Adkins Arboretum - Maryland’s Eastern Shore - Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network

Adkins Arboretum transforms landscape into works of art
Art is a harmony parallel with nature
Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network / By Lara Lutz - Bay Journal

“Art is a harmony parallel with nature.”
Paul Cézanne

Post-impressionist artist Paul Cézanne expressed these thoughts in France more than a century ago, but he would nevertheless recognize how well they are explored today at Adkins Arboretum on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. And rest assured—you don’t need artistic talent to enjoy it.

Adkins Arboretum, a member of the Chesapeake Gateways Network, is a 400-acre showcase of blooms and textures native to the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain. Throughout the visitor’s center, trails and demonstration gardens, a talented team of staff, artists and volunteers has interpreted and accented the landscape to emphasize both the beauty of the moment and the elegant play of seasonal change.

Their efforts manage to complement the natural setting, rather than compete with it.

“We have a passion for making Adkins Arboretum a true community center, drawing on all different disciplines to help people appreciate nature and the environment,” said marketing director Amy Steward. “Art is one more way of doing that—it helps people see nature the way an artist does, disclosing its beauty in a unique way.”

Steward spoke from the arboretum’s art gallery, an airy room where a series of prints by Martha Oatway celebrate the patterns of leaves and limbs. Exhibits in the arboretum’s visitor’s center rotate throughout the year. From Feb. 13 through March 24, the gallery will feature top entries in the arboretum’s annual art competition.

“The competition draws entries from up and down the East Coast, with a whole array of nature-related art, in all mediums,” Steward said.

Marshy Point Nature Center - Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network

Lose yourself in Marshy Point's beauty-but first you have to find it
Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network / By Rona Kobell - Bay Journal

The Marshy Point Nature Center isn't exactly off the beaten track, but it's not that easy to stumble upon, either.

And that's a shame, because the Baltimore County park has much to recommend it: excellent exhibits, a dedicated staff, a gorgeous view and a slate of programs so varied that there is something to fit every nature lover's taste. It's open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, and many of the activities it offers are free.

"People down this way don't even know we're here, even though we've been here for 10 years now," said Kirk Dreier, the center's director and a longtime Baltimore County naturalist. "White Marsh Mall gets tens of thousands of people, and it's only six miles from here."

Dreier was hired last year after nearly two decades as a naturalist at the better-known Oregon Ridge Nature Center in Hunt Valley. He is trying to make the center more visible-he even figured out where to put signs along U.S. 40 and Eastern Avenue to maximize the center's traffic. But those are state roads, and he's not allowed to put them up just yet.

While he waits for permission, Dreier is busy improving the experience for visitors. When he arrived, the center only had one hiking trail, and it wasn't well-marked. Now it has three that make use of its location along Dundee and Saltpeter creeks, which are just around the corner from the Gunpowder River. On a clear winter day, when the leaves have fallen, visitors can see out to Iron Point.

They can also canoe and kayak most of the year from here, and the center offers guided paddle tours April through December. It also has a butterfly garden outside filled with native plants and flowers.

Dreier will soon post a sign, which Eagle Scout Matthew DeSimone created with his troop, that identifies the different plants in Marshy Point's wetlands.

Inside the nature center, visitors can view an extensive taxidermy collection, including a flying tundra swan, the work of a friend of Dreier's. There are also owls, Canada geese, woodpeckers and other birds native to the area.

Every fifth grader in the Baltimore County public schools visits Marshy Point. Many other schools bring in children, too, as part of the state's Green Schools Initiative.

Marshy Point also offers a weeklong Chesapeake Camp for fifth and sixth graders to study the plants and animals of the Chesapeake Bay. In Dundee Creek, for example, there are 11 species of submerged aquatic vegetation that are thriving.

Marshy Point, one of four Baltimore County Parks-the others are Oregon Ridge, Cromwell Valley Park near Towson and Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum near Catonsville-is the only one that is part of the Gateways Network. This is because it is one of the largest areas of wetlands and forest in the region. Marshy Point Park itself is only 500 acres, but when combined with the state, federal and county land around it, the area is more than 3,000 acres.

Dreier said that visitors won't get much out of their time at Marshy Point unless the experience is interactive. So, he made sure that inside the center, Debbie the Duck is ready to greet visitors. Or, when she's waddled off somewhere, Blossom does the honors. The docile possum wanders around as if she's a domesticated cat, although Dreier keeps a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't get nervous and frighten anyone. On her cage is a sign: "Don't stick fingers in my home!"

