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THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST September, 1952 
EXCURSIONS 
“EARLY SPRING” 
A glorious day, Sunday, July 27th, with 
its warm sunshine and stillness, was 
especially welcomed and appreciated by 
the ten who attended the first outing 
for the younger members of the Field 
Naturalists Section. We assembled by the 
two large tanks at the foot of Blackhill, 
and after a short address by Mr. Ken 
Dunstone (to whom we are grateful for 
arranging the outing), we commenced a 
most enjoyable and successful day. 
Among the gear carried by various 
members, were books, pencils and note- 
books, ground sheets, extra clothing, 
cameras, knives and last but not least, 
food. A few were fortunate to have bin- 
oculars and Mr. Dunstone also brought 
along his microscope. 
Each step was filled with interest, and 
minds were alert and enthusiastic. But 
for the keen seeing eyes of our leaders — 
Ken Dunstone and Brian Glover, much 
of which we discovered would have 
escaped out notice. 
With the coming of Spring, the 
bush was a dreamworld; too much 
colour, too much beauty for reality — the 
lovely reds of Grevillea lavandulacea, and 
Astraloma conost eph i o i d es, the bright 
gold of the guinea flower, Hibbertia 
sericea. The purple blooms of Hatden- 
bergia violacea trailing in profusion 
among the dull foliage of Eucalyptus 
fasciculosa, were especially attractive. 
Drosera Whittakeri and Drosera Plan- 
chonii were plentiful and we observed 
one specimen of Drosera. glanduligera. 
We came upon a dead fox, and while 
contending with the smell, a very inter- 
esting biology lesson regarding the process 
of decomposition was given. 
As it was a warm bright day we saw 
only the crescent honey cater, the striated 
thornbill, yellow-winged honeyeater, a 
few swallows, magpies, a blackbird and 
a pair of robins. We enjoyed seeing a 
wedgetail eagle drifting slowly over the 
valleys. 
Before we commenced the steep climb, 
Mr. Glover showed us a heath wren’s 
nest, containing three eggs, hidden in an 
Acacia armata, and later another belong- 
ing to a yellow-winged honeyeater, with 
a single egg. Bird calls were frequent and 
musical, but to get a glimpse of these 
eloquent songsters was difficult. 
Fresh grows of Cheilanthes tenui folia 
clothed the shady spots, and moss and 
Schoenus Tepperi, the damp places. 
Omphalia chromasin brightened the open 
ground and we noticed Polystictus 
oblectans among the fallen leaves. The 
climb to the top of the ridge, although 
rather difficult was worth our effort for 
we found the greenhood orchids, 
Pterostylis uana, P. robusta and P. vittata 
among the Eucalyptus fasciculosa groves. 
The basal leaves of Acianthus reniformis 
and Caladenia dilatata were plentiful 
although none were found in bloom. . The 
only other orchid discoveredd was the 
dainty blue Caladenia deformis. 
For the duration of our climb we 
abhored Daviesia brevi folia, Acacia 
spinescens , Hakea rostrata and Hakca 
ulicina, over and through which we had 
to scramble. Many were our cries, we 
unfortunate victims of their needle like 
sharpness. Even though our attention was 
mainly engaged in avoiding more than 
the necessary scratches, we observed 
Hybanlhus floribundus, Jsopogon cera- 
tophyllus, Casuarina Muelleriana , Cryp- 
tandra tomentosa. Asparagus medeoloides 
(introduced), T etratheca pilosa and 
Spyridium vexilliferum , discovered a 
crescent honeyeater’s nest in a Eucalyptus 
Baxteri, and stopped now and again to 
look down the slope! The pale foliage of 
the Native Peach, Eucarya acuminata 
were unmistakcable; the bright yellow 
fields of Calendula arvensis contrasted 
with the paler yellow of Oxalis pres- 
caprae, and Thornton Park Reservoir 
mirrored the surrounding trees to perfec- 
tion, while wattle trees splashed their 
gold through other darker foliage. 
A welcome halt was called for lunch 
once we reached the top, and we spent a 
pleasant hour and a half, eating, talking 
and watching the crescent honeyeaters and 
striated thornbills. Mr. Glover pointed 
out another crescent honeyeater’s nest 
practically hidden in an Xanthorrhoea 
semiplana. 
Two hundred yards further on the 
thick undergrowth and stringy barks 
ceased abruptly on our left, and we gazed 
upon soft green dimpling hills rolling 
away to the Torrens Gorge which 
beckoned irresistably, so we walked along 
continued on page 3 4 
