Time to visit one of our regular haunts. Dempster Head, sometimes referred to as Rotary Lookout, which is an Esperance Shire Reserve that aims to protect a granite headland. As you can imagine the views from the lookout provide a 360 degree view of the Esperance town, bay and beaches.
We however check out some of the areas off the beaten track, so to speak, and are usually rewarded with orchids. Today proves no exception. We head to where we have found Corybas leaves in previous years. We hope they are flowering as their recorded season is July to early September. We find the leaves as expected and they are in bud, which is exciting, however none in flower were found. A return visit later in the season will be required.
Next up we head back to the walk trail as we have previously found Mosquito orchids. It appears we may be too early for these as well, due to the first location only having orchids in bud as well. However at another spot on the track we find a lone orchid in flower, with 2 flowers fully developed. Mosquito orchids (Cyrtostylis robusta) flower June to August in locations between Perth and Israelite Bay and can have up to 8 flowers per orchid.
Further around the track we come across a Banded Greenhood (Pterostylis vittata) with numerous flowers. These are common orchids found from Perth to Balladonia, which flower from April to September. Also found are some Snail orchids which have yet to fully form so I will not attempt to name them at this stage.
Not a lot flowering yet, so we will need to return at a later date to see if we are more successful. Until next time !!