In the Darebin Parklands, a short walk from my home.
This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.
The superb fairywren (Malurus cyaneus) is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae, and is common and familiar across south-eastern Australia. It is a sedentary and territorial species, also exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism; the male in breeding plumage has a striking bright blue forehead, ear coverts, mantle, and tail, with a black mask and black or dark blue throat. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are predominantly grey-brown in colour; this gave the early impression that males were polygamous, as all dull-coloured birds were taken for females.
Six subspecies groups are recognised: Three larger and darker forms from Tasmania, Flinders and King Island respectively, and three smaller and paler forms from mainland Australia and Kangaroo Island. Like other fairywrens, the superb fairywren is notable for several peculiar behavioural characteristics; the birds are socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous, meaning that although they form pairs between one male and one female, each partner will mate with other individuals and even assist in raising the young from such pairings. Male wrens pluck yellow petals and display them to females as part of a courtship display.
The superb fairywren can be found in almost any area that has at least a little dense undergrowth for shelter, including grasslands with scattered shrubs, moderately thick forest, woodland, heaths, and domestic gardens. It has adapted well to the urban environment and is common in suburban Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane. The superb fairywren eats mostly insects and supplements its diet with seeds.The two males in breeding plumage below are from the Darebin Parklands in suburban Melbourne.
This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.
Tahbilk Winery is situated 120 km north of Melbourne in Shire of Strathbogie in the Nagambie Lakes region of central Victoria, near Nagambie. The name Tahbilk originated from the wineries location, Tabilk. The aboriginal people first referred to the site as "tabilk-tabilk" meaning "place of many waterholes", the 'h' being added in by Tahbilk Winery to assist the wines sale-ability in Europe. Until 2000, the winery was known as Chateau Tahbilk. Original cellars from the 1860s and 1870s are still in use. These and the buildings are classified by the National Trust of Australia. The winery also runs the Tahbilk Cafe and the Tahbilk Wetlands and Wildlife Reserve.
The winery specialises in the Rhone varietals of Marsanne, Viognier and Roussanne and also produces Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Semillon, Sauvignon blanc, Verdelho, Grenache and Mourvedre. Some original pre-phylloxera Shiraz vines survive from 1860.
Tahbilk is the oldest family owned winery in Victoria, Australia, established in 1860. Tahbilk is part of Australian wine alliance Australia’s First Families of Wine a multi-million-dollar venture to help resurrect the fortunes of the $6 billion industry highlighting the quality and diversity of Australian wine. The main criteria are that the family-owned companies need to have a “landmark wine” in their portfolios listed under Langton’s Classification and/or 75% agreement by group that a wine is considered “iconic”, must have the ability to do at least a 20-year vertical tasting, have a history going back a minimum of two generations, ownership of vineyards more than 50 years old and/or ownership of distinguished sites which exemplify the best of terroir, commitment to export and environmental best practice, appropriate cellar door experience, and be paid-up members of the Winemakers Federation of Australia.
This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.
This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.
At the Latrobe University Sunday Market, which had been closed for a few months due to the Lockdown. Even after more that three weeks without a COVID-19 case or death in Victoria, we are still wearing masks everywhere and there are still quite a few restrictions to adhere to. Tomorrow, we shall be allowed to not wear masks outside, provided we can practice social distancing; while we still are required to wear masks inside shops, halls, shopping centres, indoor public gatherings.
This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.
