STILL WINTER...

The temperature is falling tonight, a cold wind is blowing and there is rain forecast for tomorrow. Yep, it's still Winter!

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

A TOUCH OF SPRING

After a very cold morning today, the sun began to shine and by 10:00 a.m. there was a smell of Spring about. Could not resist going to the Parklands, where many other people had the same idea!

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

ROSELLA

The eastern rosella (Platycercus eximius) is a rosella native to southeast of the Australian continent and to Tasmania. It has been introduced to New Zealand where feral populations are found in the North Island (notably in the northern half of the island and in the Hutt Valley) and in the hills around Dunedin in the South Island.

The eastern rosella is 30 cm long. It has a red head and white cheeks. The beak is white and the irises are brown. The upper breast is red and the lower breast is yellow fading to pale green over the abdomen. The feathers of the back and shoulders are black, and have yellowish or greenish margins giving rise to a scalloped appearance that varies slightly between the subspecies and the sexes. The wings and lateral tail feathers are bluish while the tail is dark green. The legs are grey. The female is similar to the male though duller in colouration and has an underwing stripe, which is not present in the adult male. Juveniles are duller than females and have an underwing stripe.

The diet of eastern rosellas mainly consists of fruit, seeds, flowers and insects. The natural range of the eastern rosella is eastern Australia, down to Tasmania. The species is found in lightly wooded country, open forests, woodlands, gardens, bushlands and parks. Eastern rosellas usually breed in spring but if needed summer as well. They can have 2-9 eggs. In the wild their breeding hollow is 1m deep and 30m high up a tree. The sign the eastern rosella mostly shows that they would be breeding is that they give food to each other.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

MORNING SUN

The Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Kew.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

UNLIKELY FRIENDS

Here we are in Southern Hemisphere mid-Winter here in Melbourne, and in the cold and wet weather, our garden has produced these two flowers concurrently: An Autumnal Chrysanthemum (usually in bloom around April) and a 'Pierre de Ronsard' rose (usually in bloom in November!) Climate change? Confused flowers? Strange weather conditions? Extreme microclimate conditions in our back yard?

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

SUMMER MEMORY

Found this in the archives and I sighed a little as it was quite a cold Winter day today, even though it was sunny at times. Well, here's a warm Summer memory from last year in the Fitzroy Gardens in the City.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

MELBOURNE CENTRAL

Melbourne Central is a large shopping centre, office, and public transport hub in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The main tower is 211-metre high, making it one of the tallest buildings in Melbourne at the time it was built in 1991. Other parts of the complex include the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, the underground Melbourne Central railway station and the heritage-listed Coop's Shot Tower, now part of a shop and museum.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

MAJOR MITCHELL COCKATOO

The pink cockatoo (Cacatua leadbeateri), also known as Major Mitchell's cockatoo or Leadbeater's cockatoo, is a medium-sized cockatoo that inhabits arid and semi-arid inland areas across Australia, with the exception of the north east.

The pink cockatoo has a soft-textured white and salmon-pink plumage and large, bright red and yellow crest. Pink cockatoo females and males are almost identical. The males are usually bigger. The female has a broader yellow stripe on the crest and develop a red eye when mature.

The pink cockatoo is usually found in pairs or small groups, and feeds both on the ground and in trees. The pink cockatoo is listed as endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

STATE LIBRARY VICTORIA

State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the world. It is also Australia's busiest public library and, as of 2023, the third busiest library globally.

The library's first stage (the central part of the Swanston Street wing) opened on 11 February 1856, with a collection of 3,800 books chosen by Mr Justice Barry, the President of Trustees. The library has remained on the same site in the central business district since it was established fronting Swanston Street, and over time has expanded to cover a block bounded also by La Trobe, Russell, and Little Lonsdale streets.

