Giant sandpiper statue returns to its roost in tiny New Brunswick village

Robin Hanson stands with his statue of a semipalmated sandpiper outside of his gallery in French Lake, which is approximately 30 minutes south of Fredericton, New Brunswick on Friday March 24, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray

A giant sculpture of a bird that long ruled the roost in a small New Brunswick village has been restored to its rightful perch, but it's not receiving a universally warm welcome home.

Residents of Dorchester, N.B., said they're delighted to see the return of the statue locally dubbed Shep in honour of nearby Shepody Bay. But officials with the municipality to which the village now belongs said Dorchester's avian avatar was reinstalled without permission, throwing its ultimate fate into question.

For now, however, former deputy mayor Kara Becker said residents are glad to have a refurbished version of the semipalmated sandpiper statue watching over the local landscape once again after three years away.

"She looks so beautiful," Becker said of Shep in a telephone interview. "She does look different than the last version of it. She's a bit more colourful, but she is just plump and ready for what's coming."

Standing 2.4 metres high and weighing 135 kilograms, the original incarnation of Shep kept a bird's-eye view over Dorchester for nearly 20 years. But when the wooden statue began to rot three years ago, the village council commissioned New Brunswick artist Robin Hanson to craft a more durable version made of steel, epoxy and fibreglass.

Shep's journey home got bogged down in what Becker described as red tape when the village became part of a new municipality earlier this year. The region of Tantramar took shape on Jan. 1 when Dorchester merged with Sackville and Pointe de Bute, and efforts to pay Hanson fell down the new council's priority list.

Becker said media reports about efforts to reclaim Shep prompted several organizations to cover the costs with donations, noting one such group ultimately helped secure the sculpture's return.

"The community support was really incredible," she said.

Becker said Hanson offered to drive the statue up on Wednesday, but others were eager to have it back sooner. In the end, Shep rolled back into town in the back of a truck on Saturday.

But the new municipal authorities don't appear to share local enthusiasm for the new sculpture.

"The municipality of Tantramar and its council did not commission this work to be done nor request or approve the installation of this statue on municipally owned land," reads an emailed statement from Mayor Andrew Black.

When asked if the statue will be removed, Black said the issue won't be discussed until municipal offices reopen on Tuesday.

Shep will have one ally on Tantramar's Council -- Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, who previously served as Dorchester's mayor.

She said the town worked hard to bring the statue back, adding it's in keeping with the village's bird-friendly image and its location by the ocean.

About $10,000 was spent on it but the big statue of the little bird props up the local economy and "brings in dollars that are many, many, many times over," she said.

Becker said she is afraid the statue might be relegated to a scrapyard or a storehouse.

"I'm so afraid they're going to try to remove her," she said.

Environmental advocates share her chagrin at the prospect, saying the statue could help raise awareness about a native species in decline.

Andrew Holland, spokesman for the Nature Conservancy of Canada, called semipalmated sandpipers a symbol of the upper Bay of Fundy.

About one-third of the world's semipalmated sandpiper population stops on the bay's mudflats for about three weeks toward the end of July where they get a break, rest and double their body weight before migrating to South America for the winter, he said.

The small birds, weighing about 20 grams, are listed as "near threatened" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list.

"(The statue) serves as a reminder of the importance of the area. That these shore bird populations have been in decline in Canada, and all around the world," Holland said. "And this is a critical home for migratory shorebirds."

Nick Lund, a network manager for U.S.-based conservation group Maine Audubon, also feels the statue serves an important environmental purpose.

"These are small birds that don't often hang out very close to people, and so are hard to see," he said.

"Many people, if they see shorebirds at all, see them only as tiny specks off on the mud. I think for a lot of people this sandpiper statue might be the first time they can actually see one up close."

Becker said Sandpipers are not just the subject of a local annual festival, but stand as an important symbol of resilience due to their ability to fly thousands of miles despite their diminutive size.

"We didn't intend to ruffle feathers," she said with a laugh.

"We just think we need our bird back."

This report from The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2023.