Another one of those wet Melbourne weekends! During the afternoon Jo and I headed over to the other side of Oakleigh for a walk through the wetlands — what used to be an uninspiring patch of flood-prone vacant land with a concrete storm-water drain through the middle, has been landscaped and replanted as a native wet-lands. Apart from the massive quantities of cans and plastic rubbish washed into the creek, it all looks quite attractive and is obviously very popular with the local bird life.

Every time we come here there are water birds galore, today was no exception. Ducks, coots, grebes and moorhens everywhere, then surprisingly, two adult black swans accompanied by their four cygnets appeared through the reeds heading straight towards us. I thought they were being inquisitive, or about to beg for food. We quickly discovered that they were being highly territorial! I was in the middle of kneeling down to take a photo when the two adults half-spread their wings and started hissing and charging at me! Jo and I hastily beat a retreat!

Its also a popular spot with people; walking, running, dog-walking, bike riding. A few too many ignoring the “dogs on leads” signs, but that seems to be mandatory for dog owners…