Apr 28, 2017

Photos and text by Kim Hairston

: An Osprey flies from a platform as another remains on the nest. The birds are seen from the observation blind off the Railroad Bed Trail in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: A Wood duck paddles among the vegetation in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: Painted turtles gather on a log in the Jug Bay Sanctuary near the Otter Point Trail at Jug Bay Natural Area. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: A juvenile water snake covered with mud is seen below the boardwalk in the Jug Bay Sanctuary. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: A shelf fungus grows on a fallen in the Black Walnut Creek Nature Study Area Patuxent River Park. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: Azaleas bloom over the water near the Marsh Boardwalk Trail along the shoreline in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: A deer antler is seen along a trail in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: The boardwalk is seen from the observation blind off the Railroad Bed Trail in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: Tadpoles swim in shallow water at Patuxent River Park. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: Virginia bluebells blooming along a trail near the Patuxent Rural Life Museums in the Patuxent River Park. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: View from the observation blind off the Railroad Bed Trail in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: A moth visits Virginia bluebells blooming along a trail near the Patuxent Rural Life Museums in the Patuxent River Park. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: A Tree Swallow brings a feather into a nesting box as another flutters nearby. The birds are outside the observation blind off Railroad Bed Trail in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: An Osprey flies from a platform as another remains on the nest. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: An Osprey flies from a nest platform in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: Melanie Brisse (l) of Adams Morgan, and Julia Friederich of Langley Park, hike along the Railroad Bed Trail in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: Lichen clings to a bench on the boardwalk in the Black Walnut Creek Nature Study Area of Patuxent River Park. The bench is dedicated to the memory of James Kalp, a park and planning employee. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: Students hike on the boardwalk at the Black Walnut Creek Nature Study Area. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: Trillium is seen along a trail near the Patuxent Rural Life Museums in the Patuxent River Park. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: A muskrat swims in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: The Sears House, a Sears Roebuck and Company mail-order home purchased in 1923 by Lowe Steed, is one of several buildings in the Patuxent Rural Life Museums in Patuxent River Park. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: The Duckett Cabin, built around 1880 for tenant farmers was moved from Aquasco to Patuxent River Park in 1974. The hand-hewn log cabin is one of several buildings in the Patuxent Rural Life Museum. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: Blue Toadflax blooms along the Railroad Bed Trail in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: A plant rises between planks of boardwalk in Black Walnut Creek Nature Study Area of the Patuxent River Park. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: Three Dwarf Nigerian goats look out from an electric net fence at the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. The goats, left to right, Boots, Tux and Pax, graze on invasive species. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: Tux and Boots, two of three Dwarf Nigerian goats at the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary graze on bittersweet. The goats are used to clear areas of invasive plants. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: An old tire that floated down the Patuxent River lies near the Marsh Boardwalk Trail in the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

: A Red-tailed hawk perches on dead tree branch near the boardwalk in Black Walnut Creek Nature Study Area at Patuxent River Park. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

An hour south of Baltimore, at the mid-point of the Patuxent River is the ecological gem Jug Bay. The Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary in Anne Arundel County and the Jug Bay Natural Area in Prince George’s County provide a safe haven for a diversity of birds, fish and wildlife.

Several miles of hiking trails wind through forest and freshwater tidal marsh, with lots to see overhead and underfoot. Visitors are likely to see osprey, wood ducks or any of the 100+ reported species of breeding birds in the area as well as muskrat, turtles and deer.

Exploring Jug Bay, a gem of biodiversity

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