Bird Watching on the Lower Eastern Shore
The Lower Eastern Shore remains wild so birding here is nothing short of fantastic.
Within this bucolic landscape is some of the best birdwatching in the most beautiful places on the East Coast. With more than 250,000 permanently protected acres on the Lower Shore, options abound. The region is an important resting and breeding stop along the Atlantic Flyway for countless birds, with more bird sightings recorded here than anywhere else in the state.
November through March is heaven for waterfowl lovers. Snow geese, tundra swans, canvasback, pintail, widgeon, and many others use this area for their winter resting and feeding grounds. The full complement if winter ducks is on display.
From late summer through early spring, the Lower Eastern Shore also welcomes shorebirds, falcons, and eagles to its bays, beaches, and ponds. Assateague Island, Deal Island, the Ocean City Inlet, Rumbly Point, and Heron Park are some winter favorites amidst other hidden parks and ponds with easy public access.
Down here is also the best place in Maryland to find Harlequin and Long-tailed ducks, Common and King Eider, Dovekies, Razorbills, Purple Sandpipers, loons, and Brant. Seals have become a hit as well for wildlife watchers.
In spring and early summer, the Eastern Shore welcomes warblers, tanagers, and other spring migrants. Few things rival, slow and easy morning paddles down the cypress-laden Pocomoke River, Dividing Creek, or Nassawango Creek. Here, Prothonotary Warblers buzz about low in the canopy, joining their Northern Parula, American Redstart, and Scarlet Tanager brethren. Visitors are often awed by the sheer number of Summer Tanagers and Blue Grosbeaks not often seen in points north and west of here. The state of Maryland and the Nature Conservancy own more than 70,000 acres of land in these three watersheds.
In the expansive marshes along the Chesapeake and coastal bays, birders can look and listen for King, Clapper, and Virginia rails, Saltmarsh Sparrows and a vast array of shorebirds. Favorite spots here include Deal Island, Rumbly Point, Truitt’s Landing, and the EA Vaughn Wildlife Management Area nestled across Chincoteague Bay within the 13,000 acres of protected land in the Coastal Bays Rural Legacy Area.
The mid-summer doldrums have little effect on the bounty of Brown Pelicans, Black Skimmers, Tri-Colored Herons, Glossy Ibis and the full complement of wading birds nesting by the thousands in the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays. South Point Spoils, Mark 14, and Smith Island are the places to witness this spectacle.
With so much unspoiled shoreline, marsh, and forestland, it’s no wonder Audubon, Maryland-DC has designated a whopping six Important Bird Areas (IBA) in Worcester, Wicomico, and Somerset counties, including the Pocomoke-Nassawango, Maryland Coastal Bays, Assateague Island, Nanticoke, Somerset-Wicomico, and Great Cypress Swamp IBAs. The science-based designations are designed to help promote and protect the best remaining places for birds in the state.
Within this bucolic landscape is some of the best birdwatching in the most beautiful places on the East Coast. With more than 250,000 permanently protected acres on the Lower Shore, options abound. The region is an important resting and breeding stop along the Atlantic Flyway for countless birds, with more bird sightings recorded here than anywhere else in the state.
November through March is heaven for waterfowl lovers. Snow geese, tundra swans, canvasback, pintail, widgeon, and many others use this area for their winter resting and feeding grounds. The full complement if winter ducks is on display.
From late summer through early spring, the Lower Eastern Shore also welcomes shorebirds, falcons, and eagles to its bays, beaches, and ponds. Assateague Island, Deal Island, the Ocean City Inlet, Rumbly Point, and Heron Park are some winter favorites amidst other hidden parks and ponds with easy public access.
Down here is also the best place in Maryland to find Harlequin and Long-tailed ducks, Common and King Eider, Dovekies, Razorbills, Purple Sandpipers, loons, and Brant. Seals have become a hit as well for wildlife watchers.
In spring and early summer, the Eastern Shore welcomes warblers, tanagers, and other spring migrants. Few things rival, slow and easy morning paddles down the cypress-laden Pocomoke River, Dividing Creek, or Nassawango Creek. Here, Prothonotary Warblers buzz about low in the canopy, joining their Northern Parula, American Redstart, and Scarlet Tanager brethren. Visitors are often awed by the sheer number of Summer Tanagers and Blue Grosbeaks not often seen in points north and west of here. The state of Maryland and the Nature Conservancy own more than 70,000 acres of land in these three watersheds.
In the expansive marshes along the Chesapeake and coastal bays, birders can look and listen for King, Clapper, and Virginia rails, Saltmarsh Sparrows and a vast array of shorebirds. Favorite spots here include Deal Island, Rumbly Point, Truitt’s Landing, and the EA Vaughn Wildlife Management Area nestled across Chincoteague Bay within the 13,000 acres of protected land in the Coastal Bays Rural Legacy Area.
The mid-summer doldrums have little effect on the bounty of Brown Pelicans, Black Skimmers, Tri-Colored Herons, Glossy Ibis and the full complement of wading birds nesting by the thousands in the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays. South Point Spoils, Mark 14, and Smith Island are the places to witness this spectacle.
With so much unspoiled shoreline, marsh, and forestland, it’s no wonder Audubon, Maryland-DC has designated a whopping six Important Bird Areas (IBA) in Worcester, Wicomico, and Somerset counties, including the Pocomoke-Nassawango, Maryland Coastal Bays, Assateague Island, Nanticoke, Somerset-Wicomico, and Great Cypress Swamp IBAs. The science-based designations are designed to help promote and protect the best remaining places for birds in the state.
Delmarva Birding Weekends
Delmarva Birding Weekends offers birding experiences around Delmarva year-round. Their popular tours include the Summer Safari, Smith Island Pelican Tours, and their Spring Weekend tours! To checkout their available tours, visit their website!
Just getting into bird watching on the Shore or want additional tips? Check out the Cornell Shorebird ID Guide