Snowy Mountains - details

Lichen and bark.

Lichens growing in the socket left where a limb once grew on a Snow Gum Eucalyptus niphophila.

Longhorn tracks.

These branches of a snow Gum have been killed by borers, the larvae of a longicorn beetle Phoracantha sp. They burrow beneath the bark of the living stems, the tree dies, the bark peels away and the finger wide furrows of the larvae burrows are exposed. Meanwhile the larvae have emerged and flown off to infect another tree.

A tangle of branches.

Lichens growing on the dead branches of Snow Gums killed by the big fire of 2003.

A tangle of leaves. 

High on an alpine slope, looking through a low mat of Herbfield Celmisia Celmisia costiniana. The shine is created by the multitude of tiny hairs on the leaves, which help protect the plants from frost. 

Stars in an alpine stream. 

Alpine Marsh Marigold Caltha introloba grows in wet flushes below snow patches. It likes to have its feet wet and doesn't have much of a hold in the gravel beds.

Everlasting awakening.

A cushion of an alpine everlasting, Alpine Sunray Leucochrysum albicans. In a few weeks there will be tall stems with daisy-like heads sprouting from this tight mass of silvery woolly leaves. This is the form that the plant adopted to survive under the winter snows.

Xanthoria orange.

A tell-tale streak of Xanthoria sp. lichen growing on granite tor high on the summit ridge of the mountains. These lichens only grow where there is localised nitrogen enrichment. In this instance, there was a streak of it below a slanting crack in the rock, only a flat hand wide. The presence of the lichen hints that nitrogen was dropping out of the crack - probably very small amounts over many many years. That could have been from moth droppings, from aestivating Bogong moths Agrostis infusa.

Water lines.

Meltwater forms runnels on the surface of the old snow patches, then drips from the lip and into a stream below.

Old snow. 

Cracks opening up on a long-lying snow bed.

 Snowy Mountains - day three 

Mt Kosciuszko looks best when the spring snowlie emphasises its form with big deep cornices.

Or when seen from the distance of a neighbouring hill. This is such a good time to see the hills with the spring flower growth emerging as the snow shinks away.

It was good to walk freely over the mounatins, treading delicately across the gravel in a mountain stream. Aware not to even leave footprints. And pick up other peoples' litter.

Alpine flora are delicate and need our protetction. The first flowers were coming out, not long after the snow had melted. It is such a short growing season up there.

Buds were swelling on the heaths, like this plant spreading over a boulder to hug the sun's warmth trapped by the rock.

Lots of snow-melt had formed a moat around this castellated tor.

A fallen spire, split by its own force. But when did it fall? Probably in the last ice-age when these tors were formed. 10-12,000 years ago.  

A more recent annual fall of snow was now rapidly melting. 

The melt-water running down under the snow-patches and out of tunnels at their lower edge.

Water released by those snows with give so much life all the way down the Snowy River and beyond.

The snows are a precious resource.

 Snowy Mountains - Blue Lake walk

Day two in the Snowy Mountains. A walk to Blue Lake, high up on the main ridge.

There is a double river crossing at the beginning of the walk. OK when the water was low in the morning. A matter of balancing on wet stepping stones. At this time of year, when the snow is still melting, the water is always a bit high. By afternoons, as more snow melts during the day, the water rises.

The earliest alpine flowers were beginning to open, adding tiny flecks of colour to the winter-browned vegetation recently exposed by the melting snow.

Blue Lake never disappoints. It lies in a deep glacial hollow below the summit ridge and the snow lies late on the crags. The  morning sky was still mostly blue and the water reflected it clearly.

Although soon, the clouds built up, a warning of changing conditions.

And over behind the rdige, more clouds were forming, big heavy dark ones.

Within minutes, Mt Kosciuszko, the highest peak in Australia, was being drenched by a thunderstorm. So a quick dash back along the track to the rivers before the rainwater added depth to the crossing. 

A well timed trip. 

 Mountain Heaths 

Here are a selection of shots from a walk in the Snowy Mountains. These were taken on a walk along the Rainbow Lake path and I have not identified the heath species . I have simply tried to capture the tapestry effect of their flower heads. The heaths are now luxurient in their long regeneration after the 2003 fire that burnt through the area. Although some of the Snow Gum trees were killed, many have sprung new growth, mixing green leaves through the white bones of the burnt stems.

Waist high heaths flank the path.

The heaths dominate the clearings in the woodland.

Tapestry.

A mix of tree and heath. 

The scent from the flowers was powerful in the warm humid air. 

Charming to look over,  challenging to walk through. 

Keep to the path.

 Wet and windy weather

As of today, 15th, there has been 104 mm of rain in the Canberra area in November. 48 mm fell in the previous four days with 30 mm on the wettest day, the 11th. And it has been very windy, with gusts of over 40 km/h each day, peaking at 65 km/h on the 14th. So these have been testing times for birds with chicks, like this Tawny Frogmouth who was covering two chicks during the rain. 

This other frogmouth had his chicks tight beneath him. One is right beneath his belly, its tail and wing tips are protruding towards the camera, and its sibling is tucked under his breast feathers, face to the camera. The chicks are at a difficult age to protect from the rain. Their flight feathers are well formed, but their bodies are still mostly downy. If the down becomes wet they can become chilled and die.

This chick's body was lying below another nest, where the adult was still brooding two chicks. It must have been too difficult to cover three large chicks adequately. This chick died when about 18 days old. They fledge at about 28 days.

And at another nest, this chick died while trying to hatch. Perhaps the adults were intent on covering its siblings and so sat tight through the rain and wind, possibly too tight, and the chick could not push the shell open. It had opened the shell, as can be seen by the crack line around the top, but never left the egg. So close. The chicks bill can be seen above the slug - whose presence is an indicator of how wet the weather was.

I found this Brown Goshawk chick lying freshly dead below a nest in the same wood as the last frogmouth nest. It was not yet stiff with rigor mortis, nor found by ants, and it had been very windy earlier in the morning. The chick had a partially filled crop, as can be seen by the bulge in its throat, so the adults had been providing enough food. Wind blow was the most likely cause of death. There was still at least one other chick in the nest and the adult female was in attendance, looking after it.

The goshawk nest was set at the end of a slim high branch and it was bouncing about in the still brisk wind. The female was quick to return and protect any chicks in the nest as soon as I left the area.

I found two hatched goshawk eggshells below a tree where the adults frequently perch. There were lots of droppings below, that indicated this. And the adult female would have taken the eggshells from the nest and dropped them there. In the above shot, the cup-shaped membrane of the bottom half of a shell indicates where the chick had cut its way around the egg, then lifted the lid and popped out.

This lid of a goshawk eggshell shows the chip marks where the chick had pecked with its egg-tooth to prise open the shell. The pattern is similar to that around the frogmouth eggshell.

Young birds are so vulnerable to the weather.