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Estuaries are a mixture of salt water from the sea and fresh water from the rivers. Estuaries are sensitive and very important to a birds habitat which provides shorebirds and waterfowl a place to rest during migration, breed and feed. Waterfowl rely on estuaries year round for their food.
Tides rise and fall in the bays forming mudflats that are exposed at low time which allow many species of birds such as Dunlins the opportunity to feed and rest during high tide. Dunlins probe muddy soils while Least Sandpipers stay at the high-tide mark and Dowitchers wade in the shallow water for food. High tide provides food for Gulls.
During the winter season, Seaside Sparrows and Horned Larks may be found at the high-tide mark and during the Summer season Tree Swallows are a common sight.
In the winter season and during migration, the bays and estuaries attract a wide variety of shorebirds such as the Long-billed Curlew that can probe very deep into the sand for marine worms and mollusks that cannot be reached by other shorebirds. Bays and estuaries are excellent places for birding all year round.
(Not all birds are listed)
| Birds | Breeding Facts | Number
of Broods |
| Belted Kingfisher | Breeding begins early April to early May and ends by mid July | 1 |
| Black Skimmer | Early May to early June and ends by mid August | 1 |
| Brant | Early to mid June | 1 |
| Canada Goose | Late April to mid June | 1 |
| Canvasback | Breeding begins mid May | 1 |
| Common Tern | Breeding begins mid May | 1 |
| Gadwall | Mid April to early June | 1 |
| Great Blue Heron | Mid March through April and ends by early to mid July | 1 |
| Green Heron | Begins late April to early May and ends by late June | 1-2 |
| Herring Gull | Early May to mid June and ends by early August | 1 |
| Horned Grebe | Breeding begins mid May through July | 1-2 |
| Lesser Yellowlegs | Mid May to early June and ends by August | 1 |
| Marsh Wren | Breeding begins late March to late May | 2-3 |
| Northern Shoveler | Late March to early June | 1 |
| Osprey | Late March to early June | 1 |
| Red-breasted Merganser | Early June | 1 |
| Red-throated Loon | Breeding begins late May through September | 1 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | Begins late March and ends by early August | 2 |
| Ring-billed Gull | Early May to mid June and ends by early August | 1 |
| Royal Tern | Early April through mid May | 1 |
| Ruddy Turnstone | Late May through early August | 1 |
| Semipalmated Plover | Early to late June | 1-2 |
| Short-billed Dowitcher | Breeding begins late May through early August | 1 |
| Spotted Sandpiper | Begins mid May through mid June | 1 |
| Surf Scoter | Mid June | 1 |
| Swamp Sparrow | Early May | 2 |
| Tree Swallow | Late March through mid May and ends early July | 1 |
| Tundra Swan | Late May through June | 1 |
| White Ibis | Early April through mid May | 1 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | Mid April to mid June | 1-2 |
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