A blooming good start

It’s been a zesty start to spring in Victoria; by zesty I mean freezing cold mornings and sunny days. Zesty! The thing to note though is that spring is here, and that has to put a smile on your face. The wildflowers are poking their heads out, albeit it very slowly this year (a little like me on a Monday morning) and the usual early bloomers are making their glorious appearance.

The peas, orchids, Acacias and daisies are showing their resilience and are in good numbers at our Nardoo Hills Reserve in Victoria. The ongoing weed control efforts are really paying off, making way for the magnificent native plants.

Starting last weekend we kick-started our new photographic assignment. We began photographing the flowers of Nardoo Hills and the plan is to capture as many species as possible as they bloom throughout the seasons; building a flower photographic catalogue for the property from there. It's an ambitious mission, but we're up for the challenge.

These are exciting times for my Michael and I as this is what we love to do. We're like two (nerd) kids in a lolly shop and are just itching to see what we can find and add to the photographic collection.

We’ll slowly work our way through the endangered plains grassy woodland, hillcrest herb-rich woodland, metamorphic slopes shrubby woodland, box-ironbark forest and broombush mallee; those habitats all call Nardoo Hills home.

Here are some macro photos of a few of the early bloomers. Stay tuned for more blog posts and we'll keep you informed on future finds and photographs. We hope you enjoy the botanical journey as much as we enjoy capturing the photos.

– Sharon Williams (Photos: Michael Williams/It’s A Wildlife)