Cup and Saucer Creek Wetland

It's all good, isn't it? River bank restoration? Of course it's all good. Any sort of bank naturalisation along The Cooks River. Any improvement in biodiversity. Any increase in habitat. Any opportunity to watch more birds. Any opportunity to act like an anorak, and count, identify, count those feathered things. So Cup and Saucer Creek Wetland gets a big tick from me. It's got all the above.

Cup and Saucer Creek Wetland

Cup and Saucer Creek is one of the tributaries of The Cooks River. About eighty years ago, the natural banks of the creek were replaced with concrete, and it became one more stormwater drain. Then, as part of Sydney Water's bank naturalisation project, water was diverted from the concrete channel close to its confluence with the river, and fed into a newly made wetland. The water flows by gravity through a series of ponds, until it rejoins the Cooks River. Sediments and pollutants are removed during this flow, leaving the water far cleaner than it would otherwise have been, and reducing the impact on the health of the river.

Cup and Saucer Creek in its concrete channel

Providing a far better explanation than I could ever hope to

One of the ponds into which the water is diverted

The surrounds of the wetland were planted with locally native plant species, restoring some of the biodiversity that has been lost over the years. Of course this means habitat for native birds, and fun times for birdos. Water birds seen at the wetlands include: Australian White Ibises, White-faced Herons, Pacific Black Ducks, Chestnut Teals, Dusky Moorhens and Purple Swamphens. Other birds spotted here include: Welcome Swallows, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Rainbow Lorikeets and our angry old friends, the Noisy Miners.

A shameless Purple Swamphen parades before the camera

Australian White Ibises looking coy by comparison

The banks of The Cooks River at its confluence with Cup and Saucer Creek is one of four or more locations where local councils and Sydney Water have recreated or restored saltmarsh. The vegetation and habitat surrounding the wetlands and the adjacent saltmarsh are cared for by local volunteer group the Mudcrabs.