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: 8:55 am (7 M)
Finish time: 1:30 pm
Weather:
Start: 6 Deg Cel, Clear, Wind: 1 km/h North
Finish: 22 Deg Cel, Clear, Wind: 13 km/h South
Boardwalk (7:06 am) View eBird Checklist
13 Species: Mallard, American Black Duck, Least Sandpiper, Ring-billed Gull, American Herring Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Osprey, Merlin, Bald Eagle, American Crow, American Pipit
Marsh (7:40 am) View eBird Checklist
14 Species: Canada Goose, Mallard, American Black Duck, American Pipit, American Herring Gull, Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, American Bittern, Savannah Sparrow, Osprey, American Crow
Main Beach (9:03 am) View eBird Checklist
5 Species: Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Ring-billed Gull, American Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull
Irving Nature Park Tidal Flats (9:52 am) View eBird Checklist
14 Species: American Black Duck, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Red-throated Loon, Ring-billed Gull, American Herring Gull, Peregrine Falcon, Bald Eagle, Great Blue Heron, Double-crested Cormorant, Common Raven
Mudflats Middle Section (11:52 am) View eBird Checklist
14 Species: American Black Duck, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Sanderling, Ring-billed Gull, American Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Peregrine Falcon, Bald Eagle, Great Blue Heron, Double-crested Cormorant
Disturbances to Birds:
- Boardwalk: 2 Merlins were chasing Least Sandpipers. There was a coyote on the marsh; it came down by the boardwalk, waded across the river, and continued into the woods. It scared up waterfowl as it progressed across the marsh.
- Main Beach: American Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gull were present on the beach exactly in the area where the fisherman tend to sit. The beach had very few peeps.
- Mudflats: Peregrine Falcons were constantly making runs at the peeps, and a Bald Eagle kept kicking up the gulls. There were 2 coyotes moving along the opposite shore and at one point scared up a large number of crows, suspect deer carcass.
People Engaged: 3
Total People on Beach: 1 during High tide period
Dogs leashed: 0
Dogs unleashed: 0
Fisherman: 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.