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Audubon came to bird watch in New Brunswick more than 150 years ago and avid bird-watchers have been following in his footsteps ever since!

The element that makes the province attractive to visitors, its great variety of natural, unspoiled beauty spots, also makes it attractive to a wide variety of birds. Particularly the captivating Bay of Fundy region where its rocky and rugged coastline with its spattering of islands brag the highest tides in the world and an incredible variety of birds.

New Brunswick is situated on the "Atlantic flyway", making it a prime place to watch migration. Around here, spring migration begins in March when the ice starts to move out and the waterfowl begin to pick their way up the Saint John River valley. Late May is the peak when the songbirds, especially the brightly colored warblers, turn every local woodlot into a symphony for spring.

For a quarter of century, Bald Eagles were rare in Charlotte County. But this is no longer the case. One of many eagles can be spotted "fishing" off the old piers in the Saint Croix River, often accompanied by nearby ospreys. Mourning Doves, so named for its mournful, cooing call, once very rare for the area, were first spotted nesting in the mid 1970s. They are now common summer residents in the St. Stephen area.

Common eider ducks, with their distinctive black and white plumage, are common around the Fundy islands. Clouds of storm petrels swarm over schools of fish. Shearwaters, kittiwakes, jaegers and auks, all can be seen, either from the deck of a ferry boat or on a special ocean birding tour.

Waders like the glossy ibis, tri-colored heron and snowy egret, more commonly associated with the Carolinas and points south, appear in New Brunswick marshes with surprising regularity. For birders from below the border, the significant thing is the ready presence of northern woodland birds. Red and white-winged crossbills, black-backed woodpeckers, boreal chickadees and gray jays, are common.

Fall migration in New Brunswick is an extravaganza. Beginning in late July, spectacular numbers of shorebirds gather on the tidal mud flats to feed and fatten before the long flight south. Songbirds, too, move south along the Atlantic flyway, with peregrine falcons and other raptors herding them along.