The outing to Narawntapu National Park near the Asbestos Range west of the Tamar River took in the Bird Hide at Springlawn, and Archers Knob. The first section heading towards the bird hide showed serious signs of drying out of undergrowth and neglect with many thistles prevalent. Imagine our surprise when we entered the bird hide and saw a couple of hectares of fresh water vegetated with healthy clumps of the Spike sedge – Eleocharis sp. and Water ribbons – Triglochin sp.

(Click on the photos for a great view)

What immediately caught our attention soon after were many dark coloured birds darting through the air, criss-crossing the sky, some swooping close to the water. The bird books came out of backpacks and there were earnest conversations along the lines of “it looks like a white throated needle tail” and “what about a Martin?” and again “it must be a swift of some sort”. Maybe there were two types – air feeders and water feeders. They certainly didn’t stay still enough for us to get a positive id.

Other highlights of my hour in the hide were:

• the plaintive single note 3X repeated of the little grass bird
• a whistling musk duck
• the gentle swish of wings as the swift rushes past
• Eurasian coots finally deciding it was quiet enough for them to come out and dab their way around right in front of the hide.

Meanwhile, the group of twelve field nats  headed off behind the dunes through some dense thickets of paperbark, looking out for the Spikey violet bush – Melicytus dentatus. On their climb up Archers Knob, a short steep section, they were looking for the Small leafed clematis – Clematis microphylla and the Slender velvet bush – Lasiopetalum baueri. This one found only in a couple of places on the N. Coast, Narawntapu being the main location.

The top of Archers Knob was a fantastic place to stop for lunch. Look at the view below with Springlawn in the middle foreground. The return track skirts around the back of the lagoon, a large marsupial lawn with an abundance of interesting plants like the Prickfoot [real name] – Eryngium vesiculosum, Swamp native primrose – Goodenia graminifolia and the Swamp mazus – Mazus pumilio.

No sign of the target species for the day, the spiral orchid – Spiranthes.

Huge thanks to Anne for researching, reconnoitring and writing the notes for what was a very interesting outing. Her first as leader.

Lou Brooker