THINGS THAT FLY...

Hitchhiker?

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

DAFFODIL DAY

Daffodil Day in Melbourne, organised by the Cancer Council, is a fundraising event held annually in August to support cancer research, prevention, and support services. In 2025, Daffodil Day falls on Thursday, August 21. It's a day for Australians to show their support for those affected by cancer and to raise funds for a cancer-free future. 

The Rialto Plaza is a prominent location for Daffodil Day, featuring a large display of daffodils, including a hot air balloon display and a giant daffodil. Daffodils are available for purchase, with proceeds going to the Cancer Council.

Please donate to the Cancer Council, every little bit helps to support research that will achieve a cancer-free future!

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DAREBIN CREEK

Fish ladder on the Darebin Creek at the Darebin Parklands in Alphington. An important conservation area for native flora and fauna.

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.

PREMIER TOWER

Premier Tower is a mixed-use skyscraper on the corner of Bourke and Spencer Streets, in Melbourne, Australia. Designed by Elenberg Fraser, plans for a 294-metre tall building with 90-storeys were initially proposed in 2014; however, in order not to cast a shadow on the Yarra River to the south, both the height and the number of levels of the project were reduced in later plans, which were submitted to the Department of Planning.

In May 2015, Planning Minister Richard Wynne approved the development, which now consists of a 246–metre high residential and hotel skyscraper of 78 levels. When built, Premier Tower was to become one of the tallest buildings in Melbourne.

According to Elenberg Fraser, the design of the building pays homage to Beyoncé's fabric-draped silhouette in the music video for her 2013 song "Ghost", which captured the curves of the human form. Early construction on the project commenced in January 2017. The skyscraper is developed by the Fragrance Group Limited at a development cost of AUD$430 million.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

STAMPS FROM NEARBY...

A series of imagined stamps I've created from archival shots. Just playing...

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

RAIN ON THE WAY

View of the CBD from Preston, about 12 km away.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

RAINBOW LORIKEET

This little beauty came down on a shrub in the garden and seemed a little stunned. It was quite tame and not scared at all, posed quite prettily to have his photo taken. Initially I thought he was injured, but no, he just wanted to say hello and then flew away.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

SUNRISE

From my window this morning.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

MAGNOLIA

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

MARIBYRNONG RIVER

Melbourne’s second major river, the mighty Maribyrnong, runs for 160 kilometres from its source on the slopes of Mount Macedon through to Port Phillip Bay. Maribyrnong River’s name comes from the Aboriginal phrase Mirring-gnay-bir-nong, meaning ‘I can hear a ringtail possum’. It was originally called Saltwater River due to the seawater that entered from Hobson’s Bay, into which it directly flowed.

Although it flows through. Melbourne suburbs with a high density population, there are many parks and reserves along its length. The river and surrounding areas are home to a range of animals. One of the more interesting locals is the shy Black Wallaby, attracted by the ample water supply and efforts to restore its natural habitat – including coarse shrubs, bushes and grasses. It's also home to many species of plants, fish, birds, reptiles, insects, and frogs, the majority of which are native.

Here the view is from Moonee Ponds towards 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

PARKLANDS, LATE AFTERNOON

At the Darebin Parklands, late yesterday afternoon, as the sun was nearing sunset. A beautiful Spring-like day as we near the end of Winter...

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

A SPRING DAY

Another Spring day followed on from yesterday and it was a beautiful, sunny, mild and fragrant day. One could not help but go out and find some sunny spot in a park somewhere to enjoy the weather. Many Spring flowers are starting to appear (rather early this year!).

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme

and also part of the Seasons meme

SPRING IS WAITING...

 ...to pounce! The sun was quite warm today in Melbourne and there were lots of Spring flowers about!

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

TASMANIAN DEVIL

The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It was formerly present across mainland Australia, but became extinct there around 3,500 years ago; it is now confined to the island of Tasmania.

The size of a small dog, the Tasmanian devil became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world following the extinction of the thylacine in 1936. It is related to quolls, and distantly related to the thylacine.

It is characterised by its stocky and muscular build, black fur, pungent odour, extremely loud and disturbing screech, keen sense of smell, and ferocity when feeding. The Tasmanian devil's large head and neck allow it to generate among the strongest bites per unit body mass of any extant predatory land mammal. It hunts prey and scavenges on carrion.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

SUNRISE SILHOUETTES

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

SIGNS OF SPRING

A blooming polyanthus on the cold Winter's day is a welcome sign that Spring is not far away.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

PORT PHILLIP BAY

Port Phillip Bay and South Melbourne, viewed from the 25th floor of an apartment in Southbank. I'm stretching the zoom capability of my phone camera as you can see in the first photo. I've tried to clean up the photo with AI in the second image. Moral of the story, if you want best results use a dedicated camera with a decent zoom lens. It was a grey Winter's day, by the way...

Nevertheless, one can see that South Melbourne is a lovely old suburb with many trees and gardens as well as closeness to the sea. The Victorian Town Hall clock tower is evidence of many heritage buildings in this locale.

This photo is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

OLD FARM

Old Farm outbuildings in Gippsland.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

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