Near Hosier Lane is another Laneway, ACDC Lane, named in honour of the rock band AC/DC . The Lane circles back to Flinders Lane via Duckboard Place. Many of the walls have large colourful pieces. Along with the great art are several good restaurants and a famous Bar and live music venue – Cherry.
Street Art, ACDC Lane
II
ACDC Lane
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
Next Post – Duckboard Place
My local birder network sent through a message that said a rare bird had popped up in our neighbourhood – a Western Gerygone. It had been sighted down Elster Creek near the mouth. So after leaving work earlier than usual on Friday and having a few extra hours of light I headed down the creek to look for the little bird. It is usually found north the Great Dividing Range so we are not too sure why it has ended up along the Southern coast.
Along the way I found a Great Egret grooming between snacks.
Great Egret
Great Egret
Eventually I found the Gerygone where it had been reported, flying over the creek from side to side with two little Brown Thornbills.
Western Gerygone
II
III
IV
Amongst the large murals and spray-painted images in Hosier and Rutledge Lanes are quite a few smaller ones. Many are comments, statements, protests and funny thoughts. I like finding these more unusual images.
(Update: I walked through Hosier Lane today and many of the larger pieces that I have posted over the last few days that were taken a few weeks ago are now gone or are partially obscured by other artists work. Much of the new work seems to be large ornate tags rather than pictures – I will have a look after the long weekend coming up)
Pirate Empire – Hosier Lane, Melbourne CBD
Hosier Lane, Melbourne CBD
Hosier Lane, Melbourne CBD
Hosier Lane, Melbourne CBD
Hosier Lane, Melbourne CBD
Hosier Lane, Melbourne CBD
Hosier Lane, Melbourne CBD
Flinders Lane, Melbourne CBD
Posted in Laneways, Melbourne CBD, Victoria
Tagged Australia, Flinders Lane, Hosier Lane, Photography, Rutledge Lane, Street Art, Street Photography, Urban Photography, Victoria
Moving further down Hosier Lane there is a looping alley called Rutledge Lane with its own artwork on every wall and surface. I spent a few minutes watching an artist work as well as helping a few tourists take some photos of themselves with the walls…sometime the selfie sticks are just not long enough.
Rutledge Lane off Hosier Lane, Melbourne CBD
A street artist in Rutledge Lane off Hosier Lane, Melbourne CBD
Rutledge Lane off Hosier Lane, Melbourne CBD
Hosier Lane
Near the bottom of Hosier Lane is a very good Tapas and modern Spanish style restaurant called Movida.
Movida in Hosier Lane
Posted in Laneways, Street Art, Victoria
Tagged Australia, Hosier Lane, Photography, Rutledge Lane, Street Art, Street Photography, Urban Photography, Victoria
Continuing from yesterday’s post on some of the recent street art in Hosier Lane during May. Another week or two and much of this will be gone and covered by other pieces (or a mess of tags until an artist claims a chunk of wall).
Hosier Lane Artwork, Melbourne CBD, May 2015
II
III
IV
Posted in Laneways, Melbourne CBD, Victoria
Tagged Australia, graffiti, Hosier Lane, Melbourne CBD, Melbourne Laneways, Photography, Street Art, Urban Photography, Victoria
A recent sunny lunchtime found me wandering the back streets and laneways looking for interesting shots of old Melbourne.
I find that converting the image to black and white removes the clutter of modern colours and distractions and allows me to see the old bones.
Higson Lane, Melbourne CBD
MJ Bale, George Parade, Melbourne CBD.
Melbourne Club Wall – woman are only allowed on one side of this wall…
Melbourne Club Wall
Bourke Street, Melbourne CBD
Job Warehouse, Bourke St, Melbourne CBD
Pellegrini’s, Melbourne CBD
It was the screeching that attracted me over to the tree near Elster Creek a few weeks ago. I found a lone Little Corella, on a branch in a gum tree. I moved in closer trying not to spook it and starting taking pictures. It screeched when I took a few rapid shots – it could hear the camera shutter sound. I watched it and it watched me. After just moving around the branch a bit it fell backward and just hung by its feet and looked at me again…I kept shooting as it started to play with branches and bark. Cockatoos are long lived birds and this must mean a certain amount of intelligence has developed and with it a sense of humour. This bird was playing and seemingly including me in its antics.
