Beaches without people

Beaches without people



Australia’s Top End beaches are off limits for swimming. And for a good reason. If a Saltwater crocodile won’t get you, a Box jellyfish probably will. As a result, in contrast to the rest of Australian coastline, Northern Territory beaches are often virtually empty. And what happens if you take people away from the beach? Wildlife comes back.

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Beach stone curlew

The beaches of Casuarina Coastal Reserve at Darwin’s Lee Point are teaming with wildlife. The first inhabitants that catch the eye are Black kites. There are dozens of them: in the air, on the trees fringing the beach and even on the beach itself – looking for tasty morsels washed up by the tide.

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Black kite on the beach

Such high density of predators makes other beach residents a little nervous. The Beach stone curlew keeps a wary eye on the kites as it forages on the beach. It is an uncommon species across most of its range and it relies on undisturbed open beaches for habitat. It is the only member of the stone curlew family that is not strictly nocturnal.

Some of the birds however, are more worried about other members of their own species than about the kites. Lee Point is home to a breeding colony of Great crested terns. While communal living provides the benefit of safety in numbers it also drives the competition for food and mates. It is not just catching the fish that makes a successful hunt, it is also being able to swallow it mid-air before being robbed by others.

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Great crested terns
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Great crested tern making a quick getaway
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Fast food or no food
Great knots and crested terns displaying
Great crested terns displaying
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Great crested tern yearlings

Among the Great crested terns there are a few Caspian terns, and an occasional Little tern, as well as a fair number of Silver gulls.

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Little tern
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Caspian terns

As the day goes on more beach-side residents arrive. A flock of Great knots swoops in and settles on the rocks exposed by low tide. This species is a winter visitor to Australia that will soon return to its breeding grounds in Siberian tundra. A few red blobs in the flock on closer inspection turn out to be Red knots.

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Great knots
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Red knots among the flock of Great knots

More species come and go throughout the day: Reef egret, Intermediate egret, Whistling kite, little Solder crabs. It is refreshing to see such species diversity on the beach in contrast to the usual Homo sapience homogeneity.

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Gulls and terns hunting
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Margarita Steinhardt

I am a wildlife ecologist by training but more of a naturalist by inclination. I have been photographing wildlife for a number of years, throughout my travels in Thailand, India, Africa, and Russia, as well as my life in Australia. What drives me is the excitement of a new destination and the new species to be discovered and photographed.

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Margarita Steinhardt

Margarita Steinhardt is a wildlife ecologist by training but more of a naturalist by inclination. She has graduated with Master of Wildlife Conservation degree from Macquarie University in Sydney and is currently based in Australia. Margarita has been photographing wildlife for a number of years, throughout her work and travels in Thailand, India, Africa, and Russia, as well as Australia. What drives Margarita is the excitement of a new destination and new species to be found and photographed there.

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