Dreier is happy to tell visitors that possums do not behave in real life the way they do in Disney movies. Blossom doesn't hang by her tail or carry her babies on it. She does, however, have a pouch for her young, a kind of fur pocket.

The center added an education wing about a year ago. Like the rest of Marshy Point's facility, it's airy and comfortable, a bit like a ski lodge, with natural woods and large windows that afford lots of good light for viewing.

There's a library here, as well as more tanks of newts, salamanders and turtles. Visitors can learn about the animal's food supply and watch the staff feed the turtles their daily worms.

In the main room, visitors can watch a rough green snake caught by a fifth grader, a tank of deer mice and an aquarium of mummichogs. The minnows may be considered the trash fish of the marsh, as Dreier says, but one of his regulars cares enough to have charted their entire life cycle and share that information with the center.

Four teachers are based at Marshy Point, and Dreier has hired another naturalist to help him get the word out about the place.

Marshy Point has an ambitious calendar of regular events. Every Monday, it hosts a pre-K nature drop-in, which features a nature-themed story hour and arts and crafts. The first Friday of the month is a movie night. Often, but not always, the movies have an animal or nature theme. The second Sunday of each month is a bird walk. The third Thursday is After-School Nature Explorers. Most months, it hosts a speaker, too. History, archaeology and ecology are among the topics.

The center is trying to have some cheeky fun with its events. On Feb. 13, it's presenting "Animals Love Valentine's Day," which teaches how animals use sight, smell and sound to attract each other. The event ends with a chocolate-making party.

Mid-January's "Cabin Fever Hike" that will be capped off with a bonfire and hot chocolate. And there is usually at least one "Owl Prowl" to figure out "Whoo Goes There"-an evening hike to find elusive nocturnal birds.

Winter is a great time to visit Marshy Point. It can get stifling hot in the summer, and parts of the park are thick with biting flies. Which is why it's a shame more people aren't coming now. On a recent rainy weekday morning, with no event planned, only one visitor came to the center, and he was a friend of Dreier's.

"I would like to see, even on a rainy day, 10 to 15 families coming in to see what's here," Dreier lamented.

He had scarcely uttered those words when a group of 15 people came in. They looked like one big extended family: grandparents, parents, teenagers and little ones, all peering into the tanks and smiling. One said it was his first visit.

Dreier smiled too. You can only talk to a possum for so long.

Marshy Point Nature Center

Marshy Point Nature Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except on Baltimore County holidays.

It's located at 7130 Marshy Point Road, Middle River, MD, 21220.

For information, including directions, visit http://www.marshypoint.org/ or call 410-887-2817. For information about other sites in the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, visit www.baygateways.net.


Rona Kobell is a former writer for the Baltimore Sun.



Lose yourself in Marshy Point's beauty-but first you have to find it
Article from Bay Journal - Jan 2010

Leesylvania State Park on the Potomac River in Virginia - Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network

Solitude awaits those willing to leave Leesylvania's waterfront
Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network / By Lara Lutz - Bay Journal

The Potomac River at Virginia's Leesylvania State Park has drawn humans for centuries. Most of them, regardless of the time period, have come for similar reasons: to escape the summer heat, fish or ride the river. While the latter two activities once focused on providing food and income, today's visitors come mostly for fun.

More than 300,000 people visit the park each year, especially during the summer. Hammocks lace the gaps between trees. Boats buzz on the water. The fishing pier is lined with rods and smiles, and the view alone has won national recognition.

Park manager Ken Benson understands the attraction. But he would like the waterfront to loosen its hold on visitors-just a bit.

"During the summer, the waterfront can be a sea of people," he said. "Back on the trails, you won't see them."

That's good news for anyone in search of quiet scenery, and Benson thinks more visitors should take advantage of it.

"The solitude would surprise people," he said. "It's an opportunity to bring your kids into the woods and just run around and discover things."

Leesylvania State Park, a member of the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, lies just south of Washington, D.C., where green spaces provide a valuable break from city living.

The 550-acre property on the Virginia side of the Potomac is nestled between Neabsco Creek to the north and Powell Creek to the south. Most of the park is wooded, with one trail highlighting the features of a watershed and another tracing human presence on the land. Two other trails meander on paths and boardwalks near the water's edge. They range from a half-mile to two miles over flat and hilly terrain.

