Talbot County

Talbot County is one of the eight counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and is located in the upper portion of this region. The county seat is Easton, a historic town located in the middle of the county. The town of St. Michael’s is a popular tourist area. Just offshore in the Chesapeake Bay, Poplar Island is a natural island that has been saved from erosion by the establishment of a facility to hold material dredged from the shipping channels in the Bay. Organized birding tours visit Poplar Island several times a year.

Talbot County has 331+ species reported on eBird. For the county eBird checklist, eBird hotspots, and more, click here.

View a comparison of Maryland counties based on total number of species reported on eBird.

Talbot County borders the Chesapeake Bay to the west, and the many tributary rivers entering the Bay give the county an irregular outline deeply indented by many inlets and bays. Major rivers include the Choptank, Miles, Wye, and Tred Avon. The topography is quite flat, and most of the county is rural. There are abundant tidal and non-tidal wetlands interspersed with forested lands and agricultural fields. Fishing communities can still be found along the Bay shoreline.

Adjacent counties are Queen Anne’s to the north; Caroline to the east; Dorchester to the south; and Anne Arundel and Calvert to the west, on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. The boundary  between Talbot County and the Western Shore counties is in the middle of the bay.

The major north-south route is US Route 50. MD Route 33 carries traffic west to St. Michael’s and then south to Tilghman Island.

To view the State Highway Administration’s printable road map of Talbot County (PDF format), please click here.

The local chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society is the Talbot Bird Club.

Explore birding sites in Talbot County by choosing from the list below.