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Description
The site is terrific for great views of terns, and a lovely walk on a calm day. Greater Crested Tern are highly likely all year and Fairy Tern and Caspian Tern are possible all year but not numerous. Little Tern is likely from November to May and Whiskered Tern more in Spring. Common Tern and Australian Tern are possible in summer. Pacific Gull is also likely here, all year.
Black Swan, Chestnut Teal, Grey Teal, Australian Pelican and Silver Gull are usually at sea or on the beach.
At low-ish tide Red-necked Stint can often be seen along the tiny beach edge - cautiously pop your head over the dune beside the road, they can be right below you! At the bend in the road that leads to a small carpark there is a tiny beach, that can be full of waders. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Curlew Sandpiper are likely and may fly over, Common Greenshank , Marsh Sandpiper and Pacific Golden Plover may be present too.
At times the ponds can be full of feeding or resting Pied Stilt , Banded Stilt and Red-necked Avocet .
At the dry sand flats on the north side of the walk look out for Red-capped Plover . In the low salt-heathy vegetation up there also watch for Singing Honeyeater, White-fronted Chat Striated Fieldwren and Swamp Harrier overhead.
On the islands in the ponds, White-browed Scrubwren love to dive into the low bushes. Australian Spotted Crake will often come out of these bushes to feed on the shoreline.
There is often a Great Crested Grebe on the deep ponds or out at sea, and usually some Hoary-headed Grebe .
At sea watch for Pied Cormorant, Australasian Gannet and Parasitic Jaeger .
Most likely raptors are Brown Falcon, Whistling Kite ,Nankeen Kestrel and Swamp Harrier but watch out for Australian Hobby along Avalon Road , and Wedge-tailed Eagle or White-bellied Sea-Eagle .
It can be really worthwhile carrying a scope.
The tide does affect the beach birds - I’ve found that a rising or falling tide at about 0.4 to 0.6m is better than the low. The ponds are not affected.
Wind has a huge effect on the viewing experience. A mild southerly of 30km/hr makes birding uncomfortable and difficult. Try to choose a calm day.
Details
Access
Avalon Beach is on the coast about 1 hour drive west of Melbourne, and 30 minutes north of Geelong. Best access is by car.
Public transport is not convenient, the nearest station is Lara, 8 km away.
Drive along Avalon Road toward the Boat Ramp. There’s parking (Boat Ramp Carpark) and public toilets there, but you may prefer to drive further east along Avalon Foreshore Road. You can park at the coloured bollards between 22 and 23 Avalon Foreshore Rd (Bollard Carpark). Have a good look for loafing shorebirds on the salt flats there.
A little carpark (Fisher's Carpark) further east at the end of the road is not ideal - it gets boggy and full of fisherpeople’s vehicles.
Walk along the road to the east, just 250m from the bollards the track branches to the north (1). You can do a 3.7 km loop from here in either direction around the big pond. You can extend the walk in several places.
A tiny island just 150m from the track junction is a hang-out for terns (2).
You'll need to cross a channel to do the full loop, there's a 'dodgy bridge' (4) which is rickety but pretty safe, or a 'safe bridge' (5) 350m further north if you're not comfortable at 4.
The walk to Point Lilias is not really worth it, in my experience. Its full of rubbish, fisherpeople camped out for hours, and has very few interesting birds.