Mystery & beauty in Fryers Ridge Forest

It was a lovely warm day for a jaunt in the Fryers Forest, where we enjoyed an interesting route planned by Christine Henderson. We walked along vehicle tracks and offtrack and observed many species different to the forest closer to Castlemaine.

One difference was the absence of yellow gums (Eucalyptus leucoxylon subsp pruinosa), instead there were manna gums (Eucalyptus viminalis) and candlebarks (Eucalyptus rubida). We saw lots of peas, heaths, some orchids in bud and beginning to flower and the romantically named Love creeper (Comesperma volubile).

There were a couple of mystery items; a bridge made of many stringybark trunks and 75m of rock cairns on top of a ridge which we were able to speculate about. The bridge did look like it was created for illegal firewood collection or motorbike access. The cairns were less obvious. They clearly had been in place for a long time. Perhaps holding a flume for carrying water, although raising it higher than the ridge didn’t make a lot of sense. One observant walker noted that one side of the ridge had a relative absence of scattered rocks so maybe the cairns were simply the resting place of rocks that had been cleared, perhaps for agriculture? If anyone has better answers, let us know!

Thanks Christine for organising, Noel Young and Liz Martin for photos and Noel for the bird list:

Grey Shrike-thrush

Rufous Whistler

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Fuscous Honeyeater

Grey Fantail

Crimson Rosella

White-throated Tree-creeper

Fantailed Cuckoo

Spotted Pardalote

Long-billed Corella

Raven sp.