When can you find ripe blueberries along the Appalachian Trail in Maryland? Where can you see the air filled with monarch butterflies as they migrate south each autumn? If you want to enjoy nature this weekend, where is the best place to visit? Bryan MacKay can tell you. Written as an almanac, A Year across Maryland invites you to explore the natural world throughout the year, from watching bald eagles nesting in January to harvesting mistletoe in December. Entries identify the best time and place to experience such wonders as wildflowers blooming, birds in migration, amphibians singing, and morel mushrooms ready to be picked, sliced, sauteed, and devoured. Color photographs of more than seventy species enrich and illustrate the text. Every week of the year has a recommended "Trip of the Week." Personal essays that draw from MacKay's field notes provide an intimate glimpse into a biologist encounters with plants and animals over the years. Whether you want to see snow geese and trumpeter swans pausing in their northward migration each March, or the mating "jubilee" of polychaete worms during the new moon in May, A Year across Maryland offers valuable advice for the spontaneous adventurer and the serious planner alike.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction January Week 1: Winter Songbirds, Evergreen Plants Trip of the Week: Deep Creek Lake area Week 2: Unusual Birds, Reindeer Moss, Gray Squirrels Trip of the Week: The National Aquarium Week 3: Cranefly Orchids, Roadside Hawks, Coldest Week Trip of the Week: Smithsonian Natural History Museum Week 4: Bald Eagles, Liverworts, "January Thaw"? Trip of the Week: Polar Bear Plunge, Sandy Point State Park Notes from the Field: English Ivy and American Robins February Week 1: Prickly Pear Cactus, Miocene Fossils Trip of the Week: Flag Ponds Nature Park Week 2: Red-winged Blackbirds, Long-tailed Salamanders Trip of the Week: Caves of the Shenandoah Valley Week 3: Great Blue Herons, Yellow Perch Trip of the Week: Cross-country skiing, New Germany State Park Week 4: Skunk Cabbages, Maple Sap Trip of the Week: Oregon Ridge Nature Center and Park Notes from the Field: A Gathering of Geese March Week 1: Bluebirds, Waterfowl Trip of the Week: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area Week 2: Wood Frogs, Mourning Cloak Butterflies Trip of the Week: Woodcock walks Week 3: Red Maples, Weeds, Osprey Trip of the Week: Fort Smallwood hawk watch Week 4: Hepatica, Spring Peepers Trip of the Week: National Cherry Blossom Festival Notes from the Field: Timberdoodles! April Week 1: Wildflowers, Bloodroot Trip of the Week: Wildflowers at your local park Week 2: American Toads, Migrant Birds, Spring Beauties Trip of the Week: Great Falls of the Potomac and the C&O Canal towpath Week 3: Rockfish (Striped Bass), Lesser Celandine, American Robins, Virginia Bluebells Trip of the Week: Susquehanna State Park Week 4: Canopy Closure, Lyre-leaved Rock Cress, Morel Mushrooms, Redbuds and Dogwoods Trip of the Week: The National Arboretum Notes from the Field: The Wildflowers of April May Week 1: Azaleas, Yellow Lady's Slipper Orchids, Prothonotary Warblers, Large-flowered Trillium Trip of the Week: Thompson Wildlife Management Area Week 2: Black Locusts, Fantail Darters, May Worm Jubilee,Warbler Migration Trip of the Week: Birding for neotropical migrants Week 3: Blackpoll Warblers, Multiflora Rose, Carpenter Frogs Trip of the Week: The Pine Barrens Week 4: Diamondback Terrapins, Mountain Laurel, Shorebirds and Horseshoe Crabs Trip of the Week: Delaware Bay shorebirds and horseshoe crabs Notes from the Field: Phalaropes, Polyandry, and Profligacy June Week 1: Strawberries, Sweetbay Magnolias, Day Lilies, Fawns Trip of the Week: Shenandoah National Park Week 2: Gypsy Moths, Mulberries, Periodical Cicadas Trip of the Week: Trap Pond State Park and Trussum Pond Week 3: Mockingbirds, Sea Nettles, Self-heal, Rhododendrons Trip of the Week: Swallow Falls State Park and Cranesville Bog Week 4: Enchanter's Nightshade, Blueberries, Fireflies,Brown Pelicans Trip of the Week: Chesapeake Bay islands Notes from the Field: A Journey down a Swampy River July Week 1: Least Terns, Annual Cicadas, Queen Anne's Lace Trip of the Week: Gettysburg National Military Park Week 2: Early Birds of Autumn, Lyme Disease, Wildflowers Trip of the Week: Hemlock Gorge Week 3: Cicada Killer Wasps, Black-eyed Susans, Hottest Days Trip of the Week: Harpers Ferry for history and tubing Week 4: Manatees, Showy Flowers Trip of the Week: Ohiopyle State Park Notes from the Field: Cownose Rays and the ChesapeakeEcosystem August Week 1: Asiatic Dayflower, Canada Geese, ShorebirdMigration, Red Spruce Trip of the Week: Dolly Sods Wilderness Week 2: Goldfinches, Bluefish, Herons, American Lotus Trip of the Week: Gunpowder Falls State Park Week 3: Flowering Grasses, May Apple and Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Stinging Nettles Trip of the Week: Potomac River float trip; Dam Number Four Cave, C&O Canal Week 4: Japanese Knotweed, Ragweed, Ghost Crabs Trip of the Week: Assateague Island National Seashore Notes from the Field: The Turtles of Midsummer September Week 1: Pawpaws, Nighthawks and Bats Trip of the Week: Rock Creek Park Week 2: Grasses, Neotropical Songbirds Trip of the Week: Cape May Week 3: Broad-winged Hawk, Monarch Butterfly Migration,Tickseed Sunflower Trip of the Week: Jug Bay area, Patuxent River Week 4: Chimney Swifts, Chestnut Oak Acorns Trip of the Week: South Fork of Shenandoah River for canoeing and canoe camping Notes from the Field: A Cold Green Fire October Week 1: Fringed Gentian, Sharp-shinned Hawk Migration Trip of the Week: Hawk Mountain Week 2: Stink Bugs, Canada Geese, Pokeweed Fruits Trip of the Week: Great Allegheny Passage by train and bicycle Week 3: Wild Fruits, Prime Fall Color (Western Maryland),Cottony Seeds Trip of the Week: Old Rag Hike, Shenandoah National Park Week 4: Brook Trout, Prime Fall Color (Central Maryland) Trip of the Week: Appalachian Trail hike Notes from the Field: Autumn River November Week 1: Witch Hazel, Water Clarity, Bald Cypress Trip of the Week: Pocomoke River for canoeing and camping Week 2: Whitetail Deer, Prime Fall Color (Eastern Shore),Norway Maples Trip of the Week: The Waterfowl Festival Week 3: Ducks, Blue Crabs Trip of the Week: Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge Week 4: Osage Oranges, Whitetail Deer Trip of the Week: Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge Notes from the Field: Life and Death at the Marsh December Week 1: Tundra Swans, Beefsteak Plant Trip of the Week: Bald eagles at Conowingo Dam Week 2: Asiatic Bittersweet, Christmas Fern Trip of the Week: Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge Week 3: Mistletoe, Club Mosses Trip of the Week: United States Botanic Garden Week 4: Winter Solstice, Saw-whet Owls Trip of the Week: Christmas Bird Count Notes from the Field: Vultures Appendix of Common and Scientific Names Selected Bibliography Index