Nature Miramichi:

Five of us enjoyed a leisurely stroll on the board walk and around the sandy peninsula of Hay Island on Saturday. We were joined by an enthusiastic birder from Bathurst who had read about the excursion on Facebook. The temperature was very pleasant and the breeze sufficiently strong to keep the mosquitoes away. We recorded 22 bird species, nine of them shorebirds and 7 of these from the distant north on their way south. (Two other species, the spotted sandpiper and killdeer breed locally.) The bird of the day was a pectoral sandpiper, a species we don’t always see. Amongst the vegetation in bloom were brilliant seaside goldenrod, sea lavender and scotch lovage. Other birds not always seen were migrating Bonaparte’s gulls and common terns.

Yellowlegs (Greater or Lesser – conflicting indications! – probably Lesser)

Spotted Sandpiper (No longer in breeding plumage with chest spots)

Pectoral Sandpiper

Pectoral Sandpiper (left foreground) with Short-billed Dowitchers