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The incredible Black Wattle (Acacia mearnsii), or "gurrah" in Wadawurrung language. They are the last of the wattles to bloom, but the scent is like walking into a lolly-shop. The gum was a special treat like sugar candy. The bark was medicinal. I've used Grodon and Douglas for scale. #flora

gurrah - Black Wattle (Acacia mearnsii)
oval shaped green leaves with pale yellow flowers.

Seeds: Ground into nutritious flour rich in protein and carbohydrates, then baked into flatbread
Aboriginals used to soak the bark in a wooden waddie next to an open fire to extract their own antiseptics. Cuts and aching joints were treated with this decoction. They also used to split the bark into lengths of coarse string to produce baskets and bind the flint heads onto their spear shafts.

The gum was a special treat like sugar candy.

gurrah - Black Wattle (Acacia mearnsii) tree standing at about 5-6m tall and 4-5m wide. Dogs used for scale

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Households across Australia are cancelling annual holidays, cutting back on groceries and reducing other spending because the 80-year-old little boy is out of his depth. Read the full story: theshovel.com.au/2026/05/06/i... #fucktrump #trump

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Poppies are popping in the welcome sunshine. Not sure what the draginfly is called (other than Bruce). I think it might be a Blue Ringtail damselfly ? #dragonfly #damselfly #Entomology

a slender Blue Ringtail damselfly resting on the petal of a red poppy

red, yellow and white poppies in the sunshine

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Emperor Gum Moth — proof that moths don't need good PR when they're this spectacular. Not everything in Australia wants to kill you, but when one of these moth-ers flies into your face at night, it's 'memorable'. #lepidoptera #moth #australia

underside view of an Emperor Gum Moth clinging to a bracken fern

an Emperor Gum Moth clinging to a bracken fern

an Emperor Gum Moth clinging to a bracken fern with a hand for scale - note, I didn't touch it!

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

There is a little pussy, Her coat is silver-gray, She lives in a wide, wide meadow, Not very far away. She'll always be a pussy, She'll never be a cat, Because she's a pussy willow Now what do you think of that? ------------------------------- Embrace the fluff #spring #flowers #cats

Pussy willow silver blossom buds and the flowering yellow buds on the bare branches in a park setting

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Jamima and her puddle ducklings were loving the lake overflow. One of these beautiful babies came out of the egg I posted yesterday. Pacific black ducks - chicks are about 3 days old. Embrace the fluff #birds of #Australia in #spring

Female pacific black duck and one baby being guided over to the others in the grass

Five of the seven baby ducklings in grass that is as tall as them. There are a couple of small purple orchids in among the grass

muddy duckling spitting mudfrom it's beak.

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

The Australian forest has developed a mutualistic partnership with fire. Fire clears out the competing undergrowth. The intense heat cracks open woody seed pods, and the resulting ash creates a nutrient-rich "ash bed" that triggers massive seed germination. But too much of a good thing is too much.

An epicormic shoot is a shoot growing from an epicormic bud, which lies underneath the bark of a trunk, stem, or branch of a plant.

Epicormic buds lie dormant beneath the bark, their growth suppressed by hormones from active shoots higher up the plant. Under certain conditions, they grow into active shoots, such as when damage occurs to higher parts of the plant.

This photo shows a burnt messmate gum tree with black bark. Growing out of the burnt fibrous bark is a small bunch of bright green leaves - this is the epicormic shoot providing nutrients to the damaged tree.

This is a photo of a burnt forest. There are blackened gum trees and a grass tree with bright green spear-like leaves growing in the sunlight. There are also patches of green plant life showing on the dirt floor.
This is six months after the fire.

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Warning: Carnivorous Plant - scented sundew (Drosera aberrans). Late winter/early spring and these bad boys are exploding all over the forest floor. Aboriginal people use the tubers for food and as a treatment for skin and respiratory conditions. #Flowers of #Australia

a single flower bud getting ready to bloom. Showing a hint of the white flower

Four sundew flowers in bloom, with their sticky leaves behind them

showing how many of the flowers have bloomed at the same time, there are possibly 20-30 small white flowers blooming on a bed of sundew plants

the forest floor is littered with small white flowers

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Reposted by Michael

The Australia Institute @australiainstitute.org.au · 08/09/2026

“It doesn't matter what you do, doesn't matter how much you give him. [Trump] will not defend those bases.” The moment Senator David Shoebridge quoted our own Dr Emma Shortis on the Senate floor! #auspol @emmashortis.bsky.social @davidshoebridge.bsky.social

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

We’re all sitting like drooling Pavlovian dogs, getting worked up over some trivial non-stories just because some pimply tech billionaire in Silicon Valley programmed an algorithm to reward our most primitive, reptilian impulses. Let the fluff be enough! #spread #love & #peace not #hate

A close-up photo of a black swan cygnet of about one week of age.
The cygnet is sitting in green grass that is only a couple of centimetres high

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

early morning light on nature's necklace ... well it sparkles like diamonds ;-) #Australian #landscape #photography

beams of sunlight through a gumtree forest. The light is shining onto a spider web on the right side of the photo

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

"I see you, watching me, watching you" The Rogue Traders Sometimes it's easy to overlook the beauty all around us. Identities in ALT text. #Birds of #Australia

Eastern Rosella parrot.
Rosellas got their name from early settlers seeing them at a place known as "Rose Hill" in Sydney - Rose Hillers. (later renamed Parramatta).

