What to look for in nature in Maryland this May

Is May still a big month for songbirds and hummingbirds in Maryland?

• American redstarts and the rest of the warbler wave

  Through May; the refuge names spring as one of its two best seasons but gives no peak date · Woodlots and river forests statewide, including Eastern Neck on the Chester River side of Kent County and the big forest blocks at Patuxent Research Refuge

  At Patuxent Research Refuge, the Fish and Wildlife Service notes that large unbroken forest suits deep-woods songbirds such as the scarlet tanager. Walk slowly, look up into the new leaves, and note the date each species first appears, a pattern worth comparing from year to year.

• Radar forecasts of the night flight

  March 1 to June 15 for the live maps · Anywhere you have a screen

  BirdCast turns weather radar into maps of birds aloft, with arrows for direction and a county dashboard for the lower 48. It notes that most migratory species in North America fly after dark. Looking at the map the evening before is a cheap way to guess whether a morning walk will be busy.

• Red-eyed vireos singing from the canopy

  Breeding season runs from mid-April through August · Forests and open woodlands across the Chesapeake watershed

  The Chesapeake Bay Program says a male sings short, repeated phrases through the day, up to 20,000 times. The female builds a compact nest in a shrub and lays three to five eggs. It is a good first song to learn, since it keeps going when other birds fall quiet.

• Ruby-throated hummingbirds raising young

  Returning in early April, then breeding; chicks need three to four weeks after hatching · Gardens, woodland edges and flowering shrubs

  Maryland DNR says the female builds a thimble-sized nest of plant down and spider silk, camouflaged with moss and lichen, and raises two chicks alone. DNR’s feeder advice is a nectar of one cup of sugar to four of water, no dye, kept clean of mold. Journey North’s map collects sightings if you want to report your first one.

Which terns, plovers and other birds are nesting on Maryland’s coast in May?

• Terns on the floating island

  Terns breed in summer; the raft is reassembled each spring · Chincoteague Bay, Worcester County

  DNR, the Maryland Coastal Bays Program and Audubon Mid-Atlantic built a wooden-framed raft with crushed clam shell and chick shelters, first used in 2021. In 2025 royal terns nested on it for the first time, and more than 350 tern chicks fledged that year. DNR counts more than 1,100 common tern nests over five seasons.

• Posted islands near Ocean City

  Nesting season runs April 1 to September 15, per a DNR notice · Islands in the coastal bays

  A DNR notice names the black skimmer, royal tern and common tern, all endangered in Maryland, among the birds that nest on sandy islands created for them near Ocean City. Landing a boat or setting foot on a posted island is illegal during the season. The Chesapeake Bay Program adds that skimmer colonies scatter when people come too close, and that the species has not been seen nesting on the Bay itself since 2020.

• Piping plovers on Assateague

  Arrive in early spring, raise chicks through summer, leave in late August · Assateague Island National Seashore

  The Park Service describes the threatened piping plover as a bird of sandy, storm-washed beaches. Closures around nests change through the season, so use the park’s alerts page or call before you go.

• Least terns and oystercatchers

  Least tern eggs are usually laid from late May through June; oystercatchers nest in spring · Sandy beaches, shell patches and Tangier Sound shorelines

  The Bay Program says least terns lay two eggs that hatch in about 21 days, nest in colonies of up to 200 birds, and dive at intruders. American oystercatchers scrape a shallow hollow, may make up to five nests to confuse predators, and lay two to four eggs. Both are vulnerable to people and dogs on beaches.

What is happening in Maryland’s bays and rivers in May?

• Horseshoe crabs spawning on the beach

  Spawning runs May through July and peaks in June, per DNR; the Bay Program says May and June; DNR’s yearly announcements over the past decade came between May 16 and June 1 · Sunset Park near the Ocean City Inlet and other sandy shores of the coastal bays and Chesapeake

  DNR calls this possibly the world’s oldest wildlife migration. Spawning peaks at evening high tides near the full and new moons, and a female leaves about 20,000 eggs on average, food for shorebirds heading to northern Canada. In 2027 the moons fall on May 6 (new), May 20 (full) and June 4 (new), so check a tide table for those evenings. The crabs neither bite nor sting; DNR says to turn a stranded one over gently with both hands and never lift it by the tail.

