Bushy Park Wetlands is a conservation park in
Glen Waverley
Glen Waverley is a list of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Monash local government ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. On the edge of suburbia, it is bounded by
Dandenong Creek
The Dandenong Creek ( Aboriginal Bunwurrung: ''Narra Narrawong'' or ''Dandinnong'') is an urban creek of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the eastern and south-eastern Greater Melbourne region of the Australian east coast state of Vic ...
and houses along King Arthur Drive and Knights Drive. There is a cycling and walking path, and a bird watching hide, where
egrets
Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same buil ...
,
pelicans
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...
,
coots
Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usually ...
,
dusky moorhen
The dusky moorhen (''Gallinula tenebrosa'') is a bird species in the rail family and is one of the eight extant species in the moorhen genus. It occurs in India, Australia, New Guinea, Borneo and Indonesia. It is often confused with the purple ...
,
ibis
The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...
and occasionally
spoonbill
Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", refe ...
can be observed. It is accessible from the end of Highbury Road, or at the
Drummies Bridge Reserve off High Street Road. It is also connected by the
Dandenong Creek Trail
__NOTOC__
The Dandenong Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows Dandenong Creek through the outer eastern and south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Route
The trail can be divided int ...
to
Shepherds Bush Park,
Koomba Park
Koomba Park is one of the parks comprising the Dandenong Valley Parklands in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. It consists of of which are publicly accessible, and is bounded by Dandenong Creek, Boronia Road, EastLink, Mountain H ...
and
Napier Park
Napier Park is a suburb of Luton, in the south of the town, in the Luton district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It is roughly bounded by Harrowden Road to the north, the Midland Main Line to the south, Luton Airport to the ea ...
.
History
The name "Bushy Park" dates from the 1840s, when it was used for grazing cattle, but has referred to various locations in the vicinity, including what is now
Jells Park
Jells Park is a public park in Wheelers Hill, a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The park opened on 30 April 1976 and is named after Joseph Jell, a cattle grazier who worked in the area in the mid-late 1800s. The park attra ...
.
In recent years, the wetlands is managed by
Parks Victoria
Parks Victoria is a government agency of the state of Victoria, Australia.
Parks Victoria was established in December 1996 as a statutory authority, reporting to the Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change. The ''Parks Victoria Ac ...
with assistance from a local community group, Friends of Bushy Park Wetlands. It forms part of the
Dandenong Valley Parklands
The Dandenong Valley Parklands are a collection of public parks and open space reserves along the Dandenong Creek, an urban creek in southeastern Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The term refers only to the parklands along and in close proximity ...
. Cattle continue to graze the area, to keep the grass short and to "preserve the rural heritage" of the site.
See also
*
City of Monash History
Sources
*https://web.archive.org/web/20070927041013/http://www.about-australia.com/travel-guides/victoria/melbourne/attractions/natural/bushy-park-wetlands/
Friends of Bushy Park Wetlands*https://web.archive.org/web/20060914072027/http://www.totaltravel.com.au/travel/vic/melbournearea/easternsuburbsmelbourne/guide/bushy-park-wetlands
*https://web.archive.org/web/20060827023644/http://monash.vic.gov.au/maps/reserves/res_area32.htm - map.
Further reading
*https://web.archive.org/web/20061210052757/http://www.monash.vic.gov.au/history/c-historic.html - historic background.
{{coord, -37.869, 145.191, type:landmark_region:AU, display=title
Wetlands of Victoria (Australia)
Parks in Melbourne
City of Monash