The beach overlook at lot seven is a favorite birding spot. Except at high tide, more or less of Emerson Rocks are exposed to the northeast, and more or less of the Bar Head rocks are exposed to the southeast. This stop can yield good birds year-round, with over-wintering ducks, loons, and grebes from fall to spring, migrant shorebirds and terns in the fall, and gulls year-round. When the rocks are exposed many shorebird species roost and feed there, including black-bellied plover, dunlin, purple sandpiper, sanderling, red knot, and ruddy turnstone. The beach often hosts scurrying piping and semipalmated plovers and peeps. The waters around Emerson Rocks usually hold many sea birds such as brant, common eiders, scoters, long-tailed ducks, loons, and grebes. Some of the most difficult birds to find on the island occasionally turn up here. Examples include harlequin duck, Barrow’s goldeneye, red and red-necked phalaropes, little gull, roseate tern, arctic tern, black guillemot, murres, dovekie, and even Atlantic puffin. These are hard birds to find on the island, but the waters off lot seven, year after year, are where more of these unusual birds are sighted than any other. The more time you spend here the more likely it is that some new or unusual sighting will come your way. You might see a peregrine falcon make landfall after migrating offshore, a flock of scoters fly by far offshore that contains green-winged teal, or a small flock of brant fly by low to the water giving their gentle gronking calls. You may see northern gannets plunge diving far offshore or even catch sight of a Manx shearwater or parasitic jaeger in the distance.
From A Birders Guide to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge

Emerson Rocks are a group of large granite boulders that offer scenic views of the ocean and the surrounding marshes. Emerson Rocks is named after Ralph Waldo Emerson, the famous American poet and philosopher, who visited the site in 1847 and wrote about its beauty and tranquility.

Located along the northeast coast of Massachusetts, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1941 to provide a feeding, resting, and nesting habitat for migratory birds. Most commonly associated with Plum Island, a barrier beach island, the refuge is comprised of more than 4700 acres of diverse habitats including sandy beach and dune, cranberry bog, maritime forest and shrubland, and freshwater marsh. The most abundant habitat on the refuge is its 3,000+ acres of salt marsh, one of the most productive ecosystems in nature. Parker River provides a pristine coastal habitat for over 300 species of resident and migratory birds, as well as a large variety of mammals, insects, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. The refuge also provides critical habitat for the federally threatened piping plover.

In addition to its mission of wildlife conservation, the refuge provides a variety of excellent wildlife-dependent recreational activities, including surf fishing, wildlife observation and photography, a variety of interpretive programs, and seasonal waterfowl and deer hunting opportunities. A large visitor center, complete with a classroom and auditorium, msupports many of these public uses.

Parker River has achieved the following special designations: Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN), Important Bird Area (IBA), and Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).