Maryland Biodiversity Project

06/12/2026

Dekay's Brownsnake, or Storeria dekayi dekayi, in Garrett County.

Juvenile brownsnakes may be confused with a ring-necked snake due to the light colored ring marking at the neck. Easy clues to differentiate the two species are their scales: ring-necked snakes have smooth scales and brownsnakes have keeled scales, or a ridge in the middle.

More at Maryland Biodiversity Project:
https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/species/891

(c) Brady O'Brien, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC).

06/11/2026

Throwback Thursday! Do people still do those? Either way, with our Cosca Bioblitz coming up in 9 days, we wanted to revisit MBP's feature on MPT's Outdoors Maryland episode on how Marylanders are protecting our state's wildlife. Watch Jim and John lead the 2023 New Germany State Park BioBlitz to see what it might be like at this year's event! Also learn about other environmental efforts in MD from oysters to controlled burns.

Watch the episode online for free at:
https://video.mpt.tv/video/episode-3605-5phxvq/
(Or in our linktree!)

06/10/2026

Sue Muller has organized a quad-busting mission to observe the Broad-headed Sharpshooter and other target species missing from these quads! There are 400 species in Leesburg and 645 species in Waterford and with your help, we can increase those observation numbers.

When: Saturday, June 13th, 9:00 am

Where: Meeting at White’s Ferry in Montgomery County

How to get more information: Email Sue at [email protected] if you are attending and for more detailed directions and the target species list.

More at Maryland Biodiversity Project's blog, a good place to keep up with our events and updates:
https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/blog/?p=2009

Media by Sue Muller

06/09/2026

Check out this new page on the MBP blog! Last week, we posted the field guides for taking detailed photos for iNaturalist observations. Now, they're always on the blog and easy to find up in the header under 'Resources and Guides'. Are there any other guides you'd want to have published here? Let us know in the comments or our inbox!

More at Maryland Biodiversity Project:
https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/blog/?cat=43

06/09/2026

https://conta.cc/3Q6B39k

Email from Maryland Biodiversity Project Explore and Protect Maryland's Wildlife - Join the Bioblitz Adventure!   CurioCosca Regional Park BioBlitz When and where: Clearwater Nature Center, 11401 Thri

06/08/2026

Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate the 50th Birthday at Suitland Bog on Saturday. It was wonderful to see so many friends there!

If you missed this nature event - or you just can’t get enough! - please join us for the BioBlitz at Cosca Regional Park on Saturday, June 20. We hope to see you there!

More info on the MBP Blog:
https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/blog/?p=1953

Sweetbay Magnolia blooming at Suitland Bog on 6/6/2026 (photo by John Hall).

06/06/2026

A finale for turkey time (for now): Everything wants to eat a poult

Over the past month or so, we talked about mating, nesting, and now our poults, or little turkey chicks, have hatched. They are nidifugous, meaning within 24 hours they're ready to leave the nest. Once out the nest, they stick with mom for the roughest two weeks of their life, where their mortality is highest. They have a fierce list of predators like eagles, owls, hawks. Hen turkeys do their best to protect their young either by fleeing on foot or by signaling poults to hide under her wings and duck down. If they make it to six months, poults will be almost fully grown and ready to protect themselves.

Thanks for sticking through turkeys outside of November,
Paleena

More at Maryland Biodiversity Project:
https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/species/948

06/05/2026

Don't forget! Tomorrow is Suitland Bog's 50th birthday bash, and MBP will be there celebrating! Join us for a great time in a unique Maryland wetland. See you there!

More information at:
https://www.pgparks.com/event_list/suitland-bog-birthday-bash

06/04/2026

With our upcoming events in June (Suitland Bog and Cosca Bioblitz), we wanted to create a easy field guide full of helpful tips when photographing observations for iNaturalist. Having the correct details of the organism pictured helps you identify the species and helps us process it into the MBP database with ease! Feel free to download these for your reference the next time you're documenting Maryland's biodiversity.

Thanks John for these excellent guides!

Blog post coming soon! Check in with what else we're doing here:
https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/blog/

06/03/2026

Lichen-carrying Green Lacewing seen in Dorchester County on November 26th, 2025, by Lisa Mayo. While in its larvae stage, Green Lacewings carry lichen or debris as cover to protect from other predatory insects.

More at Maryland Biodiversity Project:
https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/species/15173

See the observation on iNat:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/328986862