Little Corella, Elster Creek
II
III
IV
the Corella started to swing under the branch
VI
VII
Hanging by a leg, and watching me
the moment before the end of the show
The next thing it did was let go the branch and try to grab the bark with both feet but it was far too heavy and it dropped from the tree. Luckily it had enough height to right itself and fly back up to a branch on the next tree. The show was over.
Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria
Tagged Australia, Australian Birds, Bird Photography, Elster Creek, Little Corella, Nature Photography, Photography, Victoria
The State Library reading room has to be one of the best spots in the CBD to sit and study. It is also a good place to photograph from one of the many nooks on the several floors above the main room. I have been here a number of times to view the galleries, the art, and to watch people study.
Click on photo for a larger view
State Library, Melbourne CBD
II
III
Posted in Architecture, Melbourne CBD, Victoria
Tagged Australia, Melbourne CBD, Photography, State Library of Victoria, Victoria
On a recent walk across to the lakes in my area I took several photos of the usual birds in the late afternoon light. On processing I noticed that a few seemed to have an intense gaze.
The Willie Wagtail had just finished a dip into the water and grooming and after this shot took off to catch insects above the lake’s surface.
Willie Wagtail, Elsternwick Park
The Noisy Miner had just gate crashed into a large group of Swallows grooming on the dead tree at the lake. He was staring intensely at a swallow that seemed to be ignoring him.
Noisy Miner, Elsternwick Park
The Swallows soon came back to the tree and continued their grooming with one keeping a keen lookout and watching the miner which had flown to another nearby tree.
Welcome Swallows, Elsternwick Park
Welcome Swallow landing back onto the tree branch after being chased off by the Noisy Miner.
A pair of White Plumed Honeyeaters grooming after a dip in the lake.
After spending a part of yesterday at the farm working the patch for Fanior and Henry, I stopped in at Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve for a walk in the mid afternoon sunlight. It was cool, calm and very quiet, not many species of birds around expect for quite a few White-Eared and New Holland Honeyeaters. Walking along the Emu Wren Track I noticed a bird on an overhanging branch. I was quite surprised and delighted to find it was a Bassian Thrush. I have only seen a few of this species over the last few years and this was my first time photographing one. I suspect it was a juvenile by the way it seemed to be crouched and begging a bit. I did not see any adults but they are much more secretive and generally harder to see and find.
Juvenile Bassian Thrush
II
III
In the late afternoon light I found some large banksias that had a few Little Wattlebirds feeding on the flowers.
Little Wattlebird
The padlocks have been removed. 20,000 signs of committed love cut from the sagging wires of the foot bridge. Stored in buckets until the City Council can figure out what to do with them. They lasted for 3 years and due to their weight and that other cities like Paris were removing their padlock chains (apparently because the fad is over) we have lost ours too. A few weeks ago I just happened to be on the river after work with a friend and we stopped to take a few practice pics of the evening views and the city skyline as the light faded and the city lights kicked in.
Ponyfish Island (with bar) under the Yarra Walking Bridge, Melbourne CBD
Padlocks on the Yarra Walking Bridge, Melbourne CBD
Padlocks II
Yarra Dusk from the Southbank, Melbourne CBD
II
While looking for Tawny Frogmouths at Braeside Park recently, I spotted a Black Shouldered Kite at the top of a dead tree in one of the dried out lagoons. The Kite of course saw me immediately moving from the scrub out into the waist high grass and thistles towards the tree. I did not make eye contact as I moved slowly and just stopped a few times to take a few photos. In the end I was quite surprised at how close close I managed to get. I had to back up a bit so I could use my 400mm Lens. Every now and again he would look at me and then go back to gazing down, around and up. He never did spook and after I took my shots I turned around and went back through the thorns and thistles to the lakeside path. The Kite is a stunning bird and a very successful hunter of mice and other smaller birds and animals. Another of my top 10 birds.
