WEBB BRIDGE

Webb Bridge (or Web Bridge) is a walkway/cycleway across the Yarra River from the southside housing developments to the northside entertainment, shopping and dining venues at the Melbourne Docklands. It's an interesting, unique-looking bridge which is part of a Melbourne public art project.

Webb Bridge was designed to represent a Koori (Australian aboriginal) eel trap. The bridge reused the remaining sections of the disused Webb Rail Bridge. But because the framework of the bridge does look like a mesh or web, the name Web Bridge may become the more common appellation.

Crossing Webb Bridge from the Yarra River southside area known as Yarra's Edge brings you to Docklands Park on the north side and thence to Victoria Harbour Promenade, Harbour Esplanade with Docklands Stadium on the right, and on to NewQuay and Waterfront City on the north side of Victoria Harbour.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,

and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,

and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

AUSTRALASIAN SWAMPHEN

The Australasian swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus) is a species of swamphen occurring in eastern Indonesia, the Moluccas, Aru and Kai Islands, as well as in Papua New Guinea and Australia. It is also found in New Zealand, where it is known as the pukeko, a term derived from the Māori language. The Australasian swamphen used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

RUSH HOUR

"Hi Ho Hi Ho,
Its Off To Work We Go!"

Rush hour on the Eastern Freeway where hapless commuters battle the traffic every morning to get to work. And it will get much worse as our city grows and its growth is not only unchecked, but encouraged mindlessly...

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

MELBOURNE WEEDS 12 - WILD CLEMATIS

In the Parklands around suburban Melbourne the wild clematis is blooming. Clematis vitalba (also known as old man's beard and traveller's joy) is a climbing shrub of the Ranunculaceae family.

The plant has branched, grooved stems, deciduous leaves, and scented greeny-white flowers with fluffy underlying sepals. The many fruits formed in each inflorescence have long silky appendages which, seen together, give the characteristic appearance of old man's beard. The grooves along the stems of C. vitalba can easily be felt when handling the plant.

Due to its disseminatory reproductive system, vitality, and climbing behaviour, Clematis vitalba is an invasive plant in most places, including many in which it is native. Some new tree plantations can be suffocated by a thick layer of Clematis vitalba, if not checked.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

EVERLASTING DAISIES

Xerochrysum bracteatum, commonly known as the golden everlasting or strawflower, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Australia. Described by Étienne Pierre Ventenat in 1803, it was known as Helichrysum bracteatum for many years before being transferred to a new genus Xerochrysum in 1990. It grows as a woody or herbaceous perennial or annual shrub up to a metre tall with green or grey leafy foliage.

Golden yellow or white flower heads are produced from spring to autumn; their distinctive feature is the papery bracts that resemble petals. The species is widespread, growing in a variety of habitats across the country, from rainforest margins to deserts and subalpine areas.

The golden everlasting has proven very adaptable to cultivation. It was propagated and developed in Germany in the 1850s, and annual cultivars in a host of colour forms from white to bronze to purple flowers became available. Many of these are still sold in mixed seed packs. In Australia, many cultivars are perennial shrubs, which have become popular garden plants. Sturdier, long-stemmed forms are used commercially in the cut flower industry.

This post is part of the ABC Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the  Floral Friday Fotos meme.

MELBOURNE SUNRISE

"At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear. It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us. You can love completely without complete understanding." - Norman Maclean

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.

BLOOD MOON

Curiosity and awe have greeted a complete lunar eclipse, the longest one of this century and visible in much of the world. The so-called "blood moon," when it turns a deep red, was visible at different times in Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe and South America on Saturday when the Sun, Earth and Moon lined up perfectly, casting Earth's shadow on the Moon.

The total eclipse lasted one hour, 42 minutes and 57 seconds, though a partial eclipse preceded and followed it, meaning the Moon spent a total of three hours and 54 minutes in the Earth's umbral shadow, according to NASA.

Mars is currently traveling closer to Earth than it has since 2003, so some observers might have also seen what looked like an orange-red star, but it was in fact the Red Planet. It is a very unusual coincidence to have a total lunar eclipse and Mars at opposition on the same night. Mars is at its brightest in 15 years.

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 Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

OLD WARES

Market stall in St Andrews Community Market, close to Melbourne.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday 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,

and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

EVENING

Sun setting in the suburbs in Melbourne. It's good to be near home at sunset in Winter...

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