Growing across much of the black lakebed silt are numerous plants of glaucous goosefoot, a prostrate plant usually found in saline or brackish places.

Learmonth photographer Fon Ryan captured the bright beetroot-pink stems that, along with reddish leaves, combine to give the lake its current red tinge.

Inspection of the lakebed reveals that the plants commence as a green or olive colour, with red soon appearing in the stems.

Stems and some leaves redden as the plant ages, perhaps heightened by the weather. Stems are pale underneath, where shaded from the sun.

The plants are carpeting much of the lakebed. Some older plants, which grew earlier as the water receded from the shore, have now dried and shrivelled. Those growing where water remained longest are younger and greener.

The botanical name of this plant is Chenopodium glaucum. It is a member of the saltbush family, and it is a fast-growing annual.

The fleshy leaves seem not to be eaten by anything at Lake Learmonth. The carpeting plants probably shelter grasshoppers and other insects, and it may be these that attracted the few ravens, magpies, magpie-larks and skylarks seen on the lakebed last weekend.

There are not many other plants on the lake. However, the hastate orache (Atriplex prostrata) is growing in parts. This one has fewer, thinner, pointed leaves that are bluish-green. It too is in the saltbush family.

The rather quaint name of glaucous goosefoot comes from Europe and derives from the shape of the leaf of one of the several similar species - it somewhat resembles a goose's webbed foot.

The word glaucous means "with a bluish covering" such as occurs on many plums, and on immature gumleaves.

Whether the plant is truly native in Australia is a matter of conjecture.

Although found in Europe, some Australian populations may be truly indigenous, while in other parts they may be descended from accidentally-imported European seed.

The goosefoot plants were not so abundant after the previous time the lake dried.

A Talbot resident reports recent rare visits from a scarlet honeyeater and a rose robin, both of which are very unexpected in that area. Both are normally birds of denser, damper forests.

Scarlet honeyeaters visited the Ballarat district a couple of years ago, but there have been no sightings here for more than 12 months.