More land at stopover in N.B. for migratory birds protected

DORCHESTER, N.B. -- The Nature Conservancy of Canada says it has purchased more land at a key stopover for migratory birds in Atlantic Canada.

The 23 hectares of land is located at Johnson's Mills Shorebird Reserve near Dorchester in New Brunswick.

The conservancy says the beaches and tidal mudflats of the Bay of Fundy are one of the most important stopover sites for shorebirds in North America.

It says every summer, more than half a million shorebirds fly through the bay on their winter migration from the Canadian Arctic to South America, and feed on the nutrient-rich mudflats.

The organization says more than 70 per cent of the world's population of semipalmated sandpipers stop in the Bay of Fundy each year to feed in preparation for their migration.