The library's collection consists of over five million items, which in addition to books includes manuscripts, paintings, maps, photographs and newspapers, with a special focus on material from Victoria, including the diaries of the European founders of present-day Melbourne John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, the folios of colonial explorer James Cook, and items related to Ned Kelly, notably his armour and the original Jerilderie Letter.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

BROMELIAD

The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, Pitcairnia feliciana.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

DAREBIN CREEK

Darebin Creek, seen here flowing through the Darebin Parklands is Alphington, is a perennial creek. Along it are various nature reserves, parks and parklands, providing a welcome green belt running through suburbia. The creek joins the Yarra River further downstream. As well as much native fauna and flora found growing in its banks, there are also some introduced species, for example the Call lily "GreenGoddess" seen in the bottom left corner of the photo. There are concerted efforts to remove as much as possible of the weeds and introduced species and allow the native flora to grow again along the course of the waterway.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

PRESTON MARKET

At the lively, multicultural and community-minded Preston Market in Preston. Always a pleasure to go there for shopping, eating, having a cup of hot beverage or cold drink, meeting friends and socialising!

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

MELBOURNE TRAM

A visit to Melbourne would not be complete without riding on the trams, one of the city's modes of public transport. The tramway network is centred around the Melbourne central business district (CBD) and consists of 1,763 tram stops across 24 routes, with 493 trams and 250 kilometres of double tram track which served a patronage of 206 million over the year 2017-2018. It is the largest operational urban tram network in the world and one of the most used. Trams are the second most utilised form of public transport in Melbourne after the city's metropolitan commuter railway network.

Here is an E-class tram which is a three-section, four-bogie articulated trams that was first introduced to the Melbourne tram network in 2013, built at the Dandenong rolling stock factory of Bombardier Transportation (later Alstom) with the propulsion systems and bogies coming from Bombardier/Alstom factories in Germany.

Note that in Australia we drive on the left side of the road and we use kilometres.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

CAT

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

SUNRISE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

KRANTZ ALOE

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

WINTER PUDDLE

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

SOUTHERN CROSS

Southern Cross (formerly known, and still colloquially known, as Spencer Street) is a major railway station in Docklands, Melbourne. It is on Spencer Street, between Collins and La Trobe Streets, at the western edge of the central business district.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

VIRTUAL SUNSHINE

Melbourne is a bit grey and cold and wet at the moment. So I'm giving you a dose of virtual sunshine with a mosaic from my photo archive.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

WINTRY MELBOURNE

A view of the Yarra River from Cremorne, looking towards the City on a Winter's day.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

BLACK COCKATOO

The red-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii) also known as Banksian- or Banks' black cockatoo, is a large black cockatoo native to Australia. Adult males have a characteristic pair of bright red panels on the tail that gives the species its name. It is more common in the drier parts of the continent. Five subspecies are recognised, differing chiefly in beak size. Although the more northerly subspecies are widespread, the two southern subspecies, the forest red-tailed black cockatoo and the south-eastern red-tailed black cockatoo are under threat.

The species is usually found in eucalyptus woodlands, or along water courses. In the more northerly parts of the country, these cockatoos are commonly seen in large flocks. They are seed eaters and cavity nesters, and as such depend on trees with fairly large diameters, generally Eucalyptus. Populations in southeastern Australia are threatened by deforestation and other habitat alterations. Of the black cockatoos, the red-tailed is the most adaptable to aviculture, although black cockatoos are much rarer and much more expensive in aviculture outside Australia.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

MORNING FLIGHT

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

CHIMONANTHUS

Chimonanthus praecox (wintersweet) has been cultivated in China for more than 1,000 years and has been introduced to Japan, Korea, Europe, Australia and the United States. It is a familiar plant in British gardens, where it is grown mainly for its gorgeous scent. The rather insignificant, creamy-yellow, waxy flowers are borne on bare stems from about December to March, with the leaves appearing later.

Long esteemed in China and Japan for its fragrance, many parts of the plant are rich in essential oils and are also used for culinary and medicinal purposes. Wintersweet was introduced to Japan from China during the 17th century, and to Britain, under the name of Calycanthus praecox, a century later. The generic name means "winter-flower', while the specific name means "precocious' as it flowers so early.

It is a deciduous shrub (or sometimes with persistent leaves), up to 3 m high and wide (up to 13 m tall in the wild), with rough, opposite, dark green leaves and small, solitary, highly scented, yellowish flowers borne on short stalks in winter and spring before the leaves appear. The outer petals (tepals) are waxy, almost transparent, in appearance, while the inner tepals are smaller and usually purplish. The flowers are beetle-pollinated.

