Eastern Neck NWR, Rock Hall, Maryland

Our Kent Island Photo Club took a trip to Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Rock Hall, Maryland, on February 8, 2015. It had been several years since I’d been there, and I had forgotten how unique and wonderful this refuge was. The refuge is a 2,285 acre island and part of the Chesapeake Marshlands NWR Complex. It is most popular for wintering Tundra Swans who travel 4,000 miles to be here.

After weeks of cold temps, that weekend actually warmed to the upper 40’s. The morning was cloudy, but by early afternoon, the sun was shining. When the club members decided to leave, I couldn’t help but stay, it was such a beautiful day.

Here’s my share of the some of the beauty I captured…..

Bridge you cross to get onto X Island which is

The bridge you cross to get onto the Refuge island. On the bridge and along the Tundra Swan Boardwalk are the best places to view the Tundra Swans.

Tundra Swan on one side of the bridge earlier in the morning.

‘Skirmishes’ were going on amongst a few of the Tundra Swan.

They got pretty loud and fiesty sometimes!

Tundra Swan overhead!

This is the other side of the bridge which views the Chester River. You could hear hundreds of Tundra Swan out in the distance but couldn’t see them today from this point.

I saw about a dozen or so Eagles, at times they were flying by before you knew it.

This American Bald Eagle was flying right above/pass me, I almost missed him.

At one time, there were six in the sky above me. Of course, never all close enough to be in one shot.

American Bald Eagle

That morning, our club had stopped to photograph a juvenile Eagle in a tree. When the group left, I retraced some of our previous stops and found the juvenile still perched as before. I hoofed it over a corn field to get a closer shot. That was when one of the adult Eagles flying overhead decided (s)he wanted that perch. 🙂

Adult and juvenile American Bald Eagles

“This is now my perch!”

I don’t think the juvenile cared to argue.

There were several small flocks of Canada Geese throughout the island.

Canada Geese

There were also plenty of Great Blue Heron photo ops.

Great Blue Heron

I even got lucky on a little bird!

Eastern Bluebird

Song Sparrow

And two final landscape views of Eastern Neck NWR’s beauty….

More cloud reflections

A view at the end of the Refuge’s Bogles Wharf Road.

I hope you enjoyed; and if you don’t live too far, stop by yourself for a visit!

Tags: american bald eagle, Birds, birdwatching, blue heron, Chesapeake Bay, eagle, eastern bluebird, Eastern Neck NWR, Eastern Shore, great blue heron, Maryland, photographs, photos, Rock Hall, song sparrow, tundra swan

32 thoughts on “Eastern Neck NWR, Rock Hall, Maryland”

BigSkyKen on 02/17/2015 at 11:03 PM said:

Wow, sure looks like nice weather for early February! Great series of captures. The mature eagle pulling rank on the youngster is a nice set. And your Tundra Swans don’t have the orange-stained neck that they have when they visit us, so that is neat to see. Appears you had an enjoyable and productive outing at the NWR!

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- bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 7:27 AM said:
  
  Thanks Ken! Yep, that day of nice weather was a tease for sure, we’re at 5 degrees this morning. I love having the Tundra Swans all white; we have the Mute Swans during the summer months, and they get that orange-stained neck also. It was a great soul-nourishing day for me. 🙂
  
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avian101 on 02/17/2015 at 11:07 PM said:

All your pictures are spectacular! Nice shooting Donna! 🙂

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- bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 7:28 AM said:
  
  Thanks HJ, I really had a blast that day! 🙂
  
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donna213 on 02/17/2015 at 11:24 PM said:

I will have to keep this place in mind next MD visit. Your have many birds at this time of year. We wait for them in our area.

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- bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 7:32 AM said:
  
  I’m going to have to return here more often myself. It’s seems so far out of the way to get to and I have Blackwater NWR to my south at the same distance, so I tend to go to Blackwater instead where their auto loop drive is even more fantastic. Keep Blackwater NWR in mind for sure as well. Thanks Donna!
  
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quietsolopursuits on 02/18/2015 at 3:47 AM said:

Awesome photos, one and all! I wished that I did live closer, that would be a regular stop for me if I did.

