A Birders Guide to Somerset County, MD

Photo: Rumbly Point, Bill Hubick

Maryland's Somerset County is arguably the most under birded county in the state even though it has very high potential for finding rarities.  In the past amazing state birds like Tropical Kingbird and Lazuli Bunting have been found.  For birders looking for out of the way pristine habitats and good birds, Somerset County is the place to go.

Somerset County is located about three hours from the Washington DC/Baltimore corridor on the southwestern side of the Maryland's Eastern Shore.  It has many different habitat types including cypress swamps, massive salt marshes, and the Chesapeake Bay.  Marsh birds are the specialties of Somerset and if you go to the right places birds like Saltmarsh Sparrow and American Bittern can be easy to see.

Photo: American Bittern, Bill Hubick

Many birders forget that there is an interior to Somerset County with cypress swamps and large wooded areas that hold many interesting birds like Red-headed Woodpecker and Prothonotary Warbler.  

Photo: Prothonotary Warbler, Bill Hubick

For this post I will provide a google map that has pin points to many of the areas that I bird regularly in the county.  If you click on one of the points a box will pop on the screen that will give a brief description of what birds can be expected at that location.  Obviously, I can't list every spot,  so if you have a special place in Somerset County that I may not know about please name the location and give a description in the comment section at the end of the blog post so other birders can use your intel.

To access my google map to Somerset County birding locations just click the link below.

Somerset County Birding Locations

I would like to thank Bill Hubick for letting me use his photos for this post.  Bill has an amazing website full of outstanding nature photography that can be viewed at www.billhubick.com/