Emerald Beach

Visited: Winter

Recommendation: Emerald Beach is a stunning location with long accessible beaches and a corridor of bush to the west which means there is a lot of mammal and bird wildlife. Worth a visit, even if just driving through.

Emerald Beach, New South Wales, is a coastal settlement renowned for its abundant and diverse wildlife, thriving both on land and in its adjacent marine environment. The settlement's proximity to protected areas, particularly the Moonee Beach Nature Reserve and the Solitary Islands Marine Park, plays a crucial role in safeguarding its rich biodiversity.

Eastern Grey Kangaroos are a prominent feature, frequently seen grazing on the headlands and even hopping near rock pools. Many of them are tagged so the population is clearly being monitored. You can see them lounging on lawns in the sunshine around the extended area, seemingly unconcerned about humans. 

Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus)

Throughout the scrub that runs along the coastline were White-cheeked Honeyeater. They were very active and this was a great place to see them in good numbers. There are lots of coastal tracks around Emerald Beach with lovely spots to sit and look for dolphins and whales, and the occasional rainbow. 

I stayed at another house sit at Emerald Beach which gave me great access to the private lakes that dot the landscape and private households further back from the beach. These lakes are incredible in drawing in wildlife. They are all surrounded by marshy areas, huge gum trees and scrub. The first birds I saw were lorikeets. A wonderful 3 species are common here (at least at this time of year) - the Rainbow, Scaly-breasted and Musk Lorikeets. The rainbows bully everybody else so it took time to get photos of the musk and scaly-breasted but it was very worth the wait. Even the Eastern Rosella put in the occasional appearance.

Australian King-Parrot (Alisterus scapularis)

Other local visitors in this part of Emerald Beach are below. Because this part of the area emerges from thick bush the bird life is incredible. The lakes and bird feeders encourage many species in. Honeyeaters were pretty common, although fewer species than I expected. The Noisy Miner would tear up the place. I even saw them setting off their alarm call to scare other birds away from the feeders.

Pied and Grey Butcherbirds had very clear and separate territories and there were young birds of both around the house. The Laughing Kookaburra would sit in the trees as well as the butcherbirds and when they weren't cackling like maniacs, all three would be raiding fruit and looking for worms and other foods.

There were lots of Crested Pigeons here, usually picking away at the grass or sitting on power lines. The Wonga Pigeon could be heard in the afternoons calling from up high. The repetitive and monotonous call is one that once you have heard it, you don't seem to be able to get away from it. Every now and then one would appear on a lawn in the area but would quickly disappear as soon as they spotted a human.

There was lots of activity in the lakes themselves. Plumed and Wandering Whistling-Ducks would come and go while the Hardheads were fairly sedentary. Eurasian Coots, Dusky Moorhens and Purple Swamphen were common throughout the area. Plumed and Great Egret would appear from time to time and the neighbours told me that a Jabiru would occasionally visit. Australian Grebes and Forest Kingfishers could be difficult to spot but would be present at times too.

Australian Osprey (Pandion haliaetus cristatus)