"You can feel like you're lost, without actually getting lost," Benson said. "It's one of the best treasures this place can offer."

Leesylvania means "Lee's Woods," and is named for the colonial plantation that operated here. It's a historic tract of land that touches on eras of U.S. history ranging from the Doeg Native Americans and the Revolutionary War to the Underground Railroad, Civil War and a 1950s-era gambling resort.

Today, curious visitors can look among the pawpaw trees and beyond a forested ravine for clues to events that occurred here long ago.

What they won't find, however, are recreated Native American hamlets or formidable manor houses. Aside from traces in the landscape and artifacts at the visitors center, the full picture is left to the imagination.

According to Benson, that's half the fun. Leesylvania, he said, offers a more personal experience than historic sites that come fully packaged for tourists.

"You can go to Mount Vernon and wow, there it is. It's all done for you," he said. "Here, you participate in the discovery process."

The visitors center is a good place to start. Exhibits and a series of large maps lay out the history of Leesylvania and its people. One wing is devoted to the ecology of the area. Together, they ensure that sights along the trails speak more clearly.

The daffodils and daylilies near a sharp ravine, for example, are no accident of nature. The flowers are remnants of a garden that once graced the Lee family home.

Henry Lee II inherited thousands of acres at Leesylvania at age 18 and moved here with his bride, Lucy Grymes. Lee took on a series of prominent political and legal positions, while building Leesylvania into a prosperous farm and leasing part of the shoreline for a shad fishery. The foundations of fishery buildings can still be seen during low tides.

The Lees often hosted guests in their home, which enjoyed a magnificent view of the Potomac. Their neighbor, George Washington, was a repeat visitor.

Lee's son, Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III, was born and raised here. A hero of the Revolutionary War, Lee was known for his swift strikes on the British. He later became one of Virginia's first governors and the father of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The Lee home burned in 1790 and woods have reclaimed the site. A contemporary trail winds past the family cemetery.

More clues to Leesylvania's past lie among the pawpaw trees at Freestone Point, on Leesylvania's high ground. Beside the trail, U-shaped earthworks outline a small Civil War gun battery. Fruit from pawpaw trees sustained Confederate soldiers here when supplies ran low.

The battery enjoyed a commanding position, but faced logistical problems: The river at this location is so wide that most of its guns couldn't hit Union ships along the far shore.

The battery played an important role, though, by distracting Union forces from the construction of more effective batteries downstream. "It was a nuisance to the Potomac flotilla," Benson said.

Escaped slaves tipped off Union soldiers about activity at Freestone Point and the two sides exchanged fire in September 1861.

After the war, Leesylvania languished among tenants, timber interests and the railroad. The Fairfax family, who purchased Leesylvania in 1825, continued to hold the property into the 20th century. Hikers on the Lee's Woods Trail pass the chimney and crumbling foundation that mark the site of their home on a slope above the river.

Nearby, the fireplace of a hunting lodge has been incorporated into the park's outdoor amphitheater. The two-story lodge served wealthy men who arrived from distant cities on private railcars to hunt the enormous population of waterfowl along the Potomac River.

The hunt club ushered in an era of recreation at Leesylvania at a time when its commercial fishery was fading. Aggressive harvests throughout the Chesapeake helped to close such fisheries, and unrestrained hunting soon took a toll as well. In 1928, two years after the Leesylvania hunt club was founded, members recorded a collective kill of 1,544 ducks and geese. In 1941, they reported 272.

The hunting stopped in 1957 when a more lucrative plan arose.

Developers eyed Leesylvania for the site of a new, grand resort. The Freestone Holding Corp. promised a 600-room hotel, four restaurants, swimming pools and summer homes along "the only large natural sand beach" south of Washington, "a truly fine recreation resort for discriminating people."

Their plans, however, completely depended on a floating casino-and a property law written more than 300 years ago.

A 1632 document gave Maryland jurisdiction over the Potomac River up to the high water line on the Virginia side of the river. Across the river in Charles County, MD, liquor and gambling were legal. In Virginia, they were not.

A cruise ship, anchored at the right distance off a Leesylvania pier, literally gave tourists a boatload of options.

For a few short years, the public flocked to Leesylvania to gamble, drink alcohol, swim and enjoy amusement rides. But other Virginians rose in protest before the hotel could break ground. When Charles County agreed to revoke the gambling license, the enterprise immediately went bankrupt.

Twentieth-century billionaire Daniel Ludwig then bought the land for development, but offered it to Virginia for a state park in 1978.

