Photo by Jan Cooke
This Saturday’s night walk was very well attended (17 people) and provided lots to see, especially in terms of fluorescent wildlife. We started off the walk with a rousing solo vocal performance from one of my resident orange-thighed tree frogs, with distant vocal back-up from numerous nursery frogs and one or two robust whistling frogs.
As we started our walk around Lennox Crescent the glow worms formed an unmistakeable series of “fairy lights” along one of the exposed earth banks beside the road.
Brilliantly coloured fluorescent lichens were the most common organisms visible with our UV torches, with an amazing diversity of colours shapes and patterns on trees, logs and even mailboxes!
Along the track to Witts Lookout we also saw some great examples of the sinouus blue fluorescing supplejack vines.
For the first time we also found two different animals exhibiting fluorescence: a small snail and a worm (not photographed).
The normal array of small nocturnal spiders, crickets, millepedes and moths were also seen. I also had a fleeting glimpse of what was probably a bandicoot hopping across the track as we returned along the Witts lookout track.
There seems to be a consistent difference in fluorescent and luminous flora between the H-Track and Witts Lookout track. Witts track had very few logs covered with the fluorescent liverwort (Bazzania vitatta) although it is very common on the much of the Lennox Crescent and back sides of the H-Track. Also there seem to be fewer luminous mushrooms. One of the group pointed out that the micro-climate on the H-track is more sheltered and humid compared to the Witt’s lookout track, which follows an somewhat exposed ridgeline that slopes steeply down to the coast. This seems a very plausible explanation. A few of us finished the night’s walk by going down the start of the H-track in order to see the large log that consistently puts on a gorgeous fluorescent display. It did not disappoint us!
Jamie Oliver