Helen Robertson
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helenrobertson.bsky.social
Helen Robertson
@helenrobertson.bsky.social
480 followers 380 following 330 posts
On Peerapper country - Zoologist, Fungi Enthusiast living with 2 Border Collies, 3 Jerseys & a Light Sussex flock! Bushwalking, gardening, sustainable living, mycology, photography.
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helenrobertson.bsky.social
Rocky Cape National Park - Postman's Track was a lovely walk yesterday.
A beautiful red rosette of a pretty little sundew sending up a slender flower spike. White flowers of Bauera rubioides with heavy dew drops. Heading down to the shore you go past steep rocky cliffs Our lunch spot - a pretty rocky cove. The best thing was the musical noise of the pebbles shifting as each wave retreated!
November 8, 2025 at 7:55 PM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
And lots of different sun orchids!!
Thelymitra aristata the biggest of the sun orchids. Many were standing tall above the rest of the coastal heath plants. Thelymitra flexuosa yellow with a twisted stem which gives it its name. Thelymitra rubra held between my fingers because very strong wind blowing! Blue with spots is Thelymitra ixioides
November 6, 2025 at 4:05 AM
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We found a couple of lovely spider orchids too...
Close shot of Caladenia patersonii with its maroon labelled and long cream coloured petals A paler Caladenia patersonii. They vary quite a bit in colour Another Caladenia patersonii this one with fine red stripes on the petals.
November 6, 2025 at 3:58 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
Arthur Pieman Conservation Area was an orchid wonderland last weekend!
The greeny yellow Caladenia transitoria The very tiny pink Caladenia pusilla Hard to see easily as it is only half open red and white Burnettia cuneata which comes after fire. Always cheerful mauve Glossodia major
November 6, 2025 at 3:52 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
And some of the heath flowers....
The very beautiful pink swamp heath (Sprengelia incarnata). Each small branch of this heath is topped with bunches of dark and pale pink flowers. Mauve fluffy flowers of Melaleuca squamea. A very pretty paperbark of tge swampy heath. The Leptospermums were particularly beautiful covered in these gorgeous white flowers. The bright yellow flowers of Hibbertia
October 20, 2025 at 9:11 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
Arthur Pieman Conservation Area lovelies from today's outing. A very windy day!
Lovely spider orchid. Cream petals with long slender tips and a rich red labellum Two gorgeous bright yellow donkey orchids A very early leek orchid green with red-brown along the outside of the petals A really small little pink fingers....pale pink petals with a darker blush on tge tips.
October 20, 2025 at 8:59 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
This is Tasmania in mid spring lol...yesterday at Cradle Mountain
October 12, 2025 at 5:21 AM
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Something erratic from the west of Tasmania :)
My grandsons pretending to hold up an interesting perched erratic. A boulder left on top of another larger one by the glacier that made them both... A close up look at the conglomerate all the erratics were made of. Generally reddish background rock with many lumps of red, white and grey quartz within. This towering erratic had meter wide scrape marks from the glacier that left it here. It was twisted and scoured by the ice. An extraordinary shape that looked like it should fall over. A plaque explaining how the erratic are formed
October 7, 2025 at 5:24 PM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
We also found some nice slime moulds - apologies...I do not yet have a slime mould book to be able to ID them
This one's common name is salmon spawn... and with its bright orange globes it's easy to see why! This dark pink one had several stages along a log. It starts white, then orange, then this dark pink and lastly a dark brown as it matures! Clusters of yellow blobs on stalks make this an interesting slime mould. Lots of delicate white stalks of a commonly found slime mould starting to mature
September 13, 2025 at 11:39 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
...and some more:
More lovely fibe, white gills on this fresh new Hohenbuehelia atrocoerulea Two perfect pink Mycena vinacea (they smell like cucumber!) Perfect in pink... a lovely Clitocybe Little pins ... fresh Vibrissea dura. The caps will turn light brown as they age.
September 13, 2025 at 11:32 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
Some nice fungi finds from yesterday's forest scramble in the Dip River Forest Reserve.
Gorgeous delicate white bells hanging in the green moss... Chromocyphella muscicola Pseudomerulius curtisii has a whitish upper surface but underneath these lovely orange wrinkled gills. Dark bottle green glossy bunched cups of Claussenomyces australis growing on a fallen stick. Glorious red-orange gills of the pretty fan fungus Anthracophyllum archeri - always a good find!