Still, the resort left its mark for those who know where to look. Small white ceramic tiles from the resort frequently wash onto shore with the tide. Benson has also found ashtrays and bottles from local dairies that no longer exist.

Among his favorite features are the old swimming pools, now filled in and unnoticed. One pool bed was converted into a wetlands area and is clogged with a robust turtle population that draws crowds of giggling children to linger on its footbridge.

Another pool bed is blended into the picnic grounds. Its red border shows through the earth in a few places and stairs that once led into the pool carry visitors to a lower picnic area.

There has been some talk about removing the stairs. Benson, of course, would like to see them stay.

Leesylvania State Park

Leesylvania State Park is open year-round. The park includes trails, picnic grounds, a large fishing pier and launch ramps for motor boats, sailboats, canoes and kayaks. A Virginia freshwater fishing license is required.

Directions: Leesylvania State Park is approximately 25 miles from both Washington, D.C. and Fredericksburg. From Interstate 95, take Rippon Landing Exit 156; then take Route 784 East to U.S. Route 1 and turn left onto Neabsco Road.
The admission fee is $3 per car on all weekdays and winter weekends. The admission fee is $4 per car on weekends from April through October. There are additional fees for boats.

For information, call 703-583-6904; e-mail Leesylvania@dcr.virginia.gov or visit www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/lee.shtml For information about other sites in the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, visit www.baygateways.net.

Lara Lutz is a writer and editor who lives on the South River in Mayo, MD.



Solitude awaits those willing to leave Leesylvania's waterfront
Article from Bay Journal - Jan 2009

Chesapeake Bay Birds - Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the Delmarva Peninsula and other sites in the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network

Smorgasbord makes Blackwater a winter hot spot for birds
Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network / By Cindy Ross - Bay Journal

"Development" in Maryland's Moneystump Swamp consists of a few duck blinds and yellow wildlife refuge signs. One is hard-pressed to find any people.

Tall, gangly pines sway and make music in the wind. Their tannic acid leeches into the waters, turning it "black."

We point our kayaks away from the bridge on MD Route 335, south of Cambridge, and into the headwind that is racing across the swamp.

And then we see them...eagles, high in the trees. Magnificent birds, dwarfing the snags they perch on. They spread their majestic wings, forcing us to throw back our heads in wonder and awe. We count more than a dozen in one spot! An astounding 130 or more bald eagles make Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, a member of the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, their home.

Paddles are laid to rest across our thwarts and we don binoculars to watch the show. While some eagles soar, their mates keep vigil over their colossal nests, with heads and upper bodies poking above the mass of lumber. The nests are up to 11 feet deep and 8 feet across-one could hold several humans.

Blackwater is one of nine national wildlife refuges on the Delmarva Peninsula and by far the largest at 27,000 acres. Its tidal wetlands are brimming with loons, cormorants, grebes, ospreys, herons, egrets, ibis, geese, ducks-the refuge's bird list includes 250 species with 20 species of ducks alone.

So many species come to the Blackwater to overwinter, it is an ideal time to visit, and an especially good time to view waterfowl, long a signature species for the Chesapeake region.

These birds have flown thousands of miles from the Arctic, where they converged and had their young. Now they have returned. Using the sun and the stars, they tracked the Earth's magnetic fields like a compass. Youngsters flew with the elders, memorizing the route.

The Chesapeake Bay area is an important staging ground, hosting one-third of all migratory waterfowl wintering on the Atlantic coast. Approximately 1 million migrants make their home around the Bay for at least part of the year.

In the 1800s, the population of waterfowl was even more spectacular.

This abundance drew hunters to the Eastern Shore. What began as a means to feed their families, though, developed into a wasteful, devastating sport. Meanwhile, wetlands had been developed, transformed into agricultural fields. Birds were also shot for their feathers to adorn ladies' hats. But by the early 1900s, the seemingly endless numbers of birds were dwindling at an alarming rate.

Insightful conservation leaders realized the approaching demise. Their response led to regulations being put in place and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's establishment of a system of 540 wildlife refuges, including several around the Bay. One of the feathers in the system's hat and the Chesapeake's prime refuge is Blackwater in Dorchester County, MD, which was established in 1933 for migratory birds, primarily ducks and geese.

