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| The Brothers as seen from Lower West Pubnico. (Old 2005 photo by me from my paraglider) |
This report will mostly cover work being done on North Brother.
Work on these islands is done in cooperation with Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (NSDNRR). - Ted D'Eon
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| THE BROTHERS, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia |
The following is a chronological listing of our 2026 work with terns of the Lobster Bay area in general, but in particular, with the Roseate Terns (ROST) of The Brothers. The report is mostly the work carried out by Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau and Dr. Shawn Craik. It also includes tern observations from other professionals working on these islands, as well as observations from local residents. - Ted D'Eon
April 26, 2026 - North Brother
This morning six of us left the shore at the end of Rock Road, Lower West Pubnico and headed out to North Brother on a beautiful morning, perfect for the job at hand.
The crew consisted of Shawn Craik with his wife Amélie, Alexis Saulnier, Luc Bilodeau, Geneviève Gauthier and me.
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Dr. Shawn Craik is a biology professor at Université Sainte-Anne, Church Point, Nova Scotia.
Alexis Saulnier is a former student of Professor Shawn Craik, now working on her Masters at Acadia University, Wolfville, NS. Her Masters involves tern foraging by species and the food they bring back to the colony, and much more!
Luc Bilodeau is the technician of this "tern colony" team. He runs the boat, does the photography for leg bands, etc.,and the heavy lifting. He is also Alexis' partner in life.
Geneviève Gauthier is a graduate student at Université Sainte-Anne, studing waterfowl.
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The plywood blind is still in good shape and the 72 Roseate Tern nesting shelters inside survived the winter well!
The island hasn't changed much since last year other than there is now a little less soil at the southern end. The gang worked hard to remove much of the weeds; these were placed along the shore below the high tide line; hopefully they'll wash away.
And then the numbered nesting boxes were strategically placed so all the numbers could all be seen and read from the blind.
Seven rectangular plots were identified and sprayed with a saline solution to see if this would reduce the unwanted vegetation (especially wild radish) growing among the nesting area; the spray would be repeated two more times. Also, seven "control" plots were identified where no weed managenent would be done, for later comparison with the saline sprayed plots.
It was a lot of work, but with a great team, all went well. Thank you, crew!
Great crew and a job well done! Thank you all.
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| And, we're on our way - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| Alexis Saulnier and Luc Bilodeau leaving the mainland for North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| Our landing on North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| The tidal "hollow" on North Brother (from the north, looking south) - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| My old plywood blind survived another winter - North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| The south end of the island (looking southeast) - North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| The south end of the island (looking north) - North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| Alexis posing on the south end of the island - North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| Amélie, Shawn, and Geneviève cleaning up old vegetation - North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| Luc and Alexis setting up the Roseate Tern nesting shelters - North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| More cleanup and setting up - North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| Luc getting fine gravel substrate for the nesting shelters - North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| Making a base for shelter placement - North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| Spraying salt solution in the designated rectangular plots - North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| More spraying and setting up - North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| Most of the nesting shelters are in place - North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Ted D'Eon |
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| Aerial photo of North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Luc Bilodeau |
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| If you look close enough, you will see the placement of the nesting shelters North Brother - April 26 2026 - photo by Luc Bilodeau |
| Field-readable Roseate Tern leg bands - North Brother (Unless listed otherwise) - 2026. (See below) |
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Resighted and new leg bands on Roseate Terns from North Brother in 2026 (Unless listed otherwise) |