, corms and tubers.
The ability of geophytes to resprout at the break of the season enables them to outcompete annuals, and they survive hot and frequent fires. Unfortunately, many invasive weeds are geophytes, and some also have contractile roots, which draw them deeper into the soil. Introduced Guildford grass has spread through most loam and duplex soils at the expense of native annuals.
​Rhizomes are swollen underground stems, which are very common in sedges, rushes, Haemodoraceae (kangaroo paws), and  some native lilies. Depending on depth,  rhizomes provide fire resistance, however in the absence of fire, rhizomatous plants can take over from plants that depend on fire for seed germination. The image below shows the effect of a hot fire in Foxes Lair after a decade. The left side (unburnt for decades) has mainly mature rock sheoaks with a dense sedge understorey. To the right, fire has stimulated a range of shrubs to grow  from  buried seed, and has reduced sedge density.

Bulbs have a thickened stem base of modified leaves, which store nutrients. Examples include onions and introduced lilies such as daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, and Easter lily. Some Haemodorum species (bloodroots) are bulbaceous.

Corms are swollen stem bases filled with starch, which sit on the root base. These are very common in native and introduced geophytes. Natives include many lilies, sundews, and triggerplants. Some of our most aggressive introduced weeds (oxalis, freesias, watsonia) are cormous.

Tubers (swollen storage organs which form on roots and underground stems) are present on all our orchids and many native lilies, and many are bush tucker foods.
​Grass trees and zamias have above ground, fire resistant growing points called caudexes.

I will peg some spots in these reserves and see what comes up

​Greetings fellow foxies,
Harrismith reserve adjoins the township of Harrismith, 73 kilometres east of Narrogin and 55 kilometres south-east of Wickepin. . The Oasis Hotel has accommodation, lunches, drinks and snacks. With an adjoining caravan park, Harrismith is a good spot to camp overnight and enjoy the wildflowers. 

The reserve differs from others closer to Narrogin in having little woodland. It is on a broad ridge near the divide between the Swan-Avon and Blackwood River catchments.
The landscape is a lateritic gravel plain that formed millions of years ago when the climate was wetter. Unusual circular hollows were once wetlands overlying granite base-rock.
As the climate became drier, wetlands dried out and were colonised by eucalypt and sheoak trees. Lateritic heath persisted on the surrounding gravelly plain and built up a raised  doughnut shaped edge around each hollow.
Soils are mainly shallow lateritic ironstone and gravels with deeper white sandy topsoils in broad depressions. They are infertile and have poor water retention.  
It is first class kwongan heath plain. Many heath plants flower after woodland wildflowers in other reserves have finished.

The 3.5 kilometre gently sloping trail (level 2) is an easy walk, or cycle using a mountain/comfort bike. There is also a drive trail. The airport section has particularly good wildflowers but keep to the side as it is a working airstrip.
The best time to visit is from mid-August to November, with October being peak time for verticordias and other flowering shrubs. As there are few trees on this walk take water and walk at cooler times on hot days.
Ignore the small redundant sign at the trailhead that indicates three walk trails and follow the blue arrows/tall red-banded posts. Orchids flower in early/mid September, but many kwongan plants flowers later. At least 2 trips are needed to see the full wildflower spectrum.
This document contains a pictorial list of wildflowers in the reserve.

​Numbers on the diagram indicate described trail sections

Section 1 is a gently sloping gravelly track through medium to tall kwongan shrubland, which is interspersed by small rock sheoak and cypress pine trees. Check for jug orchids (Pterostylis recurva) and green spider orchids (Caladenia falcata) in September.

Section 2 starts at the picnic table where shrubland opens out at a very broad yellow sand hollow containing a few groves of eastern wandoo (Eucalyptus capillosa) trees). I found a few stark white spider orchids (Caladenia longicauda subsp. eminems) in early September Beautiful Verticordias picta, roei, and serrata flower in late September to October.

An unmarked trail goes east from the picnic table to open wandoo and rock sheoak woodland (Section 3). Chameleon spider orchids (Caladenia dimidia), sugar orchids (Caladenia saccharata), common donkey orchids (Diuris corymbosa) and cowslip orchids (Caladenia flava) flower here in early to mid-September. Return to the main track to avoid getting lost, because the side trail continues for a long way before becoming a dead end. 

The trail continues to a slight grey sandy slope (section 4) containing sphere banksia (Banksia sphaerocarpa), Lambertia ilicifolia), and roadside tea trees (Leptospermum erubescens) interpersed by rock sheoak and spindly mallees. Check the ground for cowslip orchids and painted sundew (Drosera zonaria). 

At section 5 the trail passes through prickly gravel scrub. This is the rim of 'doughnut' valley to the south, where you can see tree branches.
​There is no trail down to the valley, but a moderately easy 20 metre scramble down the slope reveals attractive woodland. There is a variety of everlastings and other flowers on the slope and valley. if you are lucky, you may find the cowslip/little pink fairy orchid hybrid.
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Cars can reach the picnic table on the trail adjoining the airstrip by using the drive trail. 

​Section 6 follows the airstrip. You can see sheet ironstone at about 40cm below the surface. It is amazing that such a variety of of plants grow here. large shrubs flourish because they have taproots, which penetrate cracks in the ironstone.
Vegetation on the uphill side of the airstrip is larger because of a chemical overspray, which killed large shrubs on the downhill side. Surprisingly there appears to be little long-term damage as smaller shrubs have already compensated. However, some kwongan plants depend on fire for seed germination and may not regenerate until this occurs.
There is a wonderful show of flowering shrubs by the airstrip in late September and October. Walk down the eastern airstrip to meet the track and return.

