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Written from an article by Matt Felperin, abridged for the National Park Service's Chesapeake Bay office.
Tucked between Big Savage and Meadow mountains on the Eastern Continental Divide, New Germany State Park has been called western Maryland's "best kept secret" — above all for birders.
The park
- To do: a mountain lake with a swimming beach and rental kayaks, 10 miles of mixed-use trails, ranger-guided tours, a nature center, a snack bar and cabins.
- Setting: it lies within the much larger Savage River State Forest, a mixed conifer–hardwood woodland where eastern hemlock, an old-growth tree that stores carbon and shades the forest floor, is one of the dominant species.
- Along Poplar Lick Run: rhododendrons line the stream — take the Turnpike Trail. Salamanders hide under rocks and logs in the spongy, mossy soil; if you look, disturb as little as possible.
Why go in late May and June
When spring migration winds down around Washington and Baltimore in late May, head for the mountains. You escape the summer heat, and you can see neotropical migrants settling in to breed that you won't find on the coastal plain. The Allegheny Mountains' elevation and rainfall create habitats much like those hundreds of miles farther north, so birds that usually nest in New England and Canada nest here.
In May and June the forest rings with territorial and courtship songs of dozens of species. It can be overwhelming to name them all; the free Merlin app's sound ID, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, gives excellent real-time identifications, though it is not 100% accurate for reporting.
Birds to look for
| Bird | Look and listen for |
|---|---|
| Blackburnian warbler, the park's star | black-and-white streaks with a brilliant flame-orange throat and face; high, thin notes climbing to a final seeeeee. It stays in the canopy, so look up |
| Magnolia warbler | bright yellow, black and white with a jet-black mask; despite its name, it has nothing to do with magnolias |
| Canada warbler | mostly gray, yellow and white, with a black necklace. Try the small bridge over Poplar Lick Run near the Turnpike trailhead |
You will likely also find black-throated green and black-throated blue warblers, ovenbirds, Louisiana waterthrushes, veeries, red-breasted nuthatches and rose-breasted grosbeaks. Red crossbills, nomadic finches, sometimes visit the pines around the lake.
Sources
Written from "Witness a Warbler Wonderland at New Germany State Park," an abridged article by Matt Felperin, published by the National Park Service and in the public domain; rewritten in hubnx's own words. New Germany is a Maryland state park. The article's warbler photographs, credited to the author, are not reproduced.
Dans ces publicationsChesapeake Bay
Licence : CC0 1.0 (domaine public) · Adapté de www.nps.gov
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