• Blue crabs mating, and the winter survey results

  The Bay Program says blue crabs mate from May through October; DNR has released winter dredge survey results each spring · Brackish Bay waters and tidal rivers

  In late May 2026, DNR reported recreational crabbers running trotlines and collapsible traps, with the lower Eastern Shore best. The winter dredge survey, run by DNR and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at 1,500 sites, reported its 2026 results on May 18: about 349 million crabs, up 46 percent, and about 228 million juveniles, up 121 percent. The 2027 results had not been released at the time of writing.

• Cownose rays arriving

  The Bay Program says they visit the lower and middle Bay from May to October · Lower and middle Chesapeake, as far north as Kent Island

  Males leave for the ocean in June or July, and females stay until October. They travel in schools that can be very large.

• The last of the spring striped bass

  Spawning runs April to early June, per the Bay Program · Tidal rivers and the upper Bay

  Striped bass swim upstream to spawn in fresh water. In 2026 a 19- to 24-inch slot opened below the Brewerton Channel on May 1, the tidal Potomac opened May 16, and the Susquehanna Flats stayed closed to targeting until June 1. DNR sets the 2027 rules separately, so read its current regulations.

• Warm-water fish moving in

  Reported in May 2026 · Tidal rivers, Tangier Sound and the lower Bay

  In 2026, white perch moved to summer spots near oyster bars and piers, black drum showed up in Tangier Sound, and the first spot and croaker came by May 20. Trout stocking shifted from the central region toward the west as the month warmed.

Why are turtles crossing Maryland roads in May and June?

• Diamondback terrapins

  The Bay Program says they mate in the water, usually at night, in May; females then come onto beaches to nest · Brackish marshes and sandy shores of the Bay and coastal bays

  A clutch holds 10 to 15 pinkish-white eggs, and a female may lay several clutches in a season. Eggs take 60 to 100 days to hatch. On Deal Island Road, where nesting females were being killed on a road berm, the State Highway Administration and DNR installed a roughly 6,300-foot barrier to keep turtles off the pavement.

• Helping a turtle across

  Whenever you meet one on a road · Any road near water or woods

  DNR’s advice is to check for traffic, then lift the turtle by the back of the shell with both hands and put it on the other side of the road, pointed the way it was traveling. Do not return it to where it started, since turtles keep home ranges, and do not take a wild turtle home. Use extra caution with a snapping turtle. Do not put a pregnant female in water: all Maryland turtles lay eggs on land.

What should I do if I find a fawn, a young bird or another baby animal?

• White-tailed deer fawns

  The Bay Program says births come between May and June; DNR says late spring · Fields, wood edges and suburban yards

  A doe usually feeds nearby and returns to nurse when it is safe; the fawn’s stillness is its defense. If no adult is in sight, the mother is probably close. Keep dogs and children back, and do not feed or handle the fawn.

• Wild turkey nests and poults

  Hens lay one egg a day from mid-April, incubate about four weeks, and hatching is around the first week of June, per the Bay Program · Forest edges and brushy fields

  A hen lays about a dozen eggs, often at the base of a tree with cover above. The poults leave the nest within a day and can fly at about eight days.

• Bald eagle fledglings

  The Bay Program says chicks usually fledge at 10 to 12 weeks, between May and July · Large trees near water; the densest breeding in the Bay is in Dorchester County

  The Bay Program estimated about 3,000 breeding pairs in the Chesapeake in 2020. Young eagles depend on their parents for weeks after the first flight, so a big brown bird on a low branch may simply be learning. Watch from far off.

• Bats and their pups

  Little brown bat females give birth in June or July, per the Bay Program · Barns, attics and tree cavities for little browns; tree canopy for eastern red bats

  Little brown bat females raise one pup a year in nursery roosts, per the Bay Program. Eastern red bats roost in tree canopy four to ten feet up through spring and summer.

• Black bears

  DNR says boars travel long distances in June and July to mate · Mainly Garrett, Allegany, Washington and Frederick counties; sometimes elsewhere in spring

  DNR says cubs are born in January and stay with the sow for about 18 months. Bears will eat garbage, crops and bird food, so secure trash if one is about.

What is blooming in Maryland in May, and where?

• Pink lady’s slipper

  The Bay Program gives late May to mid-July · Shaded, acidic woods

  The plant relies on a fungus that is hard to reproduce, so transplants usually die, and the Bay Program discourages picking. DNR says Maryland has lady’s slippers in pink, yellow and rare white forms, and asks that photographs not carry precise location, even in metadata.