This colossal wildlife refuge, along with the state of Maryland's adjoining Fishing Bay Wildlife Management Area, is affectionately called "The Everglades of Maryland." It appears as a vast green wild area on a state highway map-a remote wilderness of meandering creeks, marsh grass habitats, secluded ponds and islands of loblolly pines. This is remarkable in the congested mid-Atlantic seaboard.

The best way to see this predominately watery landscape is by boat. The nonprofit Friends of the Blackwater organization has created three signed water trails, making it much easier to navigate this often-challenging ecosystem. We selected the Green Trail on the upper reaches of the Blackwater River, which is considered the most scenic and is also where bald eagles like to hang out.

We paddle into Buttons Creek and watch Cooper's hawks, winter hawks and red-tailed hawks surf the currents. Kingfishers, terns, cormorants and great blue herons keep our binoculars poised in position. Massive swarms of migrating red-winged blackbirds volley for our attention.

We also watch the rare and endangered Delmarva fox squirrel climb up the trunks of a loblolly pine. One doesn't need to be a birding expert to appreciate the richness of waterfowl and wildlife here in the refuge.

After a morning paddle, we hop in our car and take the refuge's 4-mile Wildlife Drive. This dawn-to-dusk paved road snakes around pools and the Blackwater River, featuring 11 points of interest.

We look for large numbers of Canada geese-the refuge is one of the chief wintering areas for those using the Atlantic Flyway. Geese number approximately 35,000 and ducks exceed 15,000 at the peak of fall migration, usually in November. We stretch our legs on the 4.5 miles of trails and boardwalks that bring visitors up close to the wintering waterfowl. For a sunset walk and to continue our search for birds, we take the scenic drive to Hooper Island.

One of the reasons millions of waterfowl make their home on the Chesapeake is the available smorgasbord. Both fresh and saltwater aquatic grasses grow abundantly in sheltered, shallow waters. Meanwhile, a feast of small marine animals multiply in the protective grass beds.

While scouting around the Delmarva Peninsula and the Chesapeake Bay in the winter, one might expect to see thousands of birds grouped together, but the land is so big and the refuges so vast, that the waterfowl tend to spread out.

December and January are blustery months for birding, but the occasional midwinter thaw is a great time to get out with your binoculars and keep the wintering waterfowl company. Whole days can be spent exploring numerous waterfowl hot spots around the Bay.

By late February and early March, the migrants are congregating and heading out.

As warmer breezes return to the mid-Atlantic seaboard, ice breaks up on the ponds and lakes and the heads of tasty green winter wheat poke up through the fertile farmlands of Pennsylvania.

If one is a snow goose, one is thinking of leaving the Chesapeake and heading north. If one is a bird gawker, one is thinking of heading to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, which straddles Lebanon and Lancaster counties and is managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

The sky is beginning to glow pink as I bank a turn into the entrance of Middle Creek. I hustle down the Willow Point Trail with a sense of urgency, zipping my parka as I go. I don't want to miss the show that is about to begin.

I cock an ear toward the body of water to my left, on the far side of the woods. I can't see the 100,000 snow geese that float on the sheltered lagoon, but I can make out their gibbering voices.

It's late February, and these migrating, snow-white birds have made this wildlife refuge their home for a few weeks. They have come from the Chesapeake Bay area, where they wintered over, and Middle Creek is their first staging area. After they fatten up on the local farmers' crops, they'll continue on to the St. Lawrence River in Canada, and later, the Arctic, their mating and breeding grounds.

The first shreds of light enable me to make out their bobbing bodies on the lake-there are so many that I see a blanket of white instead of dark water. They have very slowly, almost imperceptibly, begun to spread out onto the 400-acre lake, to position themselves for takeoff.

Suddenly, the cold morning air is filled with goose voices, excitedly growing louder and louder until they are almost yelling. They rise up from the lake in a great sweeping wave, flapping their wings to take off. One hundred thousand white birds, their brilliant bodies reflecting the sunrise, swirl around my head in a great arch, moving as a single organism.

They engulf me. I throw my head back and stare mesmerized. In a matter of seconds, they're gone in the direction of today's meal, not to return until the last light graces the evening sky. In only a matter of seconds, the show is over, and I am left speechless.

By mid-late March, the snow geese begin to leave Middle Creek by the tens of thousands. Some years, 50,000 to 60,000 will head out on a single morning. The entire lake can clear out in a single day. The Great Lakes staging area calls them and their magnificent journey from the Chesapeake to the Arctic continues.