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- bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 7:34 AM said:
  
  One of these days, Jerry, you are going to have to plan a vacation to the Chesapeake Bay Eastern Shore Maryland area. With your camera and kayak, you won’t want to leave. 🙂
  
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My Heartsong on 02/18/2015 at 6:16 AM said:

I am so grateful for these refuges and enjoyed looking at your photos. Great captures of the bird species and the clouds!

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- bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 8:27 PM said:
  
  I am too, Jane, each refuge is so unique from others, they are all an adventur, full of nature!
  
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Beth on 02/18/2015 at 8:31 AM said:

Beautiful and refreshing on a cold Texas morning….thanks for posting…hugs

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- bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 8:28 PM said:
  
  Thanks so much, Beth, stay warm! hugs 🙂
  
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kathydoremus on 02/18/2015 at 8:33 AM said:

This is an outstanding set of pictures. I can’t even pick a favorite! 🙂

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- bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 8:29 PM said:
  
  Thank you, Kathy, you can imagine the excitement I was having that day! 🙂
  
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mkjohns on 02/18/2015 at 9:58 AM said:

Wonderful, as always! Magnificent shots of Great Blues.
How neat that KI has a photo club that explores together. Would you mind sharing what camera you use, Donna?

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- bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 8:44 PM said:
  
  Thanks so much, Martha! We’ve had our KI photo club little over two years now. We have a trip every month! I have a hard time keeping up with them, but it’s all a lot of fun. On my cameras, I have two, a Nikon D600 for my wide angle lens, and a Nikon D200 for the 70-200mm telephoto lens most times with a 1.7x teleconverter attached. My lens are all Nikon as well. If you really want to know all that tech jargon, they are listed under my “About Me” tab. Thanks for asking! 🙂
  
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  - mkjohns on 02/20/2015 at 10:30 PM said:
    
    Thanks, Donna! Your knowledge, eye and patience are the reasons you capture such great photos; the cameras serve you well.
  - bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 10:35 PM said:
    
    Thank you, Martha! 🙂
jkgphotos on 02/18/2015 at 10:04 AM said:

You sure got some nice captures! Love the variety 😄!

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- bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 8:46 PM said:
  
  Thanks very much, Joleen, it was a great day of activity!
  
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Stephen Talabac on 02/18/2015 at 10:07 AM said:

Especially love the shots of the Tundra Swans Donna!

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- bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 8:51 PM said:
  
  Thanks Steve! The tide went out early afternoon, so the Tundra Swans were much further out when the sun popped out, so I was kinda bummed with that. But I so much enjoyed the one that flew right over us at the TS Boardwalk in the morning and glad I was able to capture him/her. Got quite a few photos, loved that one with the full wingspan. Right place/right time! 🙂
  
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Charlie@Seattle Trekker on 02/18/2015 at 2:23 PM said:

The eagles, the Great Blue Heron, so may amazing photos…I really loved the whole series.

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- bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 8:53 PM said:
  
  Thank you, Charlie, it was hard to not post more photos, lol. It was a very productive, photo-op day for sure! 🙂
  
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naturesnippets on 02/18/2015 at 4:27 PM said:

I look out and see a wren, cardinal and 2 grackles. So…. I enjoyed your blog. How many birds do you think know you by name?

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- bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 8:54 PM said:
  
  I’m afraid to find out….heehee
  
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tootlepedal on 02/18/2015 at 5:13 PM said:

What a superb set of photographs. The second shot of the heron made me positively purr with pleasure.

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- bayphotosbydonna on 02/20/2015 at 8:57 PM said:
  
  Then I did good. 🙂
  
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Rick Bailey on 02/21/2015 at 7:38 AM said:

Great photos, Donna. The eagle series was stunning, you captured my favorite song bird with your photo of the easter blue bird. We usually see several pairs in this area this time of the year, and it’s always a surprise to see the bright flash of blue as they glide by.

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- Rick Bailey on 02/21/2015 at 7:43 AM said:
  
  “Eastern” not Easter, although this is an appropriate time of year for a label like that!
  
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  - bayphotosbydonna on 02/21/2015 at 8:16 AM said:
    
    Yes it is!! 🙂
bayphotosbydonna on 02/21/2015 at 8:16 AM said:

Thanks so much Rick. Just as you said, I saw a flash of blue and was thrilled he stopped to perch in front of me. I only got a couple of shots before he was off again in a flutter! 🙂

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