Black Shouldered Kite keeping an eye on me
II
One of the smaller Raptors in Australia. It still has the large talons, sharp eyes and the hooked beak
IV
V
Black Shouldered Kite – his glance up told me that something was flying above me…
When I turned around and looked up I saw a half dozen large Australian Pelicans flying in a wingtip formation.
Australian Pelicans
On a recent visit to Braeside Park, I looked out for the resident Tawny Frogmouths. There are many Frogmouths in the park but they are well camouflaged and while they do stick to their territories they move to different trees and roosts every few days. I found 5 on this particular day. (My best day was 14 Frogmouths). To find them you need to look for a suitable area and then look for the right sort of tree, height, and position. Once you find a suitable area you need to look for something that does not quite fit in, a colour variation or round lump that does not quite belong.
The Frogmouth is in my top 10 favourites due to its calm nature, its camouflage skills and the serene look it gives you when it acknowledges your presence. When agitated, some will pretend to be a branch stump while others will ignore you with just a yellow eye watching you now and again.
A large Tawny Frogmouth, Braeside Park in May
Tawny Frogmouth, with mate tucked down behind – he was a little nervous as I made my way around the tree for a clearer shot
A pair of Tawny Frogmouths, keeping an eye on me, much more relaxed
This pair were quite wary of me even though they are quite high in the tree. They relaxed from their camouflage pose after a few minutes…
When you spend some time looking for Frogmouths your eyes start tune into objects that seem to stand out from the norm. I could not quite figure out what this furry lump was from a distance but when I got closer it turned out to be a Brush Tailed Possum with its bum hanging out of its daytime hollow getting a bit sun while it still slept.
Brush Tailed Possum, soaking up some warmth
II
A few weeks ago when we finally had a warm sunny day (and we have not seen much since), I dropped in at Braeside Park to get some exercise and see what birds were around. It was the quietest I had ever seen it and the driest. The remaining lagoon has dropped considerably and except for the specialist mud feeders the rest seem to have moved on to deeper waters at other sites. I did get a nice series of shots of a few local birds that are generally resident all year round.
The first in the series was a pair of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. I only saw these two from a distance due to their very white feathers. You would usually hear cockatoos from quite a way off – one of their defence mechanisms is a very loud 100db+ screech. (I have walked underneath a pair of nesting cockatoos and the noise was deafening. ). These two were very quiet, on low branches and quite unafraid of me as I walked up slowly and carefully to see what they were up to. Even when higher in the trees wild cockatoos are quite wary of people and usually fly off. I took a few shots and watched for a while.
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
II
Stripping and chewing on the sap covered bark of a Wattle Tree
Ripping the bark off the wattle
going deep into the wood of the branch
coming away with sappy chunks
chewing and just casually keeping an eye on me…
I have seen cockatoos and other similar species chew on dead branches (and peoples houses and wooden verandahs) to keep their beaks trimmed and from growing too big, and I have seen a few dead wattle trees around the park with the bark peeled right down – I had thought that the cockatoos had striped the bark after the tree was dead to do some beak maintenance but maybe they are the ones that are killing the tree with a bit of ring barking while getting high on the sap and wood pulp…
Exploring the alleys around Bourke St Mall, looking for art, colour and food, I came across this little gem with a nice bit of sunlight managing to hit the wall deep in a narrow laneway only 2 metres wide.
Sprinkler Stop Valve Inside, Melbourne CBD
A narrow Laneway looking out to the Bourke St Mall
Posted in Laneways, Melbourne CBD, Street Art
Tagged Australia, graffiti, Photography, Street Art, Street Photography, Urban Photography, Victoria
The Gap Year and Beyond 