New Brunswick is home to an incredible variety of wildlife. From the forests and wetlands to our rivers, coastlines, farms, and communities, there are species living all around us that many people may never notice.
But protecting that wildlife takes more than simply appreciating it. It takes people willing to go into the field, collect information, monitor populations, educate the public, and speak up for species and habitats that cannot speak for themselves.
That is why organizations like Nature NB are so important.
Nature NB plays an important role in connecting people with nature while supporting conservation, education, research, and monitoring of New Brunswick's wildlife. The work may sometimes happen quietly, but the information gathered in the field can become an important part of understanding what is happening to species across our province.
A great example of this is the work described by Brianna MacEachern, who spent the summer working with Nature NB as a Species At-Risk Technician.
Her experience provides a glimpse into just how much effort can go into understanding and protecting wildlife.
Conservation Doesn't Happen From Behind a Desk
During her summer, Brianna participated in fieldwork involving birds, pollinators, and monarch butterflies.
One of the species she monitored was the Chimney Swift, a small aerial insectivore that often nests in the chimneys of buildings.
Monitoring these birds requires patience and careful observation. Surveyors arrive before sunset and watch as the swifts return from a day of catching insects. As Brianna discovered, you cannot look away for long because these birds can disappear into a chimney almost instantly.
It may sound like a simple evening of watching birds, but these observations can provide valuable information about where species are present and how their populations may be doing.
Then there were Bank Swallows, another aerial insectivore that nests in banks along waterways and sometimes in pits.
Because some colonies are difficult to reach by land, surveys can involve getting into a kayak and travelling along the water.
This is what conservation often looks like in reality: boots, paddles, nets, binoculars, notebooks, long hours, mosquitoes, weather, and plenty of patience.
Protecting Species Means Knowing Where They Are
Brianna also surveyed agricultural fields for Bobolinks, a species at risk that depends on grassland and agricultural habitats.
This is especially important because wildlife conservation is not only about forests and wilderness.
Farm fields can be incredibly important habitat for birds and other wildlife. Understanding where species are nesting and how they are using agricultural land can help conservationists work with landowners and farmers to find ways to protect wildlife while continuing to support agriculture.
That cooperation is extremely important.
Conservation should not simply be about telling people what they cannot do. It should also be about finding ways for people, farms, communities, and wildlife to exist together.
Sometimes Conservation Means Listening in the Dark
One of Brianna's favourite experiences was a Common Nighthawk survey.
These nocturnal birds are known for their distinctive “PEENT” call. The survey involved travelling along a road, making a series of stops, and standing quietly for several minutes at each location to listen.
Sometimes, however, nature doesn't cooperate.
There were fireflies, bullfrogs, strange noises, and even music coming from the woods—but no nighthawk.
And that is another important lesson about wildlife monitoring.
Not seeing or hearing an animal is still information.
Scientists and conservationists cannot simply count the animals they find. They also have to record where species are absent, how frequently they are detected, and how those observations change over time.
A single survey may not tell us much.
Years of surveys can tell us a story.
The Smallest Creatures Matter Too
Bumblebee monitoring was another part of Brianna's work.
It is easy to overlook insects. We often notice large mammals and birds first, but pollinators play an enormous role in healthy ecosystems.
Brianna described using a net to safely capture bumblebees, identifying them, and then allowing them to recover before releasing them.
There are many different bumblebee species, and being able to identify and monitor them helps build a better understanding of New Brunswick's pollinator populations.
These small creatures are part of a much bigger system.
Plants depend on pollinators. Other wildlife depends on plants. Agriculture depends on healthy ecosystems. And ultimately, people depend on those same ecosystems.
When we protect pollinators, we are not just protecting insects.
We are protecting the systems that support life.
The Monarch Story
Much of Brianna's summer involved monitoring monarch butterflies.
She regularly visited a milkweed patch in Sackville, checking stems for monarch eggs and caterpillars and recording what she found.
This kind of work may sound repetitive, but it is incredibly valuable.
By returning to the same location and recording what is happening over time, conservationists can begin to understand how monarchs are using the habitat and how successful they are at different stages of their life cycle.
Brianna also participated in monarch staging surveys, where monarchs gathering before their migration are captured and tagged.
There is something particularly meaningful about that.
A butterfly that may weigh less than a gram can travel thousands of kilometres during migration. The tiny creature flying through New Brunswick is connected to ecosystems far beyond our province.
What happens here can matter somewhere else.
And what happens somewhere else can eventually affect what we see here.
Why Organizations Like Nature NB Are Needed
This is why organizations dedicated to nature and wildlife conservation are so important.
They help turn individual observations into knowledge.
A person might see one bumblebee.
A photographer might photograph one monarch.
A farmer might notice a bird in a field.
A kayaker might see swallows along a riverbank.
But conservation organizations can bring those observations together, use standardized monitoring methods, and build a much larger picture of what is happening across New Brunswick.
That information can help identify species at risk, understand changes in wildlife populations, identify important habitats, support conservation planning, and educate the public.
It also gives young people and future conservationists an opportunity to learn.
Brianna's story is a perfect example.
She entered the summer working with species at risk and gained hands-on experience with birds, bees, butterflies, farms, waterways, and habitats across the province.
And perhaps the most fitting part of her story is that when she was in kindergarten, she told her teachers that she wanted to be a “butterfly catcher.”
Years later, she became one.
That is more than a job.
It is an example of what can happen when people are given an opportunity to connect their passion for nature with meaningful conservation work.
We Need More People Paying Attention
As a nature and wildlife photographer and advocate here in New Brunswick, I believe one of the most important things we can do is pay attention.
Look at what is around you.
Listen to the birds.
Watch the pollinators.
Notice the wetlands.
Pay attention to the rivers.
Look at what is happening in our forests and fields.
And when something changes, ask why.
Photography can help tell those stories, but photographs alone cannot replace the scientific monitoring and fieldwork carried out by conservation organizations.
We need both.
We need photographers and scientists.
We need volunteers and technicians.
We need farmers, landowners, educators, students, communities, and organizations working together.
Most importantly, we need people who care enough to get involved.
New Brunswick's Wildlife Is Worth Protecting
New Brunswick's wildlife is part of our identity and part of the natural systems that make this province special.
Species at risk do not have a voice in government meetings.
A monarch cannot tell us that its milkweed habitat is disappearing.
A Bobolink cannot explain that it needs a particular field to raise its young.
A Chimney Swift cannot tell us that suitable nesting sites are becoming harder to find.
A bumblebee cannot tell us that something has changed in the landscape.
We have to listen by observing.
We have to learn by monitoring.
And we have to act on what we learn.
Organizations like Nature NB help make that possible.
Their work reminds us that conservation is not simply about protecting something for tomorrow. It is about understanding what we have today—and making sure we do not lose it.
New Brunswick still has incredible wildlife.
The question is what we are going to do to make sure future generations can experience it too.
Nature is not just something we visit.
It is something we are part of.
And protecting it is everyone's responsibility.
Keith Dennis Brewer
Nature and Wildlife Advocate
New Brunswick, Canada
Click link below.
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