Report created by Paul Martin, Shorebird Counter and Educator for the Shorebird Conservation and Education Project with the Saint John Naturalists Club.
Start time: 6:50 am
High tide: 9:58 am (7.2 M)
Finish time: 1:30 pm
Weather:
Start: 13 Deg Cel, light rain, Wind: 7 km/h NNE
Finish: 16 Deg Cel, Fog, Wind: 20 km/h SW
East Beach (6:45 am) View full eBird Checklist
15 Species: Common Eider, Black Scoter, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover, Red-throated Loon, American Herring Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, Osprey, American Crow, Common Raven, Bald Eagle, Great Black-backed Gull
Main Beach (9:17 am) View full eBird Checklist
6 Species: Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Dunlin, Horned Lark, Common Loon, Black-bellied Plover
Marsh (10:00 am) View full eBird Checklist
20 Species: Canada Goose, Mallard, American Black Duck, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Least Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, American Pipit, American Goldfinch, Peregrine Falcon, Bald Eagle, Osprey, American Crow, American Herring Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret
Irving Nature Park Tidal Flats (11:23 am) View full eBird Checklist
10 Species: Black-bellied Plover, Least Sandpiper, American Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Osprey, Bald Eagle
Mudflats Middle Section (12:51 pm) View full eBird Checklist
13 Species: American Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Sanderling, White-rumped Sandpiper, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon
Disturbances to Birds:
- East Beach: Peregrine Falcon was flying over the beach just at sunrise. There was a Merlin skimming along the top of the cliffs (likely chasing song birds). Bald Eagle got the gulls up off the beach.
- Mudflats: Peregrine Falcon making runs at the peeps, and 2 Bald Eagles kept kicking up the gulls.
- Mudflats Middle Section: The peeps were close to my vantage point, I was getting some good ID of many species when the Peregrine showed up and kicked the birds up. They were airborne for quite a while and then landed on the far shore.
There was a large number of peeps that showed up from the Lorneville side of the bay, the majority of birds were from this direction. I started before sunrise on the East Beach so that I might see where the birds would roost. I had 3 flocks of 20+ birds fly past Sheldon’s Point heading towards Saint John.
There hasn’t been any fisherman.
People Engaged: 4
Total People on Beach: 3
Dogs leashed: 1
Dogs unleashed: 0
Counter/Educator: Paul Martin
The Shorebird Conservation and Education Project is supported by our funders at the NB Wildlife Trust Fund, the NB Environmental Trust Fund and Birds Canada.