AUTUMN'S FLYING IN

We've had a couple of days of rain with falling temperatures, and March has come, warning of Autumn's arrival shortly. The garden still looks summery and the birds are still active and chirping away...

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme

and also part of the Seasons meme

LYGON ST, CARLTON

Melbourne's "Little Italy" in Lygon St, Carlton always brings back happy memories of my University years, as it is only a block away from my Alma Mater, the University of Melbourne... Still vibrant and colourful, a pleasure to visit again and again.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

EASTERN 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,

SUNRISE BALLOON

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

ROSA 'MERCEDES'

A hybrid tea rose, 'Mercedes' has been blooming in our garden for nearly 30 years. It is a compact bush producing long-stemmed flowers, with beautiful buds that open slowly to give a striking red bloom that lasts for several days - as long as 10 in cooler weather. It is a perfect cut flower.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

BEACH, DROMANA

Dromana is a seaside suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 57 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Dromana recorded a population of 6,626 at the 2021 census.

It is believed that the name Dromana is of Irish origin and that it came about from the influx of gold prospectors in the late 1830s. There is a Dromana (Irish: Drom Eanaigh) on the tidal section of the River Blackwater, near Cappoquin, County Waterford in Ireland, and this is the most likely origin of the name.

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

BRUNSWICK STREET

Brunswick Street is a street in inner northern Melbourne, known for cafés, live music venues and alternative fashion shops. Brunswick Street runs north–south through the inner northern Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Fitzroy North, from Victoria Parade at its southernmost end, crossing Gertrude Street and Alexandra Parade through Fitzroy, and north continuing until it reaches St Georges Road in Fitzroy North, near the Edinburgh Gardens. Tram route 11 (West Preston to Victoria Harbour) runs along the entire length of Brunswick Street.

It is a renowned bohemian strip and a premier destination for vibrant nightlife, eclectic fashion boutiques, vintage shopping, and diverse, often casual dining. It features iconic pubs, live music venues, street art, and a bustling café culture. Many fine Victorian era buildings ar e lined along its length. Landmarks include the Atherton Gardens housing estate, St Vincent's Private Hospital, and the Australian Catholic University.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

SUNSHINE

Late summer with sunshine still plentiful, but tempered somewhat by the shortening of the days...

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

REFLECTION

A corner on one of the busiest thoroughfares in Melbourne, Hoddle St that becomes Punt Rd, further South. Reflected in the glass is the Collingwood Housing Commission Building built 1971. There are 47 of these template designed steel framed concrete towers consisting of pre-cast slabs covered in exposed aggregate, some as tall as 20 to 30 storeys, which were constructed across inner Melbourne during the 1960s and early 1970s.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

TO BEE OR NOT TO BEE...

Eristalis tenax, the common drone fly, is a common, migratory, cosmopolitan species of hover fly. It is the most widely distributed syrphid species in the world, and is known from all regions except the Antarctic. It has been introduced into North America and is widely established. It can be found in gardens and fields in Europe and Australia. It has also been found in the Himalayas.

It is renowned for its Batesian mimicry, closely resembling a honeybee drone in both appearance and flight behaviour to deter predators. Unlike the bees they mimic, they have only one pair of wings and lack a constricted "wasp waist". They are generalist pollinators found in meadows, gardens, and hedgerows. They feed on nectar and pollen, particularly from yellow flowers and ivy.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme