Eastern Neck Island, Your Winter Adventure (travel article)

When the excitement of the holidays fades and your spirits fall in time with the temperature, banish the wintertime blues with an outdoor adventure to Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Kent County, Maryland. Just a daytrip from Baltimore, Philadelphia and DC, nearly 2,300 acres of natural beauty await on this island cozied between the Chester River and the Chesapeake Bay.

One of the 500-plus refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System, Eastern Neck Island is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Whether under the water, on the water, on land or in the sky, their efforts provide sanctuary for myriad life forms. With more than 240 species of birds including bald eagles, hawks and osprey, tundra swans, Canadian geese, and other migratory types, it’s a veritable birding haven. Animal lovers will enjoy the diversity of amphibians and reptiles including diamondback terrapins with their intricately decorated shells and mammals like the endangered Delmarva fox squirrel, white-tailed deer, red fox, beaver, raccoon and more.

Though the island’s main attraction is wildlife, humans have been lured to Eastern Neck Island for a very long time. Remnants of pre-Columbian Native American life continue to be discovered, and in the mid-1600s Major Joseph Wickes settled there on a land grant—erecting Wickliffe, one of the first colonial mansions in the area. The mansion is long gone, but the Wickes Historic Site offers a glimpse into the history of that time.

Until 1924, packet ships made regular deliveries of both people and packages to Bogles Wharf, and the current Visitor Center was originally a hunting lodge built in the 1930s to accommodate sportsmen and women who flocked to the area in pursuit of another kind of flock. Nowadays, turkey and deer hunting are permitted intermittently to manage populations (during which, the area is closed to visitors). Crabbing is allowed in season (April – September) at the Ingleside Recreation Area, and licensed fishing is allowed year-round at select locations, including the pedestrian walkway of the Eastern Neck bridge, where you can cast a line into the Chesapeake on one side and the Chester on the other.

Climbing the Walls and Wandering the Halls?

Zip up, wrap up and cover up that noggin, then set foot to any of the island’s many short trails, some of which are handicap accessible and most of which lead to the water. Schedule ahead to enjoy a complimentary guided waterfowl or refuge walk through areas not usually accessible to the public. During these approximate two-mile/two-hour tours a birding expert or naturalist will point out habitats, plants and, of course, wildlife. Depending on the time of year, expect to see various species of duck, geese, swans, eagles and hawks, as well as turkeys, fox, deer and groundhogs. Attendance is limited to 20 people and occur on select Saturday mornings November to March. 

Keep high and dry above the reedy saltwater marshes on two weather-worn, silvery gray boardwalks. The Tubby Cove Boardwalk leads to a grove of loblolly trees where elevated platforms and a viewing tower provide excellent sights of the Chesapeake and surrounding Calfpasture and Tubby coves. Watch great blue herons, balanced on long, spindly legs, stretch their equally long necks to get a bird’s eye view of their menu below. Relax on the benches along the Tundra Swan Boardwalk to view wintering waterfowl, especially the elegant white tundra swans taking a break from their 4,000-mile migration during late November to March. But whatever month you go, don’t expect to see any ugly ducklings.

If paddling is your passion, launch your kayak (April through September) on the northwest shore at the Ingleside Recreation Area where picnic tables overlooking the Chesapeake also allow for a comfortable lunch, or trailer in your larger rig (permit required) where there’s plenty of parking space at Bogle’s Wharf on the island’s eastern shore along the Chester River. From there, keep to the calmer river water, or to fully “immerse” yourself in the history and ecology of the refuge, circuit the island on the Water Trail. Pick up a waterproof, tearproof, floating map and guide from the Friends of Eastern Neck Bookstore inside the Visitor Center but do keep afloat and wear a life jacket.

Take Flight from the Merry Mahem

Any time of year Eastern Neck Island delights, but winter is the perfect time for a truly sensory experience since most of the world is holed up on the couch with the big-screen blaring. With the seasonal solitude of the island, you can sit quietly and let nature come to you—its cool breeze and warm sun; its sounds of waves and calls of birds; its stealthy creatures like fox, deer and raccoons in search of a snack. The longer you sit, the more gifts of nature you’re given.

With the new year, bald eagles and great horned owls set up house and lay eggs through February—which is mating season for Woodcocks, so look for the male’s sky dancing displays at dawn and dusk. Mid-March marks the return of osprey for nesting, and resident ducks incubate in April. Hear the songbirds announce their arrival in late April-early May when activity really begins to heat up with the birthing of woodcock chicks and deer fawn. As autumn leads to cooler temperatures, southward-bound songbirds pass through and by mid-November witness the return of wintering waterfowl, especially tundra swans.

Consider a quiet stroll at dawn when the sky is a sleepy lavender and the birds are still slumbering in winter’s tall leafless trees. Then, silently prepare your camera, and when you’re set… give a “whoop” and click away as the birds take flight, peppering the pale pink sky where the sun promises to rise.

Benches and free binocular viewers make the deck of the Bayview-Butterfly Trail the perfect setting to watch the sun bid adieu to the day while the Chesapeake surf gently greets the marsh. Also visible from here: the distant Chesapeake Bay Bridge and, on a clear day, Baltimore’s Key Bridge. Come again in the summer when multitudes of butterflies attracted to the native grasses and flowering plants in the BayScape Garden take center stage. 

Whatever your recreational pleasure—birding, photography, hiking, paddling, fishing, crabbing, hunting or simply sitting and observing—Eastern Neck Island in Kent County offers a perfect, inexpensive (no entry fee) getaway for everyone, but especially anyone suffering from cabin fever or simply seeking refuge from urban chaos.

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