Birds flock to N.B. in spring migration explosion

New Brunswick birders are caught up in the spring migration explosion, a period that begins mid-May, when neo-tropical species return to their Canadian breeding grounds from Mexico and points farther south. 

"Every morning it's like going to the Christmas tree," said birder Alain Clavette, who welcomes the rush of new arrivals, including orioles, thrushes and warblers, at this time of year. 

Clavette, a radio columnist, said the last few days of unseasonably cold weather seemed to cause a lull in feathered traffic, but he expects the volume to pick up again until the first week of June.    

"It was slow, certainly not the best trip I've had at this time of year," said Clavette, after counting 99 species over the weekend on Grand Manan.  

"Usually, we get well over 105," he said.

Clavette advises people to go to the beach or visit the banks of rivers and lakes early in the morning to get the best sightings. 

Another good place to be is on an island or on land that juts into the sea. 

That's where birders agree people have the best chance of witnessing a fallout — large landings of birds that have been forced to the ground by inclement weather.

"When you get the right conditions you get a mass landing. They come down at the same time," said Ralph Eldridge, who has captured fallouts on Machias Seal Island where he's worked as a lighthouse keeper since 1995. 

The island is both barren and limited in size, which concentrates the landings so birds appear to carpet the lawn or fall like "rain out of the sky," said Eldridge, which may explain why his photos continue to make the rounds on blogs and social media. 

Unique and compelling, Eldridge is almost apologetic the photos are not more spectacular, but he says he dare not set up lights nor move around in such a way that would further stress birds, already on the edge of near-fatal exhaustion.

"Most of those birds are nothing more than feathers and bones," he said.

"They want nothing more than a chance to rest and possibly get a bite to eat. And if you disturb them, you could literally kill them."

Quispamsis birder Jim Wilson says it's been a good migration season thus far, although he agrees recent cold days have put a chill on the action. 

Wilson says fallouts are a sought–after event and he's hoping to have some luck on Grand Manan on the weekend.

He said one year he viewed fallouts on White Head Island and they were spectacular. 

"For two days, there were thousands and thousands of birds," said Wilson. 

"It's a great example of life and colour."