• Wild geranium

  Blooms for about a month in late spring and early summer, per the Bay Program · Deciduous woodlands, meadows, gardens and yards

  Its pink or purple flowers have five rounded petals, and the plant grows in dense clumps. Bees and syrphid flies are the most common visitors.

• Woodland ephemerals along the C&O Canal

  Timing varies by year; the park can say what is out · Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Washington and Frederick counties

  The Park Service lists wild ginger, Jack-in-the-pulpit, spring beauty, mayapple, trout lily, Dutchman’s breeches, blue phlox, bloodroot and violets as native spring wildflowers on the canal; the park phone is 301-739-4200. At Catoctin Mountain Park, picking wildflowers is prohibited.

• A northern bog in the mountains

  Open during daylight hours all year; water levels have been high · Cranesville Swamp Preserve, Garrett County

  The Nature Conservancy says peat from sphagnum moss underlies open areas of sundew, cranberry and sedge, with tamarack, red spruce and hemlock the main trees. A 1,500-foot boardwalk crosses the wettest part, and the page warns visitors to expect wet feet. The preserve also records more than 100 bird species, including the alder flycatcher and Blackburnian warbler.

• Black-eyed Susan, not yet

  Blooms June through October, per the Bay Program · Fields, meadows and roadsides in full sun

  Maryland’s state flower is a flower of summer, so do not expect the yellow petals until June.

How much daylight does Maryland gain in May?

Is the danger of a spring freeze over in Maryland by May?

What is May weather like in Maryland, and what are the hazards?

What is in Maryland’s night sky in May 2027?

• The Eta Aquariid meteor shower, a good year

  Best before dawn on May 5, 6 and 7 · East and southeast, in the last two hours before sunrise

  No moon interferes: the new moon arrives at 6:58 a.m. on May 6. SeaSky rates the shower above average, with a ceiling near 60 an hour. At Maryland’s latitude, plan on somewhere around ten to thirty an hour in the final stretch of night, because Aquarius clears the horizon only shortly before sunrise, so the window is short. The meteors are bits of Halley’s comet.

• The Flower Moon, a seasonal Blue Moon

  Full at 6:59 a.m. on Thursday, May 20; look the evening before · Rising in the east-southeast near 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 19

  Full arrives after the moon has set for the night in Maryland, so Wednesday evening, when the moon rises nearly round (7:59 p.m. in Baltimore, by the Naval Observatory table), gives the better view, and Thursday evening is nearly as good. This spring holds four full moons (the Worm, Pink, Flower and Strawberry), and by the old seasonal rule SeaSky gives the extra name Blue Moon to the third. No calendar month in 2027 holds two full moons, so the modern kind of Blue Moon does not occur. Flower Moon is a traditional name from the Old Farmer’s Almanac.

• Mercury at dusk

  Best from about May 12 to June 5; widest from the Sun at 9:14 a.m. on Friday, May 28 · Low in the west-northwest, 45 to 90 minutes after sunset

  Mercury reaches 22.8 degrees from the Sun by day on the 28th, so the best sightings come on May 27 and 28. It is about as bright as a bright star in mid-May and fades into June. Use binoculars and a clear western horizon. Northern observers get their most favorable dusk look of the year.

• Jupiter and Mars in Leo

  All month · Jupiter high in the south-southwest after dark; Mars in the same constellation

  By our own sky calculations, the first-quarter moon stands beside Jupiter on Wednesday, May 12, closest in late afternoon, and comes within a few degrees of Mars the next night. The same calculations have Jupiter setting well after midnight in early May and near midnight by June 1, and Mars going down around 2 a.m. on May 1 and earlier as the weeks pass.

• Venus and Saturn low before sunrise

  Around May 7 · Low in the east, before sunrise

  Venus climbs only an hour before the Sun, and Saturn is back in the morning sky after passing behind the Sun on April 7. Our own calculation puts them roughly a degree apart on May 6 and 8 and closest on May 7. It is a single-source computation, not a published event, so see it as a reason to check a flat eastern horizon on a clear morning.

• The Milky Way returns

  Near the new moon: May 1 to 14 and May 25 to 31 · A dark site with a clear southern horizon, in the last hours of night

  Our own computation for about 40 degrees north has the bright core up in full darkness for a few hours at most near the new moon, and only just before dawn. Town lights will wash it out.

What can families do outdoors in Maryland in May 2027?

Safety notes for May in Maryland