I was just heading off to one of my favourite birding spots, Maryborough sewage treatment plant when I noticed that my driveway was busy with woodswallows. So I changed my plan and grabbed the camera.
These birds are summer visitors and seem to always be on the move. There are plenty about this year probably because of the dry conditions further north. Flocks can be huge, White-browed Woodswallows tend to be the most numerous often accompanied by their masked cousins. They breed in mixed colonies.
The adult males of both species are beautifully marked. The youngsters and females are also attractive but in more muted tones – designer pastels.
The Silo Art Trail in western Victoria has grown a bit since I last drove it.
At Lascelles Rone has painted local farming couple Geoff and Merrilyn Horman, part of a family that has lived and farmed in the area for four generations. They occupy one silo each facing in opposite directions. Maybe they’re not talking to each other …
Lascelles … Geoff
It has an unwanted effect for the photographer. When Geoff is nicely lit Merrilyn is contra jour.
Lascelles … Merrilyn
I’ll have to go back on an overcast day. Although the sky that day was being generous in other ways …
It’s not only time for the orchid society to flaunt the seasonally gaudy it’s also time for Victoria’s native orchids to show off their more subtle and delicate flowers. Here’s a couple that I’ve found in the past week.
This first one was in open woodland in the Grampians …
Caladenia tentaculata
This one was in the Wail State Forest …
Pterostylis maxima
Disclaimer … When it comes to matters botanical my id skills are suspect. Treat these names with caution.
Bendigo, another of Victoria’s gold rush towns, is just a little smaller than Ballarat but I think it offers a little bit more to the night photographer.
Sacred Heart Cathedral
The plans hit paper in the late 1890’s, consecration occurred in 1901, the building was finished in 1977. It is the second tallest church in Australia (86.64 metres or 284 feet 4 inches). It’s the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst.
Alexandra Fountain
The fountain is 8.5 m (8.5m) tall in a 15 m (50 feet) diameter pool. Do not dive in it’s only 61cm (2 feet) deep. The grand opening was in 1881 and was attended by Princes Albert and George, sons of Alexandra Princess of Wales in whose honour the fountain was named.
The Post Office
Opened for business in 1887, they knew how to build them in those days.
Shamrock Hotel
The Shamrock began life in 1854, as a small hotel known as The Exchange Hotel, servicing miners during the Victorian gold rush including a Cobb and Co. office and a concert hall known as the Theatre Royal.
The hotel’s patronage had grown quickly with the booming goldfields and it was renamed the Shamrock in 1855. The same year the Theatre Royal hosted Lola Montez, performing for the diggers who threw gold nuggets at her feet, many of which the Shamrock staff took as tips while cleaning. Wikipedia.
The gold rush to Ballarat began in 1851. The gold hasn’t completely run out even now. The city has a population of around 100,000 making it the third largest in the state of Victoria and also the third largest inland city in Australia.
By Australian standards the central district is rich in heritage buildings and at night it’s quite a vibrant place …
The Arch of Victory
Gateway to the Avenue of Honour which extends westwards for 22km in remembrance of those that died in the First World War. It was opened by the Prince of Wales on 3 June 1920.
Turn smartly around and head east instead and you’re on the main drag – Sturt Street.
St Patrick’s Cathedral completed 1871
… And in the news recently for all the wrong reasons. But keep heading east.
Ballarat Town Hall
The original town hall was destroyed by fire, this one was commenced in 1859.
Around the corner in Lydiard Street something more modern …
bobmcgee 