Willy wagtail.

Best snake warning ever - they go off if they spot snakes.

Splendid Fairy Wren (male) doing what they do best ... lurking in srubbery

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I wonder what kangaroos think of the stars? Wadawurrung for kangaroo is: goim. goim ngurdang (female) and goim guliwan (male) #kangaroo #nature

five kangaroos on a hilltop with the night sky filling the top part of the photo.

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Even if the tree is dead, they provide habitat. So important to let them stay until they fall. The hand-of-god is pointing the the cocky nest #Birds of #Australia #cockatoo or three

Sulphur-crested cockatoo emerging from the nest in a hollowed-out tree branch

Sulphur-crested cockatoo telling the kids off

If you can zoom in, the hand is pointing to the Sulphur-crested cockatoo from the previous photos.

The photo shows a number of old redgum trees with tree limbs suitable for nesting

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

According to the traditions of the Kulin peoples of south-eastern Australia, Bunjil is a powerful ancestral being and creator, often represented as a wedge-tailed eagle. It carried something furry back to it's gigantic nest. I couldn't see if it was a shared meal or not. #birds of #australia

A wedge-tailed eagle holding something, floating against a blue sky

A bit closer but still unable to see into the eagle nest. It's made of large tree branches and twigs meshed together high up in a gum tree

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Rust never sleeps, neither do blackberry bushes. 1860s Marshall Britannia portable steam engine seen in 2021 and again in 2026 #time lapsed

a rusty old Marshall Britannia portable steam engine beginning to be overtaken by blackberry bushes

the same rusty old Marshall Britannia portable steam engine five years later

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Just down the road from home, is this shrine to strine. The Vegemite museum is an insight into the psychology of Australians. Tongue in cheek, yet still somewhat serious. "Because we love our Vegemite..." #vegemite is better than #marmite #australia

Old photos of the inventor of Vegemite and a shelf holding Vegemite jars

A pop-art Vegemite national costume dress was designed for Madeline Cowe, Miss World Australia 2016

A printed image of a Vegemite jar on fabric

A glass shelf holding historic old Vegemite jars

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Wonga song: pied currawongs singing in the rain. Sorry about the video quality, it was raining and cold, but I had to stop and capture that sweet sound. #birds of #Australia #currawong #song

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

George Bills and his wife Annis loved animals. So much so that they left all their money in a trust to: ‘..construct and erect and pay for horse troughs for the relief of horses and other dumb animals either in Australasia, in the British Islands or in any other part of the world.’ #kindess

14 December 1927 George died at his home in Camberwell. His Will entrusted over 85,000 pound for the use by the trustees, in the construction of horse troughs, suitably inscribed with Annis & George Bills. As per the instructions in his will, a trust was set up to: ‘..construct and erect and pay for horse troughs wherever they may be of the opinion that such horse troughs are desirable for the relief of horses and other dumb animals either in Australasia, in the British Islands or in any other part of the world subject to the consent of the proper authorities being obtained.’

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

I looked up and saw an explosion of colour. Not the best framing, they took off as soon as they saw me. Two rainbow lorikeets skittering through the treetops #birds of #Australia

two colourful birds sitting in the branches of gum trees

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

More Silverey snaps from last summer. Mr & Mrs Silvereye enjoying the fruits of my labour #birds of #Australia #silvereye #sweeties

Two silvereye birds on top of my plums, there are nibble marks on the top pulms

a silvereye looking innocent, while standing in front of a destroyed plum

a silvereye upside down hanging from a bunch of elderberries, it has one berry in it's tiny beak

a silvereye on top of a bunch of elderberries, with a single berry in his beak about to be eaten.

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

A silvereye darting between grasses. It seems to be in quite a hurry. But that is their usual MO. Zippy little buggers. korromon (ko-ro-mon) in Wadda wurrung #Birds

a small green bird with blurred wings and a white/silver circle around the eyes. The bird is flying between tall grasses.

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Ulmus glabra ‘Pendula’ Weeping Scotch Elm sometimes also referred to Weeping wych elm 'wych' does not refer to a link to witches or magic, but actually means 'pliant' or 'supple' in old English, relating to the wych elm's properties as a wood for making Welsh bows. I still think it's a witchy tree

a winter-bare elm tree in a botanical garden. The branches are twisted and contorted into bizarre forms

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

The camellias are singing their "spring is coming" song. It certainly attracted more than just me, this red wattle bird was drinking up the nectar. #flowers #springiscoming #birds

a bird is sitting in the top branches of a pink flowering camellia bush

vibrant red single camellias are so beautiful against the dark green leaves

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Two moons From Australia, the Tycho crater is in the top right, in the northern hemisphere it is in the bottom left. No matter where you are, we are looking up at the same moon #moon #same

a balck background with a blurry bright circle of light, with dark outlines of a jasmine vine in focus

a dark background with the full moon as seen from the southern hemisphere

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

This old redgum tree grew in the side of a granite mountain, with very little topsoil. Redgums are such resilliant trees, we can learn a lot from their ability to survive. #Landscape of #Australia #redgum

a misty morning photo of a wide spreading redgum tree.

