Anglesea heath in early spring

It's officially spring but the last week has seen driving rain, hail, snow in the Otways and strong winds. But today the sun was shining so I went to some heathy areas near Anglesea to see what was flowering.

I wasn't the only creature out and about. This caterpillar was on a Hakea shrub. I think it's a Oenochroma vinaria.

Caterpillar on hakea (Oenochroma vinaria)

Caterpillar

Bushy Needlewood Hakea decurrens ssp. physocarpa

And a Scorpion Fly was just hanging about like they do. It looked like it was caught in a web but soon flew on to a new spot.

Scorpion Fly

Scorpion Fly

There were mosses and lichens, several types of orchids flowering and a few other plants as well but the flush of spring has not reached us yet.

Lichen and moss

Lichen

Lichen

Lichen

Lichen

Moss

Moss

Pterostylis nutans Nodding Greenhood, with visitor.

Trim Greenhood Pterostylis concinna

Small Gnat Orchid Cyrtostylis reniformis

Creamy Candles Stackhousia monogyna, is just starting to flower.

Poranthera microphylla Small Poranthera

Hibbertia sericea var. sericea Silky Guinea-flower

Drosera aberrans Scented Sundew

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Heath Teatree  Leptospermum myrsinoides

Running Postman Kennedia prostrata

More Northampton flora

On our way back south we stopped at several roadside spots where the Kalbarri NP joins the highway and closer to Northampton. There aren't any carpets of daisies but a number of the heath plants are starting to flower here and further south.

We had a delightful lunch at the Railway Hotel in Northampton with my cousin Valda and Kevin, her daughter Bronwyn and daughter-in-law Shelley, and her five grandchildren. It must be nearly 40 years since we last met.

Calothamnus

I don't know the species but the bees were loving it. When I first saw it I didn't think it was flowering - the flowers are brown and tiny.

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Native bee, on a Grevillea I think.

Our caravan, and some road-hogging mining equipment moving north.

Emu Bush

Hakea perhaps

Emu Bush

Hakea

Hakea

Hakea

Numerous white flowers that insects were finding very attractive. I could have spent a lot of time at this bush just photographing the insects.

Roadside flowers, Northampton, WA

On the road north to Shark Bay we stopped to look at some roadside vegetation just north of Northampton.

A sandy rise

After checking out Leinster (it's a very neat and treed mining town similar to Leigh Creek in SA) we turned west towards Geraldton. We happened to be there when there was a change of shift and saw lots of miners congregating to board the buses that ferried them out to the mines.

At one delightful spot on the way there was sandy rise with spinifex and beautiful eucalypts and discovered budgies in the trees.

Budgerigars

And I was particularly delighted to find a group of small and hardy plants with the beautiful red flowers right on the ground. It would be interesting to know what the pollinating agent is. And there was also a suite of other flowering plants that I hadn't seen growing elsewhere on our travels.

Wattle