The vast, red mudflats of the Bay of Fundy beckon seductively to
travellers driving along the roads that follow the craggy shore.
And few can resist the idea of hurrying down the cliffs to enjoy
a barefoot stroll on this amazing substrate. But what awaits you
at the bottom is both delightful and disgusting. The mud that
oozes between your toes is teeming with tiny shrimp-like
animals. And it is these plump, squirming mud shrimp that are
the heart of one of Fundy's most celebrated natural events—the
annual arrival of millions of migrating shorebirds. "As they
bank, the light is absorbed by their dark backs, then reflected
by their bright bellies...Sandpipers flow and turn together with
such uncanny precision as to make one think they are a single
organism."The large roosts of shorebirds seen at high-tide in
the Bay of Fundy are composed of several different species,
including plovers, turnstones, sandpipers, yellowlegs, snipes,
godwits, curlews and phalaropes. The Fundy corridor itself plays
host to 75-95% of