Mary's Point is a

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

Albert County Albert County (2021 population 30,749) is New Brunswick's third-youngest county, located on the Western side of the Petitcodiac River on the Chignecto Bay in the Bay of Fundy; the shire town is Hopewell Cape. The county was established in 1 ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is at the head of the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy () is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world. The bay was ...

, just outside the small community of Harvey and approximately south of

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

. Designated a Ramsar wetland of international importance on May 24, 1982, it is also part of the

Fundy biosphere reserve The Fundy Biosphere Region is an area of rugged woodlands and coastline that lies along next the upper Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick, Canada. The area covers 442,250 hectares, and was named and designated as a biosphere reserve by the United Nat ...

established in 2007, which also contains the Shepody Bay wetland. It was also the first Canadian site in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve, as part of the Bay of Fundy Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve. It is within the Shepody Bay

National Wildlife Area A National Wildlife Area is a conservation designation for a geographical region in Canada that restricts most human activities on that region. However, land use permits may be issued "for activities that are compatible with conservation". Su ...

, which is administered by the

Canadian Wildlife Service The Canadian Wildlife Service or CWS (), is a Branch of the Department of Environment and Climate Change Canada, a department of the Government of Canada. Founded in 1947 as Dominion Wildlife Service, it is Canada's national wildlife agency resp ...

. Mary's Point is an important staging area for

shorebirds FIle:Vadare - Ystad-2021.jpg, 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, forage for food c ...

migrating from the Canadian subarctic to South America during the fall, supporting up to two million

semipalmated sandpiper The semipalmated sandpiper (''Calidris pusilla'') is a very small shorebird. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific ''pusilla'' is Latin f ...

s annually, or nearly 75% of the global population of this species, as well as millions of birds of other species. Approximately of the intertidal mudflats are under jurisdiction to the province of New Brunswick. Another are owned by the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

, including the "most critical sites used by the large roosting flocks of shorebirds during high tide". The remaining portion, covering most of the

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

, is privately owned. The federal government has attempted to purchase the land, but has been spurned.

Geography

This open

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

ranges in elevation from below sea level to above sea level, protruding into Shepody Bay. It is characterized by extensive intertidal

mudflat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal ...

s, with gravel beaches bordering terrestrial habitats and shallow marine areas. In 1979,

Ducks Unlimited Canada Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is a Canadian non-profit environmental organization that works to conserve, create, restore and manage Canadian wetlands and associated uplands in order to provide healthy ecosystems that support North American wate ...

established a waterfowl impoundment adjacent to the salt marsh.

Fauna

This site exhibits "the world's highest known density of the

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s ''

Corophium volutator ''Corophium volutator'' is a species of amphipod crustacean in the family Corophiidae. It is found in mudflats of the northern Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic div ...

''", up to 60,000 per square metre during their reproductive cycle, which supports large populations of migratory shorebirds. During August, up to two million semipalmated sandpipers may use Mary's Point as a staging area, and as many as 200,000 may be present at any time during migration. These double their weight to before continuing their migration by flying to the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

, which winds carry them to the northern coast of South America in two to four days. Thousands of birds of other species also use Mary's Point as a staging area, including the black-bellied plover,

least sandpiper The least sandpiper (''Calidris minutilla'') is the smallest shorebird. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-colored waterside birds. The specific ''minutilla'' is Medieval Lat ...

white-rumped sandpiper The white-rumped sandpiper (''Calidris fuscicollis'') is a small shorebird that breeds in the northern tundra of Canada and Alaska. This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds; these are known collectively as "pee ...

short-billed dowitcher The short-billed dowitcher (''Limnodromus griseus''), like its congener the long-billed dowitcher, is a medium-sized, stocky, long-billed shorebird in the family Scolopacidae. It is an inhabitant of North America, Central America, the Caribbea ...

semipalmated plover The semipalmated plover (''Charadrius semipalmatus'') is a small plover. ''Charadrius'' is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek ''kharadrios'' a bird found in ravines and ri ...

red knot The red knot or just knot (''Calidris canutus'') is a medium-sized shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large member of the ''Calidris'' sandpipers, second only to the ...

sanderling The sanderling (''Calidris alba'') is a small wading bird. The name derives from Old English ''sand-yrðling'', "sand-ploughman". The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-colour ...

and

dunlin The dunlin (''Calidris alpina'') is a small wader in the genus '' Calidris''. The English name is a dialect form of "dunling", first recorded in 1531–1532. It derives from ''dun'', "dull brown", with the suffix ''-ling'', meaning a person or ...

. Also, small populations of American black duck,

ring-necked duck The ring-necked duck (''Aythya collaris'') is a diving duck from North America commonly found in freshwater ponds and lakes. The scientific name is derived from Greek , an unidentified seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Arist ...

and

blue-winged teal The blue-winged teal (''Spatula discors'') is a species of bird in the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. One of the smaller members of the dabbling duck group, it occurs in North America, where it breeds from southern Alaska to Nova Scotia, ...

breed at the impoundment established by Ducks Unlimited.

History

Mary's Point was a sandstone

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

which in the nineteenth century produced brownish-grey and brownish-red

dimension stone Dimension stone is natural stone or Rock (geology), rock that has been selected and finished (e.g., trimmed, cut, drilled or ground) to specific sizes or shapes. Color, Texture (geology), texture and pattern, and surface finish of the stone are ...

(termed Mary's Point Grey and Mary's Point Red, respectively.) used throughout eastern North America as far away as Philadelphia and New York (the

Bethesda Terrace Bethesda Terrace and Fountain are two architectural features overlooking the southern shore of the Lake in New York City's Central Park. The fountain, with its ''Angel of the Waters'' statue, is located in the center of the terrace. Bethesda T ...

in Central Park is an example using Mary's Point stone). The Mary's Point quarry yielded about 4,000 tons of stone annually, valued for its durability and workability. Geologically, the bedrock is a continuation of

Grindstone Island Grindstone Island is the fourth largest of the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River and the second largest of the American islands in the St. Lawrence. The island lies near Lake Ontario and is part of the United States. In particular, the ...

, situated nearby to the east in Shepody Bay.Martin, Gwen, ''For Love of Stone: Volume 1'', Province of new Brunswick, Department of Natural Resources and Energy, 1990 An important associate of the quarry, at one time called the Albert Freestone Company, was George Lang, a builder responsible for several notable Halifax structures using Mary's Point stone. The quarry was opened for the last time in 1987 to provide stone used in the restoration of the former Dominion Building in Halifax, now the

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) is a public provincial museums of Canada, provincial art museum based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The art museum's primary building complex is located in downtown Halifax and takes up ...

.Description of the quarry
Government of Nova Scotia In Halifax St. Mary's stone was also used on the

Welsford-Parker Monument The Sebastopol Monument (also known as the Crimean War monument and the Welsford-Parker Monument) is a triumphal arch that is located in the Old Burial Ground, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The arch commemorates the Siege of Sevastopol (1854� ...

(1857), the

Halifax Court House The Halifax Court House is a historic building in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. Its main section was completed in 1863, with the east wing, built in 1930, being the newest portion. The Italian Renaissance style building was designed by William ...

(1858-63), and The Halifax Club (1862).

References

External links

Canada Gazette
Vol. 134, No 8 (April 12, 2000) - Canada Wildlife Act - Regulations Amending the Wildlife Area Regulations {{Ramsar sites in Canada Landforms of Albert County, New Brunswick Ramsar sites in Canada Protected areas of New Brunswick Tourist attractions in Albert County, New Brunswick Quarries in Canada Communities in Albert County, New Brunswick Bodies of water of New Brunswick Wetlands of Canada