Wednesday, December 23, 2009

A day outing in Melbourne

A small walk of 100 feet around Flinder's Street station gives good photo opportunities.





Street Artists

The street artists of Melbourne amazed me a lot. These guys have got really amazing skills.


An artist using spray paint and custom made tools


An artist using chalks

A guy posing like a statue


A journey by train


All of the sudden, the view outside the train attracted me. Off course I look out in all the angles.

Guess what? It is letters "J-E-S-U-S" on the sky.

A plane is drawing Jesus on the sky above Melbourne

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Birding at Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne

Situated in the centre of Melbourne's CBD, the Royal Botanic Garden (RBG) offers a good retreat for birders with easy access by public transport (also within Melbourne's free City Circle Shuttle bus). Attracted by variety of natural habitats, many species of birds have chosen the garden as their home to escape from the city's concrete jungles. Especially, the well maintained ornamental lake and its surroundings host a large number of water birds.


Birds in this garden are very much used to the presence of human and can be photographed easily. During my first visit on a late spring day, I could see 21 species and photographed 15 species with my 55-250mm lens. I was so thrilled as it was the first time I could photograph seven new species in a single day.

During my walk through eucalyptus (gum trees) forests and woodlands, I heard a very distinctive, sweet and bell-like 'tink' sound from different directions at regular intervals. It was really hard to trace-out the source of the sound and it took some time to locate some olive-green birds. And, it took further time to confirm that they are the ones making such musical sound. A search on Internet helped to identify them as Bell Miners, an endemic species of South East Australia, with a very interesting colony life style and food supply conservation.

As I walked, I could hear some noise coming from a thickly wooded area. A pair of White-browed Scrubwrens, another new species for me, were there and photographing them was a real challenge as they hide in thick and dark under-growths, and moved swiftly. Had to use flash to capture this shot.

Very active Willie Wagtails roam around the lawns of the garden and hardly give pose for photos.

Lakes in RBG are the ideal places to watch many waterbird species such as Dusky Moorhens, Coots, Purple Swamphens, Pacific Black Ducks, Black Swans, and Cormorants.


Some of the birds I saw, but missed/ignored to take photos are:
  1. Common Starlings,
  2. Common Mynas,
  3. Blackbirds,
  4. Spotted doves,
  5. Little Black Cormorant, and
  6. Little Wattlebirds.
According to Bird Observation & Conservation Australia (BOCA), birds such as Chestnut Teal, Hardhead, Australasian Grebe, Little Pied Cormorant, Nankeen Night-Heron, Brown Thornbill, White-plumed Honeyeater, Grey Fantail, Little Raven, Silvereye, Welcome Swallow and House Sparrow are also common in RBG. In addition, Australian Wood Duck, Hoary-headed Grebe, Rock Dove, Australasian Darter, White-faced Heron, Australian Hobby, Red-rumped Parrot, Laughing Kookaburra, Superb Fairy-wren, Spotted Pardalote, Eastern Spinebill, Pied Currawong, Australian Reed-Warbler and Song Thrush too have been sighted in RBG.

Some scenes of RBG

Some details of the Royal Botanic Garden (RBG), Melbourne are as follows:

Entrance Fee: Free!

Open Hours:
07:30 hrs - 20:30 hrs (November - March)
07:30 hrs - 17:30 hrs (May - August)
07:30 hrs - 18:00 hrs (April, September & October)

Address:
Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra, VIC 3141

Access by public transport:
From Flinder's street railway station take tram numbered 3, 5, 8, 16, 64 or 67 towards the shrine of remembrance along St. Kilda road. Get down at the Domain road interchange (a good landmark is the close proximity of shrine of remembrance). Walk towards the shrine of remembrance and behind the shrine of remembrance is the visitor centre of Royal Botanic Garden.

The shrine of remembrance

Website URL:
www.rbg.vic.gov.au

See also:
My other pages of Melbourne are:

Friday, December 4, 2009

Iconic "Thaddi-Van"s of Point Pedro - Kodikaamam route, Jaffna

"Thaddi vans" are the classic symbols of Point Pedro (Paruththiththurai) - Kodikaamam route, operating exclusively in the route for over eight decades. The noise of the air-horn ("paam paam"), roaring engine sound and the resonance of vehicle's body with it, wooden seats - mostly without cushions, and the glassless windows allowing dusty air through it, make the journey by Thaddi van a unique experience.

A "Thaddi van" at Point Pedro old market

"Thaddi vans" at Point Pedro old market

A "Thaddi van" at Kodikaamam junction

For my detailed writeup in Tamil, "தட்டி வான்", click here.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

The Islands off Jaffna Peninsula

தீவகம், யாழ்ப்பாணம்

The cluster of islands off Jaffna peninsula, known as "theevakam" in Tamil language, is of great importance in many aspects. They are considered as the home for the ancient tribes of Nagas, and in the pre-colonial era they were the stop-over places for seafaring kings and traders of South Asia. The glory of these islands is still well existent thanks to the successful entrepreneurs and leading professionals who hail from these small islands and have proven themselves all over the world.

PaNNai Causeway (பண்ணை வழி)

Among the islands, MaNdaitheevu, VelaNai and Punkudutheevu are connected with the mainland via PaNNai causeway, while Karaitheevu (Karainagar) is connected via Ponnaalai causeway. Ferry services are available from the Kurikadduvaan jetty of (Punkudutheevu) to reach Nainatheevu and Neduntheevu (Delft) islands.

MaNdaitheevu (மண்டைதீவு)

VElaNai (வேலணை)

Punkudutheevu (புங்குடுதீவு)

The above photos were taken during the rainy season caused by the North-East monsoon (blowing from bay of Bengal). The paddy cultivation in these tiny islands depends entirely on this seasonal rainfall as there are no rivers or enough ground water deposits for large scale irrigation.