{"id":111444,"date":"2022-08-16T14:33:46","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T18:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=111444"},"modified":"2022-08-17T14:40:09","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T18:40:09","slug":"they-put-on-a-great-show-shorebirds-are-back-at-johnsons-mills-in-healthy-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/they-put-on-a-great-show-shorebirds-are-back-at-johnsons-mills-in-healthy-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They put on a great show\u2019: shorebirds are back at Johnson\u2019s Mills in healthy numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s that time of year again. Tens of thousands of semipalmated sandpipers and other shorebirds are gathering at the mudflats near Johnson\u2019s Mills on Dorchester Cape, in a weeks-long feeding frenzy that will help them make their annual migration from breeding grounds in the Arctic all the way to South America. More than a quarter million shorebirds\u2013about 30% of the world\u2019s population\u2013return to the Bay of Fundy\u2019s tidal mudflats each year, according to the Nature Conservancy of Canada.<\/p>\n

The Nature Conservancy\u2019s observation deck and shorebird information centre at Johnson\u2019s Mills is a popular spot to view the massive flocks of birds. CHMA stopped by on Monday to see and hear the goings on:<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI get down here several times per season,\u201d said Sackville resident Paul Cant on Monday. \u201cThey put on a great show today, about 30,000 of them performing for us. It\u2019s always spectacular to watch, and even to just see them on the beach walking around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suzanne Smith from Campbellton was delighted with the display on Monday. \u201cThis is what I\u2019ve been wanting to see for years,\u201d said Smith. \u201cThey\u2019re just amazing how they\u2019re so close, and they they\u2019re so camouflaged. And then when they all go up and just start swirling around, it\u2019s just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zoe Estabrooks is manager of the interpretive centre at Johnson\u2019s Mills, which is just off Route 935, about 10 minutes south of Dorchester. Estabrooks says the best time to see the birds is in the four-hour stretch surrounding high tide, when they are closer to shore. Estabrooks recommends using observation points off the beach\u2014such as the deck at the centre\u2014so as not to disturb the birds as they rest between feeding times.<\/p>\n

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Zoe Estabrooks is manager of the interpretive centre at Johnson\u2019s Mills. Photo: Erica Butler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The mudflats at Johnson\u2019s Mills stretch out about two kilometres at low tide, which means the birds have a large area in which to feed on the mud shrimp that draws them to the Bay of Fundy. The birds will double their weight in the few weeks they spend on the mudflats, eating up to 30,000 to 40,000 mud shrimp a day. \u201cThat would be like an adult [human] eating 150 Cheeseburgers a day,\u201d says Estabrooks.<\/p>\n

The migratory feat of the shorebirds is notable: they double their weight in order to survive a 5000 kilometre non-stop journey southward. But what really draws oohs and ahhs from spectators is the incredible movement of the birds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey fly as a school of fish swim,\u201d says Estabrooks, \u201cso just as one turns, they all turn.\u201d And with flocks reaching a large as 100,000 in number, it\u2019s an impressive sight. \u201cNo one knows exactly how they do it to this scale,\u201d says Estabrooks. \u201cWe\u2019d love to ask them but unfortunately they they won\u2019t tell us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nature Conservancy of Canada posts high tide and ideal viewing times on their website<\/a>. Here are the times for rest of this week:<\/p>\n