DAREBIN CREEK

One of the lovely spots in the Darebin Parklands in the midst of metropolitan Melbourne.

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.

DAREBIN CREEK

The Darebin Creek at Preston. Darebin Creek is a creek that runs through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the main watercourse of the Darebin Valley and a major tributary of the Yarra River. For tens of thousands of years it was used as a food and tool source sustainably by the Wurundjeri people, Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation alliance, who spoke variations of the Woiwurrung language group.

The creek rises on the northern urban fringe of Melbourne north of the suburb of Epping, following a general southerly route and meeting the Yarra at Alphington. The creek forms much of the municipal boundary between the City of Darebin and City of Banyule. Formerly an intermittent stream, increased stormwater runoff with urbanisation of the Darebin Creek catchment has resulted in permanent water flow. 

The creek runs through Darebin Parklands, a large nature reserve one or two kilometres northwest of the junction at which the creek meets the Yarra. The Darebin Creek Trail runs along the banks in the lower reaches of the creek.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

BY THE CREEK

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

PATH

A quiet, deserted path by the Darebin Creek in Preston, a northern suburb.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

LOCKDOWN POND

We have experienced a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Melbourne over the past couple of weeks and thus, Victoria has introduced stage 3 restrictions over metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire. This entails people to stay at home unless they are shopping for essentials, caregiving, exercising in the open, or going to work or study (if it’s not possible to do this from home).

Social distancing is the order of the day, hand-washing and sanitising ever one's duty, as well as self-isolating if awaiting COVID-19 test results. Testing for the virus is widespread and more and more people are being encouraged to have the test. The wearing of masks is strongly recommended in situations where there is opportunity for the virus to spread, for example, on public transport or crowded supermarkets.

In our family we are able to follow all the rules of minimising risks of infection, and we are lucky enough to live within walking distance of marvellous parks in which to walk for exercise. Here illustrated is the Darebin Parklands where one may walk safely to one's heart's content. Large open natural areas can be found in most suburbs in Melbourne and they are a godsend in times like these. Keep safe and healthy wherever you are!

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

CROW

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

MAGPIE

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

WINTER MORNING

The water purification pond at the Darebin Parklands. Walking there early this morning for my exercise now that the gym has closed due to Lockdown#2. I must have disturbed the magpie, which is scooting off to the left...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

RAINY DAY WALK

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

FROSTY

Last Monday was a very frosty morning and the temperature was close to zero even after the sun had risen. A walk in the park proved to be quite bracing.

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.

DUCK+LINGS

The Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa), commonly known as the PBD, is a dabbling duck found in much of Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and many islands in the southwestern Pacific, reaching to the Caroline Islands in the north and French Polynesia in the east. It is usually called the grey duck in New Zealand, where it is also known by its Maori name, pārera.

Pacific Black Ducks breed from June to January in the South, and from January to April in the North. This mother duck was having some difficulty keeping all her ducklings under control!

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

SUNRISE

Early morning in the Darebin Parklands in suburban Melbourne.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

CREEK

Darebin Creek at Preston, near Murray Rd.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

PIED CURRAWONG

 The pied currawong (Strepera graculina) is a medium-sized black passerine bird native to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island. One of three currawong species in the genus Strepera, it is closely related to the butcherbirds and Australian magpie of the family Artamidae. Six subspecies are recognised.

It is a robust crow-like bird averaging around 48 cm in length, black or sooty grey-black in plumage with white undertail and wing patches, yellow irises, and a heavy bill. The male and female are similar in appearance. Known for its melodious calls, the species' name currawong is believed to be of indigenous origin. Within its range, the pied currawong is generally sedentary, although populations at higher altitudes relocate to lower areas during the cooler months. It is omnivorous, with a diet that includes a wide variety of berries and seeds, invertebrates, bird eggs and juvenile birds.

It is a predator which has adapted well to urbanisation and can be found in parks and gardens as well as rural woodland. The habitat includes all kinds of forested areas, although mature forests are preferred for breeding. Roosting, nesting and the bulk of foraging take place in trees, in contrast with the ground-foraging behaviour of its relative, the Australian magpie. Here it is seen in suburban Melbourne, in the Darebin Parklands in Fairfield.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

FOGGY

It's been cold and wintry these past few mornings, and on a couple of days we've had morning fog. Although I enjoy taking my morning walk in the fog, it's so lovely to come home to a warm house and a cup of steaming hot chocolate!

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.

HELLO!

A friendly doggie we met while we were walking in the Darebin Parklands. He had to stop and say hello!

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

SUNSHINE

We've had a couple of days of wonderful, mellow, autumnal sunshine and it was the perfect weather for a long walk in the Darebin Parklands. It seems many other people had the same idea, but the park is large enough so that one can find stretches where one thinks oneself quite alone there!

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

FISHING SPIDER

Dolomedes is a genus of large spiders of the family Pisauridae. They are also known as fishing spiders, raft spiders, dock spiders or wharf spiders. Almost all Dolomedes species are semiaquatic, with the exception of the tree-dwelling D. albineus of the Southeastern United States. Many species have a striking pale stripe down each side of the body.

They hunt by waiting at the edge of a pool or stream, then when they detect the ripples from prey, they run across the surface to subdue it using their foremost legs, which are tipped with small claws; like other spiders they then inject venom with their hollow jaws to kill and digest the prey. They mainly eat insects, but some larger species are able to catch small fish. They can also climb beneath the water, when they become encased in a silvery film of air.

"Dolomedes" is derived from the Greek word "dolomedes" which means wily, deceitful. There are over a hundred species of Dolomedes throughout the world; examples include Dolomedes aquaticus, a forest-stream species of New Zealand, the raft spider (D. fimbriatus), which lives in bogs in Europe, and the great raft spider (D. plantarius), which lives in fens, also in Europe. Many species are large, some with females up to 26 mm long with a leg span of 80 mm.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

WILY WEB

Autumn in Australia, especially Victoria, is rather different to the Northern Hemisphere autumn. Here, most of our native trees (Eucalypts and Wattles) are evergreen, so with the first hint of cool, wet weather, we see their leaves take on a bright olive green to milky green hue. The grass is green because of our mild weather and foggy, cold mornings are more frequent. Every so often we enjoy a mellow, sunny and relatively warm day. It's a beautiful season.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.

PARKLANDS

A lovely walk in the Darebin Parklands today, where many other people were enjoying the Autumn sun (while observing social distancing!).

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.