Wildlife Views in Southern Maryland

We recently took a trip to Southern Maryland, as we are are working on exploring all the counties of MD, and this is the last area to finish up.  I wasn’t expecting it to be as fun as it was!

Gilbert Run Park in Charles County

There was a heat wave that weekend.  So, when we arrived at Gilbert Run Park, it was quite hot and sunny.  Still, we really enjoyed paddle boating around the lovely lake, and then playing on the mini-zipline playground equipment.  We saw several large water birds – probably heron. We cooled off with ice cream from the little concession stand before heading on to our hotel, about 30 minutes south in the Lexington area.

Calvert Cliffs State Park in Calvert County

The following day was equally hot, so after an early breakfast we went early to do our big hike at Calvert Cliffs State Park.  It was indeed hot, and a bit long for the younger kids, but I was so glad we did it!  It was lovely, with endless fields of water lilies and beautifully colored dragon flies hovering everywhere we looked.  We found several amphibians. We got startled by a deer right next to us, then a big black beaver just a few paces away.  It slipped into the water too quickly for a picture, but left its mark on the nearby trees which it had clearly been chewing.

When we arrived at the Bay after about 2 miles, we swam for some time, and collected rocks and seashells, which were plentiful.  We could not get near the cliffs, but had a lovely view of them.  Some of the rocks did look like fossils, though we did not confirm this.  The park has a bin of colanders, shovels and mesh screens with which to excavate – our kids mostly used them to catch jelly fish and make sandy “crab soup.”  A good time was had by all.

Point Overlook State Park in St. Mary’s county

After returning hot and sweaty to our hotel, we took a dip in the pool, ate some lunch, took a rest and then headed back out to Point Overlook State Park, where we were again happily surprised by wildlife.

We headed toward the lighthouse but decided to park first by the Civil War Prison Camp which we saw signs for.  We read up on the history posted around the fort, explored the structures, then walked out to the bay from that side, where there were old military barracks. 

After checking these out, we discovered a small empty area of beach and decided to put on our suits and go swimming in the still-warm late evening. As we were swimming, Rafa waved us out of the water, saying he saw fins.  We looked and there they were, looking like dolphin fins, but too close to shore.  Could they be small sharks, we wondered?

Turns out, they were big sting rays!  There were several of them, quite close to the shore.  We were afraid of being stung, so we ended our swim, but so enjoyed watching them float merrily around popping their fins up out of the water in their floppy, carefree way.  Check out the fins in the Instagram post below:

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Calvert Marine Museum

The next day before heading home, we stopped at the Calvert Marine Museum and a volunteer there at the touch tank told us that it was common to see Cownose Rays in the Chesapeake Bay, and that they were friendly and would come right up to you.  He said they wouldn’t sting unless provoked (but I was still glad we got out of the water when we spotted them – just in case!)

The museum was fun, with many live creatures including a couple of adorable otters and native seahorses.  There were also very local displays detailing some of the cultural history of the area and various boats and other marine equipment that were used at different times in this part of the country.  It was also good to be in the air conditioning on such an extremely hot day.  This was our final stop on our enjoyable nature trip to the southern region of MD.