Birdsland Reserve and Monbulk Creek Retarding Basin

Photos of a 4 km exploration on February 3, 2017.

Birdsland is a 75ha bushland reserve with a long history. The Wurrundjeri people lived in the region around Birdsland, then around 150 years ago the land was cleared for grazing and crop production. The Birds family owned the site from about 1940 and used it for sheep farming. In 1981 in order to save the sight from urban development, the Shire of Sherbrooke purchased Birdsland. The site opened to the public in 1984 as a community bushland reserve.

Many species of native wildlife find sanctuary at Birdsland. Over 130 different native birds have been identified in the reserve including the Wedgetail Eagle and Powerful Owl.

Birdsland supports over 200 species of native plants.

Birdsland Reserve

The Birdsland Reserve is a park of about 75 hectares, some 40 km east of Melbourne, in the lower Dandenong Ranges, at South Belgrave.
  

It is managed jointly by Melbourne Water and the Shire of Yarra Ranges, and its name derives from that of its former owners, who managed much of the area as a farm in the 1940s.
  

There are two man-made lakes, a haven for fauna and flora, with pleasant walking tracks, picnic facilities, bridges over the Monbulk Creek, barbecues and an information kiosk.
  

I visited Birdsland on March 29 2013, exploring the two lakes, and then into the Lysterfield Park, along Dargon Track and up Sunset Track.
  

The views from Sunset Track are spectacular, looking across the Monbulk Creek Valley to the Dandenong Ranges, and to Melbourne's skyline on the horizon.
  

Total walking distance was about 4 km.
  

Click here to see all of the Photos of my visit, which was on Good Friday!