AUTUMN SUNSHINE

We've had a couple of very mild and sunny Autumn days, perfect weather for long walks in the Darebin Parklands in suburban Melbourne.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

SOUTHERN DART

Ocybadistes walkeri, the greenish grass-dart, green grass-dart, southern dart or yellow-banded dart, is a type of butterfly known as a skipper found in eastern and southern Australia, with one subspecies found in the Northern Territory. The larvae feed on Dianella, Brachypodium distachyon, Cynodon dactylon, Erharta erecta, Panicum maximum, Pennisetum clandestinum and Thuarea involuta. This species was named after the distinguished English insect collector James J. Walker

The caterpillar has a dark brown head marked with a white wavy band on each side. The body is green. It usually rests by day in a shelter formed from rolled blades of its foodplant, and grows to a length of about 2 cms. To us, the caterpillar was indistinguishable from that of the related species Ocybadistes flavovittatus. Most of these caterpillars we found in Melbourne were Ocybadistes walkeri, and most of them found in Sydney were Ocybadistes flavovittatus.

The adults have dark brown wings with orange markings above. The undersurfaces of the wings have similar markings, but on a greenish yellow background, except for a dark patch along the hind margin of each forewing. The wingspan is about 2 cms. The dark grey patch on each forewing of the males, and the more convex margin of the female forewing, are the best means of distinguishing the sexes.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

SUNRISE

Sunrise from my window this morning.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

ARGYRANTHEMUM

Argyranthemum (marguerite, marguerite daisy, dill daisy) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Asteraceae. Members of this genus are sometimes also placed in the genus Chrysanthemum. The genus is endemic to Macaronesia, occurring only on the Canary Islands, the Savage Islands, and Madeira.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

HIGH AND MIGHTY

The eucalypts are the tallest flowering plant in the world and they are native to Australia. Here they are seen in Mt Dandenong, about 50 km East of Melbourne.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

SKYSCRAPERS

They build them higher and higher and higher...

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme.

AUTUMNAL MOOD

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

LOTS OF THOUGHTS

At the T&T market today someone was selling old pennies. On 14 February 1966, Australians woke to a brand-new currency. The decision to change from the Australian pound (with its awkward shillings and pence) to a decimal currency – the Australian dollar – was a pragmatic, economic one. Yet decimalisation became an opportunity for Australia to assert itself as an increasingly self-assured and forward-thinking country. The conversion was also a major logistical and public relations triumph...

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

PIGEONS

Didn't mean to frighten them!

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

AUTUMN AFTERNOON

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme