Greetings from Chesapeake Bay! Dave and I decided to have a weekend get-a-way in Calvert County, Maryland. We’ve enjoyed birding in Maryland a few times in the past. But we’re not only here just for birding this time…we are also fossil hunting!
There are a few places throughout Maryland where you can collect fossils. During the Miocene Epoch (10-20 million years ago), southern Maryland was covered by ocean. Once the water receded, cliffs were exposed and started eroding. Some of the most common fossils found in Calvert County are shark teeth and shells, but whales, dolphins, and seabird fossils have also been unearthed here by paleontologists. We spent the day fossil searching and birding at Flag Ponds Nature Park in Lusby, MD.
Highlights:
- Shark Teeth: We ended up finding 3 shark teeth on the beach. Dave found the large tooth and I found the 2 smaller teeth.
- Red Fox in the parking lot
- Butterflies: Zebra Swallowtail and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
- Shore and Wading Birds: Glossy Ibis, Snowy Egret, Least Sandpiper, Green Herons, Semipalmated Sandpipers
Least Sandpiper (Image by BirdNation) 
Snowy Egret (Image by BirdNation) 
Green Heron (Image by BirdNation)
- 4 Wood Warblers: Yellow-throated Warbler (life list bird!), Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat
- Raptors: Red-tailed Hawk, Osprey, juvenile Bald Eagle
- Others: Eastern Bluebird, Blue Grosbeak, Pileated Woodpecker, Belted Kingfisher flying over the ocean
We observed a total of 26 bird species. Flag Ponds is a really beautiful park. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you’re ever in the area. Tomorrow we will be heading out again to a few other parks in the area for fossils and birds. By the way, today is John James Audubon’s birthday. Birding would not quite be the same without him. Check out my post about him here.
BirdNation 
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