January 

Photo by: Michele Fletcher

Photo: The Maury River

Fun Fact: West of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Maury River is 42.8- mile- long tributary of the James River. It is named the Maury River after Commodore Matthew Fontaine Maury, and it travels past Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military Institute where Maury worked during his last years.

February 

Photo by: Scott Suriano

Photo: Chesapeake Wood Duck embracing the snow

Fun Fact: The wood duck’s beauty is represented in its scientific name, Aix Sponsa. Early colonists called the wood duck, “summer duck” (ironic for this photo) and thought they looked like they were dressed up for a wedding. “Aiks” is Latin for water bird and “Sponsa” is the Latin word for betrothed.

March

Photo by: Deborah Koplen

Photo: One of the many private docks on the tiny island of Tylerton, MD

Fun Fact: Tylerton is a very remote, unincorporated waterman village of only 50 residents on Smith Island. 

April  

Photo by: John Beatty

Photo: Fresh catch by a Blue Heron at Wildwood Lake Park in Harrisburg, PA

Fun Fact: Blue herons can fly as fast as 30 miles per hour and hunt for prey in the dark. They are highly adaptable and can eat a wide variety of diverse foods. 

May

Photo by: Christopher L Hoffman

Photo: Beautiful ship at 2am in Saint Mary’s City

Fun fact: St. Mary’s City was Maryland’s first colonial settlement and capital. St. Mary’s City is also known for its archaeological research area. There have been over 200 archaeological digs in St. Mary’s City since the 1980s. 

June

Photo by: Barbara Houston

Photo: An adult and two juvenile American Oystercatchers strolling along the waterfront on the Eastern Shore  

Fun Fact: American Oystercatchers were historically known as “sea pie,” but were renamed when naturalist, Mark Catesby noticed the bird eating oysters.

July

Photo by: Glenn Thompson

Photo: Brown pelican landing at the pelican rookery on an uninhabited island about 20 minutes away from Smith Island.

Fun Fact: Brown pelicans live along the shores of the middle and lower Chesapeake Bay during the summer. The brown pelican is the smallest pelican species in the world, however they have no natural predators – just humans.

August

Photo by: Terry Weller

Photo: Hummingbird and Cardinal Flower in Conowingo Creek (Lower Susquehanna River)

Fun Fact: Hummingbirds are an essential pollinator of the cardinal flower. Native to Maryland, this beautiful cardinal red spiked flower is irresistible to hummingbirds during mid-late summer.

September

Photo by: John Beatty

Photo: Sunrise on the Susquehanna River at Turkey Hill

Fun Fact: Turkey Hill Dairy owes its unusual name to the Susquehannock Native Americans who lived along the Susquehanna River flatlands just north of the ridge where the dairy is located.  

October

Photo by: Rodrigo Tenze

Photo: Sunset at Mallows Bay

Fun Fact: Mallows Bay is the location of what is regarded as the “largest shipwreck fleet in the Western Hemisphere” and is described as a “ship graveyard.”

November

Photo by: Nancy Lewis

Photo: Goose at the headwaters of Mulberry Creek off of the Rappahannock River

Fun Fact: The Chesapeake Bay is home to resident and migratory Canada geese. Migratory Canada geese begin arriving in the fall and remain until the late winter. More than 500,000 Canadian geese winter in and near the Bay and each year we keep seeing more!

December

Photo by: John T. Zalusky

Photo: A group of Tundra Swans gather in a small patch of water in an otherwise frozen bay

Fun Fact: Tundra swans from the Chesapeake Bay leave after the first spring thaw and migrate cross Pennsylvania to Lake Erie, providing a striking spectacle when several thousand make a stop near Long Point on Lake Erie.