Conclusion
Harrismith reserve is a great spot for wildflower enthusiasts in spring. The trail and Toolibin Nature Reserve would make a good day trip from Narrogin or Wickepin.

​Greetings fellow Foxies,
I recently went for a holiday to a suburb of Narrogin called Augusta. Although a trifle too wet for me, it is a pleasant town and a great spot for the amateur geologist.
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I explored Groper Bay. This is a delightful spot for a ramble, and the rocks are wonderful!
One must walk from the car park and scramble down rough tracks and rocks (see my journey on image). Note there are no trails, and the rocks are smooth. It is a good workout for a healthy 74-year-old, but not for the dodgy hip brigade
The bedrock once granite and dolerite like Narrogin has been altered and stretched. A north-south trend in rocks is evident on the aerial photo with lines of rock projecting into the ocean. 

The rocks resemble pieces of rock art due to weathering and smoothing by sand and water.
The lumpy stretched rock patterns below are called boudinage.Boudin is apparently French for their black pudding, which is made into sausages!
These rocks have been subjected to a lot of heat and pressure!
In the image below the large grained whiter and fine-grained darker rocks have remained more solid while the more plastic pinkish rock flowed past, but they were stretched and deformed into cylinder cross section rocks called boudins.

​The very picturesque cove (site 3) contains rounded boulders that vary in colour and texture from dark near the waterline, to salt bleached, then bright yellow lichen speckled adjoining the bush. It is a lovely spot but a bit lumpy for sunbathing. In spots what looks like fossilised white scum is draped over rock adjoining the soil line. This is Tamala limestone that outcrops at our beaches. Most limestone has formed in deep ocean from carbonate shell deposits, but this is different. Tamala limestone originated as coastal shell sand dunes. Mild acid from carbon dioxide and water in rainfall dissolved the shell lime and carried it to the base of the dunes where it formed a solid carbonate layer. This has been exposed by wind or wave action that removed the overlying sand. Tamala limestone is a miserable deposit compared to huge depths of limestone elsewhere. It is used for agricultural lime and building blocks and contains the caves. 

​Dark rock forming the western point was a dolerite or gabbro intrusion that has been stretched and deformed into a rock called amphibolite. At the marina fresh amphibolite is exposed at a huge rock face where the side of the hill was blown away to produce rocks for the breakwater.

​The rocks spurred me on to research their origin. Here is a simplified version of my findings.

While Narrogin is on the ancient Yilgarn craton, the capes are on a much younger rock called the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge on the Pinjarra Orogen, which is west of the Darling Fault. (see this blog).
The Leeuwin-Naturaliste rocks formed as granites and mafic rock plutons intruded into a rift that formed on the Pinjarra orogen about eleven hundred million years ago. At this time Western Australia was separating from an unknown continent to the west as the Pangaea supercontinent broke apart.
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 About seven hundred and fifty million years ago while continents amalgamated again to form the Gondwana supercontinent, India obliquely collided with WA in what is a southwest direction today (Leeuwin orogeny). The collision buried the rocks where they partially melted, and the minerals were altered and stretched into roughly north-south bands (that are sometimes folded) as India also moved south. A substantial mountain range formed at the join and gradually eroded away.

About four hundred million years ago, starting from the north, India gradually began separating from WA. This caused a rift valley to form between the Dunsborough and Darling scarps that gradually filled with sediments from both sides. Today, this is the belt of sandy scrubby woodland between Bridgetown/Nannup and the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge jarrah/karri forests. (Donnybrook Sunkland).
Finally, about eighty-three million years ago, Antarctica finally separated from Australia, taking the southern part of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste ridge, which is now under the Denman Glacier.

When you sip wine at the capes, pause and remember the tumultuous origin of the land you are standing on. Did the ground move or have you had enough to drink?

​Click here for a Google Photos tour of Groper Bay.

​Greetings fellow Foxies
Whinbin Nature Reserve adjoins Whinbin Rock about 20km east of Highbury on the (sealed) Whinbin Road. Although only 38 hectares in size its strategic location on a ridge provides a valuable bird breeding refuge within substantially cleared farmland. About a quarter of the reserve had been mined for gravel and sand, but this area has been replanted, and trees and other vegetation elsewhere is in good condition.

There are a range of land types, with the most common being sandy and loamy gravels, tall woodland loams and sandy duplex. There are no waterways or sheoak jam country that signifies good orchid country. On my two visits I found greenhoods, cowslips and a few fringed mantis orchids.
There are no internal or boundary roads or tracks apart from one on the south-western side that leads from Whinbin Road to a renovated sand pit.
​The northern side of the reserve has little interest for bushwalkers apart from a line of salmon gums with a few delightful understorey plants. I was surprised to see a grevillea on that loamy soil, but the plant, Grevillea huegelii is found further east.

​A walk through the southern side of the reserve takes one through kwongan bush with scattered mallees, on open wandoo on the western side, and a breakaway on the eastern side. Below the breakaway, the country varies from dense blue and brown mallet, open woodland and tammar gravel to the north east. 

​I suggest a visit to this reserve from mid-August to mid- September when many of the bushes are flowering and before kangaroo ticks become active. There is a good WIFI signal for Telstra users you can track your location using Google Maps