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

During a sunny break in the rain, I went in search of the gold at the end of a rainbow. The Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) is Australia's national floral emblem. It's a welcoming sign that spring is not far away. #flowers #australia #spring

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Hey, you, out there in the cold Getting lonely, getting old Can you feel me? #Landscape #Photography

a sheep standing in the centre of a photo of green winter fields with a band of yellow canola across the horizontal centre

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Eastern Rosella warming it's back in the morning sunlight #birds of #Australia

a brightly coloured parrot sitting on a dead tree branch. It is facing away from the camera but turned it's head to the side

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Gordon (grey) and Douglas (black) are not happy. It's cold, raining and some hail. Sorry boys, no walk today. #schnauzergang #dogsofbluesky #dogs

Gordon is a Salt and Pepper mini schauzer. He is looking directly at the camera, his ears are folded down (apparently some countries get this surgically changed to have them erect).

Douglas is a black mini schauzer. He is looking directly at the camera and his ears are folded down. He has a bit of red collar showing at his shoulder.

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Here's a pleasing circle in winter green. Gariwerd is in the background #Landscape of #Australia

Photo of a circular dam in a green grass filled paddock, with purple haze mountain range in the background.

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

The white markings around the beak of the Australian Magpie looks surprisingly like a seagull #Birds of #Australia

Australian Magpie side view with bird looking at the camera. The white around it's beak look surprisingly like a seagull

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

A pair of sulphur-crested cockatoos sitting quietly together. They form highly devoted, monogamous bonds that can last for many decades, sometimes spanning up to 60-80 years. #Birds of #Australia #love #reallove

two sulphur-crested cockatoos sit on a bare tree branch looking out to the left. They are framed by gumtree leaves on the top and right hand side of the image.

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

This grass tree stood out from the others for it's size. There were so many and simply amazing to see for their texture, as well as the number of wallabies hiding in them. Grass tree (Xanthorrhoea) Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) and Messmate (Eucalyptus obliqua) #Landscape #Australia

a bushland scene with a very large grass tree in the centre. The grass tree is a dark trunk sprouting hundreds of thin, long green spearlike leaves in a globe structure. The background is made up of blackwood and messmate trees

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Sometimes nature creates a scene that feels almost deliberate: one bird, one branch, one moon... and a moment of perfect stillness. I shared the sunset calm with this Magpie. Both alone, yet somehow brought together in our similar distance from the moon. #Birds of #Australia #magpie #moon

an Australian magpie sits on the tip of a leafless tree branch, looking upward. The branch is lit with a hint of orange from the setting sun. Just to the left and 384,400 km away, the third quarter of the moon appears to be next to the bird.

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

And I don't believe in the existence of angels But looking at you I wonder if that's true But if I did, I would summon them together And ask them to watch over you #Birds of #Australia #NickCave

A sulphur-crested cockatoo is facing away from the camera with it's wings spread out wide

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

The pockmarks on the moon reminded me of the devastation from gold mining. They dug thousands of side-by-side, shallow alluvial holes ranging from just 1 to 6 feet deep to strip away gold-bearing gravel directly from the surface. #Landscape #Ballaarat

Third Quarter of the moon on 8th July 2026

Green weeds grow over the mullock heaps left behind by gold miners as they dug hundreds of holes in the search for gold.

During the gold rush, miners stripped large areas of shallow gold-rich ground down to the bedrock and processed the earth they removed using equipment such as tubs, cradles, puddling machines and sluices.

This method of mining is known as "paddocking" or "surfacing".

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Had to put the big logs on the fire tonight. It's a tad chilly. But nothing beats a good redgum fire

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

A winter scene on Mount Warrenheip (Wadawarrung: Warrengeep). The two white trunks belong to candlebark gum trees, the rest are messmate gums. And yes, it's cold (8c high) but there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices. #landscape of #australia

A wet scene, wheel marks head off to the distance between big gum trees in fog. It's wet and cold

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

We don't need no education We dont need no thought control No dark sarcasm in the classroom Teachers leave them kids alone Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone! All in all it's just another brick in the wall. All in all you're just another brick in the wall. #PinkFloyd #Bluestone

A bluestone brick wall, with an arched entrance bricked in and a rectangular window bricked in with red bricks

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Michael @nomad-notmad.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Dinner will be splendid tonight. Male splendid fairywren decided to have a look in my pan to see if I left anything for him. #Birds of #Australia #Wrensday

image is a cast iron frying pan on top of a wooden picnic table. In the pan is a tiny little splendid fairywren. The wren has brilliant blue markings on his head and back of the neck, separated by black feathers. It is grey underneath

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