Updated 28th March 2021.

Lake Esmond is like an extended front yard for us. We live right on its edge and go for regular walks around it.

Up until the early 1970s, it was the site of a clay quarry, and was left vacant for a decade. It was known as the Larter Street Clayhole, with clay extracted for the Eureka Tile Works. In the early 2000s, it was transformed into a botanic garden (of sorts). The intention was there, and early plantings gave us what we have now, but it has never really been looked after seriously by the Council. It is now classed as a Neighborhood Park.

The lake was named after early gold discoverer and Eureka Stockade leader, James Esmond, and is up to 9 metres deep. There is a lot of wildlife, birds in particular, and I will use and update this post to detail what we see and have seen.

Update: 28th March 2021 from today’s observations:

  • Added new entry for Spotted Pardalote

Generally, clicking on images will bring up a larger one.

Water Birds

  • Australasian Swamphen
Australasian Swamphen
  • Australian Ibis (normally only seen flying overhead)
Ibis flying overhead. And dark skies! Rain and strong wind on the way.
  • Dusky Moorhen
Dusky Moorhen. Female (left), Male (right)
  • Eurasian Coot
Eurasian Coot
  • Great Cormorant
Great Cormorant
  • Great Egret
  • Hardhead Duck
Hardhead centre, Coot top right, Black Ducks bottom left
  • Little Pied Cormorant
Little Pied Cormorant
  • Maned Duck (Wood Duck)
Left: Twelve Wood Ducks and a solo Little Pied Cormorant on the left.
Centre: Wood Duck ducklings! Right: Line of Wood Ducks.
  • Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata), a large duck native to Mexico, Central, and South America.
Muscovy Duck. This one is a loner.
  • Pacific Black Duck
Pacific Black Duck
  • Silver Gull
  • White-Faced Heron
First photo: White-Faced Heron (right) with Swamp Hen (left). Second photo a few days later, and heron is in the same spot! Third photo early morning silhouette.

Parrots

  • Corella (exact species not yet determined)
  • Crimson Rosella
  • Eastern Rosella
  • Galah
  • Rainbow Lorikeet
Rainbow Lorikeet feeding on flowering gum. Unfortunately, he hid his head.
  • Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
  • Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo
Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo

Other Birds

  • Australian Magpie
Australian Magpie
  • Australian Raven (“Crow”)
  • Australian Reed Warbler
  • Black-Faced Cuckooshrike
  • Brown Thornbill
  • Common Bronzewing Pigeon
Common Bronzewing Pigeon
  • Crested Pigeon

  • Eastern Spinebill
Eastern Spinebill with its distinctive curved beak
  • European Blackbird
  • European Starling
  • Grey Butcherbird
  • Grey Currawong
Grey Currawong
  • Grey Fantail
  • House Sparrow
  • Laughing Kookaburra
  • Lesser Wattlebird
  • Magpie Lark
  • Masked Lapwing
  • New Holland Honeyeater
  • Pied Currawong
  • Red Wattlebird
Red Wattlebird
  • Spotted Pardalote
  • Superb Fairywren
Superb Fairywren
  • Welcome Swallow
  • Yellow Thornbill
Yellow Thornbill – very small bird

Mammals

  • Ring Tailed Possum

Reptiles and Amphibians

  • Eastern Banjo Frog (Pobblebonk)
Pobblebonk
  • Skink (exact species not yet determined)

Invertebrates

  • Damselfly
  • Dragonfly
  • Honeybee
Honeybee on Thistle
  • Sawfly larvae
Sawfly larvae

Fish

  • Rainbow Trout
  • Undetermined species
Young fish in the shallows (undetermined species)

Fungi

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