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

The Visitor Center at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, MD, is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. It is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Visitors can drive, bike or walk the length of the approximately 4-mile Wildlife Drive, as well as hike on the associated trails, dawn to dusk every day.

A daily permit is required for all visitors to the Wildlife Drive unless they possess an annual pass, lifetime passport or current duck stamp. Admission is $3 / private vehicle; $1/ pedestrian or bicyclist; $15 /commercial van or bus up to 20 passengers; and $25 / 21 or more passengers.

For information, including directions, visit www.fws.gov/blackwater or call the visitor center at 410-228-2677 or the refuge office at 410-228-2692. For information about other sites in the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, visit http://www.baygateways.net/.

Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area

Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Kleinfeltesville, PA, is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday from February through the day before Thanksgiving. A self-guided driving tour is open March through mid-September. Hiking Trails are open dawn to dusk year-round.

Admission is free and includes all public and group programs. Groups are asked to make reservations at least eight weeks in advance for for spring and fall programs, and three weeks in advance at other times.

Directions: Take Interstate 76 West to Exit 21. Take PA Route 272 (North Reading Road) north for 3 miles. At the light, turn left onto PA Route 897. Go 14 miles to Kleinfeltersville. Make first left after the stop sign and go 2 miles to the Visitor Center entrance.

For information, call 717-733-1512.

Where to flock to see waterfowl around the Bay watershed

Situated along the Atlantic flyway, the Chesapeake 's vast wetlands and expanses of shallow water are magnets for migrating waterfowl, which often overwinter here or stop en route from their northern summer breeding grounds. Once there were millions. Today, a decline in the quantity and types of underwater grasses; overhunting; more people; and shrinking habitat have cut their overall numbers to about 1 million. Dozens of sites in the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network offer opportunities to view waterfowl or learn about waterfowl heritage, such as decoy carving. The sites here highlight some of what's available.

• Havre de Grace Decoy Museum, Havre de Grace, MD: Located on the banks of the Susquehanna Flats, the museum features decoys and decorative carvings, as well as boats, guns, documents and photographs.
• Marshy Point Park, Baltimore, MD: This park along the Dundee and Saltpeter creeks is the largest natural wetlands and forest open to the public in the Baltimore area. Dundee Creek is home to 11 thriving species of submerged aquatic vegetation that attract flocks of tundra swans and 20 species of waterfowl.
• Patuxent Research Refuge-National Wildlife Visitor Center, Laurel, MD: The refuge encompasses 12,750 acres of land surrounding the Patuxent and Little Patuxent rivers between the District of Columbia and Baltimore. It supports a diversity of wildlife in forest, meadow, and wetland habitats. More than 200 species of birds are found on the refuge.
• Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge, Rock Hall, MD: This island refuge at the confluence of the Chester River and the Chesapeake Bay includes a tidal marsh, upland forest and croplands managed for wildlife. It is an important migration stop and wintering area for more than two dozen waterfowl species and is a major staging and wintering area of the tundra swan.
• Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center, Grasonville, MD: This 500-acre preserve is located 15 minutes from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Wintering waterfowl include the canvasback, American black duck, shoveler, ruddy duck, redhead, Canada goose and tundra swan.
• Wye Island Natural Resource Management Area, Queenstown, MD: Located in the tidal recesses of the Chesapeake Bay between the Wye and Wye East rivers, this site includes 2,800 acres of habitat for wintering waterfowl populations and other native wildlife.
• J. Millard Tawes Historical Museum & Ward Brothers Workshop, Crisfield, MD: Among the museum's many exhibits is the evolution of decoy carving and painting, which is highlighted during tours of the Ward Brothers Workshop.
• Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Warsaw, VA: This site is part of the Eastern Virginia Rivers National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The refuge protects and manages tidal and inland wetlands and adjacent uplands. More than 200 species of birds have been observed here, and bald eagles are present year-round.
• Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge: Located at the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, it is a gathering place for migrating birds, which wait for favorable conditions to cross the Bay in the fall. In the spring, shallow waters and moist grassy areas provide food for marsh and shorebirds.

Cindy Ross lives in Pennsylvania and unlike some children today, has a hard time coming indoors. She has written six books about it; her latest, from McGraw-Hill, is "Scraping Heaven: A Family's Journey Along the Continental Divide." She fears she has inflicted her children with the same addiction to fun in the outdoors.


Smorgasbord makes Blackwater a winter hot spot for birds
Article from Bay Journal - Jan 2008