September 13, 2025 at 11:26 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
Last season I saved seeds from my 'green dragon' broccoli and my red cabbages.
This year I have a few green dragon broccoli, a couple of red cabbages and lots of cabboli... or should that be broccages?
The chunky, pink veined, cabbage/broccoli cross. Prolific bearer and very yummy! One of the baby red cabbages...looking like it should! The green dragon broccoli plant looking as it should. Slender side shoots of broccoli.
September 8, 2025 at 2:01 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
Waterfall wetness....
Second cascade at Liffey Falls...ferns in foreground Water cascading over rocks First cascade at Liffey Falls... a bit obstructed by overhanging trees... Second cascade at Liffey Falls...looking like it's falling down a set of stairs
August 17, 2025 at 12:26 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
Lazy rainy afternoon... sitting with a pot of French Earl Grey tea... perfect to settle in the 11 barrow loads of mulch I spread around the garden earlier today!
August 12, 2025 at 6:01 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
Then we got back to the car to find this handsome chap chastising his reflections!
Gorgeous Scarlet Robin came and sat on the rear vision mirror... so close! Kept flying at his reflections in the car windows.... Was that a movement inside the car?? Side view...such a handsome fellow!
August 8, 2025 at 7:06 AM
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We stopped at Hellyer Gorge on the way home...may have found more fungi hahaha
Beautiful fuzzy brown top of this Stereum illudens A cluster of horse hoof brackets - looking like rather rough horse hooves! BeautHerecium looking like a piece of coral growing on the bark. Big pagoda fungus - very spectacular! These must be quite long lived... sausage ones a couple of months ago!
August 8, 2025 at 7:01 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
Road trip to Waratah and surrounds...
The town of Waratah and in front the waterfall cascades down the rockface. A closer view of the waterfall - lots of noise needs to be imagined! A Pademelon with YAH on our way down to the waterfall. Fungi part of this pale green rock lichen fruiting in pretty pink discs
August 8, 2025 at 6:55 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
How cool is this decorated scallop I found on the beach this morning?
All perfectly normal from this angle... the beautiful pink and dark red colours of the inside of the shell... But on the outside of the shell a multi branched bright orange sponge gives the scallop a rather punk look!
July 28, 2025 at 12:01 PM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
July 23, 2025 at 10:33 PM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
Here's some waterfall joy for your day :)
Dip Falls, NWTas.
The top of the falls... dark tannin stained water churning to creamy white as it plunges over the basalt columns of the ancient solidified lava flow that once set the river on fire. From further away the whole shawl of the top falls is seen cascading over the sloping columns of basalt Looking down directly over the bottom falls as the water plunges down over the vertical columns of the first lava flow. Huge tree trunks jammed at the bottom foam spraying over the river banks.
July 23, 2025 at 12:43 PM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
Morning beach visit today...there's finally been enough rain to get the little creek started and to make the river run dark with tannins...
The little creek has started to run making a mini delta in the sand. Lovely sea hazed view of the beach at low tide and Rocky Cape in the distance. The mouth of the river showing up dark with tannins against the sand. Happy beach dogs!
July 18, 2025 at 8:51 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
I tried to do a squash but no obvious asci with developing spores within.......
Clear goblet like structures but nothing particularly interesting (to me an abject beginner lol)
July 13, 2025 at 8:09 AM
helenrobertson.bsky.social
Got a few spores from the ones I took for the museum...
Bluish background of microscope slide with a few spherical brownish spores scattered about...
July 13, 2025 at 8:02 AM
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And four more....
A greeny brown capped Cortinarius A creamy pale brown coloured Cortinarius. The remains of the spider web like cortina can be seen in the mirror reflection A stunning deep red Cortinarius with red gills too The green caps of Cortinarius austrovenetus
July 12, 2025 at 12:24 PM
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It was a Cortinarius kind of day today... found 16 different species!! These were 4 of the more spectacular ones...
The glutinous bright purple of Cortinarius archeri Glutinous bright yellow of Cortinarius sinapicolor A stunning mauve and cream coloured Cortinarius This small Cortinarius sp. had the richest red colour!
July 12, 2025 at 12:19 PM