Named cultivars include Chimonanthus praecox ‘Luteus’, which has slightly larger flowers and yellow inner tepals, and C. praecox ‘Grandiflorus’, a larger shrub, with bigger leaves and larger, but less strongly scented, pure yellow flowers, with red-stained inner tepals.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

MOSSY

This part is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

AT THE STATION

Commuting is extra painful in Winter... However, the trains are heated in Melbourne!

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme.

WINTER'S WINDOWS

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

RAINY DAY IN THE CITY

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

NUMBAT

The numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus), also known as the banded anteater, or walpurti, is a marsupial found in Western Australia. Its diet consists almost exclusively of termites. Once widespread across southern Australia, the range is now restricted to several small colonies and it is listed as an endangered species. The numbat is an emblem of Western Australia and protected by conservation programs.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

SKIES ASSORTED

A mosaic created with many a sky I've observed over a six-month period around the suburbs of Melbourne.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

TUBEROUS BEGONIA

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

RAINY DAY

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

MONTSALVAT

Montsalvat is an artists' colony in Melbourne's Northeaster outer suburb, Eltham, established in 1934, and home to over a dozen buildings set amongst verdant established gardens. The colony of Montsalvat has a detailed history that reflects the life of Justus Jörgensen and his friends and family. Its buildings and gardens are steeped in the art and culture of Melbourne and its surroundings.

Architecturally Montsalvat has much in common with a simple French village in Provence, with a mix of rustic architectural styles. Justus Jörgensen was an architect and as a former student of Max Meldrum had spent many happy hours painting around Eltham. In 1934 Jörgensen purchased land and with his friends and students commenced the buildings that became Montsalvat, 26kms from Melbourne.

The grounds and buildings are currently used for exhibitions, performances, conferences, seminars, weddings and receptions; however, artists working in a variety of mediums continue to reside in Montsalvat. Several classes on various disciplines of art are offered year round by the resident artists. Today Montsalvat is a popular tourist attraction and the entire complex is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

BRRRRRRR!

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
And also part of the Seasons meme

WINTER TRAM

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

MALLARD DUCKS

The Mallard or Wild Duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia. This duck belongs to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae.

The male birds (drakes) have a glossy green head and are grey on wings and belly, while the females have mainly brown-speckled plumage. Mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are gregarious. This species is the ancestor of most breeds of domestic ducks.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

WINTER SUNSET

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

MT MORGAN WATTLE

Acacia podalyriifolia is a perennial tree which is fast-growing and widely cultivated. It is native to Australia but is also naturalised in Malaysia, Africa, India and South America. Its uses include environmental management and it is also used as an ornamental tree.

It is very closely related to Acacia uncifera. It grows to about 5 m in height and about the same in total width. It blooms during winter. Common names for it are Mount Morgan wattle, Queensland silver wattle, Queensland wattle, pearl acacia, pearl wattle and silver wattle.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

RAINY NIGHT

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

YARRAWONGA

Yarrawonga is a town in the Shire of Moira local government area in the Australian state of Victoria. In the 2021 census, Yarrawonga had a population of 8,661 people. The town is located approximately 264 kilometres north-east of the state capital, Melbourne, situated on the south bank of the Murray River, the border between Victoria and New South Wales. Yarrawonga's twin town of Mulwala is on the other side of the Murray River.

Yarrawonga's main attraction is Lake Mulwala, formed by the damming of the Murray River. The lake is a popular location for activities such as boating, kayaking and fishing. There are two crossings of the Murray between Yarrawonga and Mulwala; across the weir (Walking path only); and a bridge over Lake Mulwala. This bridge contains an unusual bend and dip in the middle, a result of miscommunication between the two state governments...

The "dead trees" in Lake Mulwala are a distinctive feature of the landscape, resulting from the lake's creation in 1939. Originally, the area was cleared for the lake, but some trees were left standing when the area was flooded. These trees have since died and become a unique part of the lake's scenery, providing a striking visual element and habitat for some wildlife.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

VICTORIANA

Melbourne's rich architectural heritage from the Victorian era can still be found in some pockets of the City and suburbs. Such heritage is in real danger of encroachment and destruction by new building developments that are choking our once beautiful city. Enjoy while we still can...

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

WINTER MORNING

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

DUCKLINGS

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme