At least according to European-styled calendars, spring has just begun in Australia’s southwestern corner.
Seasonal realities are in fact highly “fluid”; they do not obey calendar dates.
Whilst seasonal patterns have become progressively more “fluid”, the skies over WA’s south west have provided progressively smaller annual deliveries of actual fluid.
For the past four decades almost every annual and winter rainfall figure has been well below the long term average
in June-July-August 2025 most parts of WA’s south west experienced their first “properly” wet 21st century winter.
Perth’s 2025 winter was the wettest of our 42 years here; only those who have lived in Perth for 68 years have experienced any (barely) wetter one.
The series’ opening image was taken from the Cottesloe groyne on the “suitably wintry” afternoon of 17 July.
Its hero – commonly known as a “shag” – is an Australian pied cormorant, Phalacrocorax varius.
This fish-hunting species is widespread across much of the Australian mainland (and New Zealand), but is most especially abundant in south west WA.
Many Australians do not hold “shags” in high esteem.
However, southwestern Australian indigenous humans have long had very high regard for the birds they called medi.
They believed that pied cormorants carried deceased humans’ souls to their final resting place.
Discover more, here.