The joy of Nudgee

Nudgee Beach is most definitely not a smelly mangrove-choked salt flat just beyond Brisbane Airport's main runway. It's a wide expanse of Moreton Bay where sea meets big sky; you can spy on all sorts of different birds, whose numbers are swelled in the summer when resident shorebirds are joined by migratory species taking a break; and you'll find a million photographic opportunities. So, go visit, and be charmed; as was I on a glorious afternoon on Labour Day Weekend.

It's classed as a northern suburb of Brisbane even though it's on the other side of the Gateway Motorway and feels a lot further from the CBD than 18km. The Boondall Wetlands lie to the north and west, and the airport is to the south. Turn off the Motorway on to the Nudgee Road. When you reach the settlement of Nudgee Beach, take O'Quinn Street to the Nudgee Beach Reserve. Walk on the beach or along the Tabbil-Ban Dhagun Boardwalk circuit through the mangroves and along Nudgee Creek.

White-faced Heron

Shorncliffe jetty

Scaly-breasted Lorikeets