OLIVE TREES

Wild olive trees growing amongst the rocky grounds of the Darebin Parklands.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

RAINBOW LORIKEET

The rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus) is a species of parrot found in Australia. It is common along the eastern seaboard, from northern Queensland to South Australia and Tasmania. Its habitat is rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas. Several taxa traditionally listed as subspecies of the rainbow lorikeet are now treated as separate species. Rainbow lorikeets have been introduced to Perth, Western Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; and Hong Kong.

Rainbow lorikeets are true parrots, within the Psittacoidea superfamily in the order Psittaciformes. They include two subspecies: Trichoglossus moluccanus moluccanus and Trichoglossus molucannus septentrionalis.

The rainbow lorikeet is a medium-sized parrot, with the length ranging from 25 to 30 cm, including the tail. The weight varies from 75 to 157 g. The plumage of the nominate race, as with all subspecies, is very bright. The head is deep blue with a greenish-yellow nuchal collar, and the rest of the upper parts (wings, back and tail) are deep green. The chest is red with blue-black barring. The belly is deep green, and the thighs and rump are yellow with deep green barring. In flight a yellow wing-bar contrasts clearly with the red underwing coverts. There is little to visually distinguish between the sexes; however, to a keen observer of their colouring and behaviour, their dimorphism is readily apparent.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,

and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

ON THE ROAD

An early morning drive towards the East has its benefits...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.

POLEMONIUM

Attractive, dense ferny foliage makes Polemonium pulcherrimum 'Blue Dove' (also known as Jacob's ladder) a valuable plant for all year round interest in the garden. As an added bonus loose sprays of open bell shaped flowers in a soft shade of blue can appear from spring right through to and including autumn. Its 'lacy' appearance makes it a useful plant for softening hard lines and edges created by rocks, garden edging or paving.

Polemonium is a genus comprising of around 30 species of mostly perennial herbs which are native to regions of North and Central America, Europe and Asia. An excellent plant for general garden use and suitable for most colour schemes. 'Blue Dove' looks particularly at home in woodland type settings or in the cottage garden.

It may be grown in semi shade although this may decrease flower production. This, however, is not necessarily a reason to avoid planting it in such locations as the attractive foliage alone will lend a visual appeal to these often difficult landscaping zones. To accent the foliage further create a foil of foliage behind it using larger, broader leafed plants or those with tall slender foliage such as that of Irises.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,

L for LEAF LITTER

Leaf Litter, (also, litterfall, plant litter, tree litter, soil litter, or duff), is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent nutrients are added to the top layer of soil, commonly known as the litter layer or O horizon ("O" for "organic"). Litter has occupied the attention of ecologists at length for the reasons that it is an instrumental factor in ecosystem dynamics, it is indicative of ecological productivity, and may be useful in predicting regional nutrient cycling and soil fertility.

The Darebin Parklands are rich in leaf litter and the amount of this organic material on the top layer of soil and in the creek contributes to the health of the ecosystem in this urban nature reserve in metropolitan Melbourne.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

CITY OF ART

Among Melbourne’s over 100 outdoor sculptures are these brass ensembles next to the Arts Centre’s Theatre Building. The man and woman in the foreground are Family of Man I. The abstract trio in the background is Family of Man II. This public art by Cole Sopov was commissioned as a gift to the City by John and Agita Haddad and erected in 1984.

Greek-born Sopov arrived Australia 1971 where studied at RMIT 1973 to 1974 before going on to lecturer in Fine Arts at Chisholm College. In 1984 he was the Head of Chisholm Sculpture department (later Monash University) from 1977 to 1995.

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.

INDUSTRY

A light industry area a few blocks down from our house. Always looks rather melancholy at twilight.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

NO ENTRY

Looks forbidding...

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

GRASS PARROT

The red-rumped parrot (Psephotus haematonotus), also known as the red-backed parrot or grass parrot, is a common bird of south-eastern Australia, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin. Red-rumped parrots are slim, elegant, moderate-sized parrots approximately 28 cm in length. The male's plumage is a bright emerald-green with yellow underparts, a brick-red rump and blue highlights on the wings and upper back. The female's plumage is less vibrant, with pale olive underparts, dull green wings and back and blue-black wingtips. The characteristic red rump is only found in the male.

Like many parrots, red-rumped parrots nest in tree hollows or similar places, including fenceposts and stumps. They lay 3-6 white eggs, Breeding usually takes place in spring (August to January), however, in the drier inland areas, breeding can occur at any time of year in response to rainfall. Red-rumped parrots do well in aviaries and cages. They don't like to be in crowded spaces and will sometimes be aggressive towards other birds if they don't have enough space. Red-rumped parrots can also be hand reared, provided that they have a large cage and are taken out of their cage on a daily basis to prevent boredom, as it may result in the parrot pulling out its feathers to occupy itself. In captivity, if properly cared for, these birds will live from 15 to 32 years.

Their green plumage provides such a good camouflage in ankle length grasses that they can hide quite effectively until the viewer is only 10–20 metres away. They spend a great deal of time feeding on the ground, and often call to one another with an attractive 'chee chillip chee chillip'.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,

and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

FULL WORM MOON

March 20, marks the the equinox, when the sun passes over Earth's equator (from our perspective on the planet) and the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun. That leads to longer days (and the start of Spring!) in the north and shorter days (and Autumn) in the south.

The day also marks the full moon of March, called the full Worm Moon. The full moon occurred at 9:43 p.m. EDT (0143 March 21 GMT) and will be the third and final "supermoon" of 2019, according to NASA. The space agency describes supermoons as a full moon that occurs near perigee, the closest point to Earth in the moon's monthly orbit.

Happy Autumn (or Spring!) to you wherever you are in the world.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,

and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.