Surrounded by a diversity of natural habitats, the Dorchester area offers an incredible wealth of nature. The Shepody basin at the head of the Bay of Fundy features tidal ranges in excess of 30 feet, exposing mudflats which each July and August provide a refueling stop for hundreds of thousands of migrating shorebirds, primarily Semipalmated Sandpipers. The marshland adjacent to the tidal estuary is home to large numbers of nesting waterfowl. Fortunate "birders" may observe semipalmated plovers, least sandpipers, godwits, black-bellied plovers, dowitchers, and whimbrels as well as peregrine falcons and merlins. The mixed forest and alder thickets of the upland are home to woodland birds and songbirds.