Report created by Erin Brown, Shorebird Counter and Public Educator for the Shorebird Conservation and Education Project with the Saint John Naturalists Club.
Counts
Flats
- The number of “peeps” feeding was estimated at 360.
- Other birds included: 83 Gulls, 4 Great Blue Herons, 7 Cormorants, 13 Eiders, 1 Bald Eagle, and 8 Black Ducks.
Pocket Beaches – surveyed after high tide.
- A: No shorebirds seen.
- B: No shorebirds seen.
- C: No shorebirds seen.
- D: 1 Semipalmated Plover.
- Beach between D and E: No shorebirds seen.
- E: No shorebirds seen.
- Inaccessible Beaches: No shorebirds seen.
Main Beach
- Shorebirds roosting: 60 Semipalmated Plovers, 324 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 170 “peeps,” 12 Sanderlings, and 8 Dunlin.
- Other birds included 3 Gulls and 2 Peregrine Falcons.
- There were 28 people on the beach and 1 leashed dog. 6 people were spoken to about the birds and seemed interested.
East Beach
- No shorebirds were seen roosting due to a Peregrine flushing them from the beach. 90 “peeps” were seen flying away from the beach and toward either the main beach or the islands.
- Other birds seen included 3 Gulls, 3 Common Eiders, 1 Common Loon, and 1 Peregrine Falcon.
- 3 people were seen on the beach. One pair had 2 leashed dogs. The other individual leashed his dog while near people but unleashed when away from people.
Marsh
- 24 “peeps” seen flying around in the marsh. A group of 15 larger birds of shorebird type flew over the marsh and landed in the grasses. I never got a clear look on the ground.
- Other birds seen included: 4 Great Egrets, 14 Black Ducks, 79 Gulls, 2 Canada Geese, 1 Crow, 6 Great Blue Herons, 6 Cormorants, 1 Yellowlegs (unsure of size), 2 Mallards, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 1 Turkey Vulture, and 1 Belted Kingfisher.
This project was made possible with the support from our funders at the Environment and Climate Change Canada. We would like to thank our partners at Irving Nature Park and NatureNB.