Poplar Island

Poplar Island

Mainland Boat Dock – 21548 Chicken Point Road, Tilghman, MD 21671 (410) 729-8200

Poplar Island is one of those must-see birding destinations in Maryland. The island is an environmental restoration project located in the Chesapeake Bay in Talbot County, Maryland, due west of Tilghman Island. Along with Hart-Miller Island, Masonville Cove, and Swan Creek/Cox Creek, Poplar Island is primarily a man-made terrain built of material dredged from the Chesapeake Bay and Baltimore Harbor, and has become one of Maryland’s outstanding shorebird sites.

Formally named the “Paul S. Sarbanes Ecosystem Restoration Project at Poplar Island,” the project has become an international model for the beneficial use of dredged material. The habitats on and near the island include dredged material impoundments; mudflats; brackish marshes; rock jetties; and the open waters of the Chesapeake Bay. There are views of forested areas and sandy beaches on nearby islands. As a birding destination, Poplar Island is famous for its shorebirds, and also offers great views of waders, waterfowl, gulls, terns, and marsh-dwelling songbirds. See “How to Visit” below.

How to Visit:

The island is not open to the public, and docking of private boats or landing from kayaks or canoes is not permitted. There is only one way for birders to visit, and that is through free birding tours offered by the Maryland Port Administration and the Maryland Environmental Service (MES). Birders take an MES boat to the island in the morning and are driven around the island in a comfortable, air-conditioned tour bus, with frequent stops to get out and look at birds. The MES tour guide knows where the birds are and the group works together on identifications. There are no foot-trails, and the only walking involves short forays from the bus to good vantage points. The boat will take birders back to the mainland in early afternoon.

MES schedules about eight of these birding trips each year and announces the dates via email to a dedicated mailing list (free sign-up); birders can request to be added to the mailing list by sending an email to birdingtours@menv.com with the subject line “Add me to mailing list.” Tour dates are also announced about one month in advance on the Dredged Material Management Program (DMMP) website. Notice that the DMMP website also includes information about tours at other Maryland Port Administration dredged material sites, namely Hart-Miller Island, Masonville Cove, and Cox Creek. Scroll through the webpage to find the Poplar Island information; specific tour dates are listed in chronological order near the bottom of the page, with a link for more information and registration.

As of spring 2024, seats on the tours is awarded through a lottery system. Birders may register for seats through the lottery; each birder can request seats for up to three additional people (four seats total). There is no cost for the tours; they are offered as a public service by the Maryland Port Administration.

Generally, the boat to Poplar Island departs the mainland at 9 am and returns to the mainland around 1 pm, but some tours may run at other times, so check the details carefully if you receive confirmation that you have a seat on a tour. Most tours leave from the Maryland Environmental Service dock at 21548 Chicken Point Road, Tilghman, MD 21671. There is a gravel parking lot at the dock and a portable restroom. Often, the birding is quite good at the parking area, so you might want to consider arriving extra early to start your bird list for the day. Occasionally, birding tours may leave from other mainland locations; this will be specified in the email confirmation of your tour reservation.

ThePoplar Island birding tours include the boat ride to and from the island and a bus trip (air-conditioned!), with frequent stops to get off the bus and look at birds. Each tour is limited to about 18 birders because of the capacity of the boat and bus. A birding guide accompanies the group. Be prepared to walk on uneven surfaces. It is required that birders wear closed-toed shoes for safety reasons, and must agree to abide by other guidelines as described on the DMMP website.

Birders should bring spotting scopes, binoculars, water, bagged lunch or snacks, cameras, and sun and bug protection. Hats are essential – there is little shade. The tour might include a lunch break in the administration building or there is time to eat while on the bus. Restrooms are available on the island and at the mainland dock area.

The boat and bus are not handicapped-accessible. Participants must be able to board the boat, which involves climbing a few steps and stepping across a small gap from the dock to the boat. Someone will be standing by to help you board. Boarding the bus also involves climbing steps. Participants must also be able to walk on unpaved roads with rock, gravel, or mud, with the potential of crossing shallow water or puddles.

High visibility vests (provided by the Maryland Port Administration) must be worn at all times, both inside and outside of the bus. On the boat, all participants are required to wear a life jacket, which will be provided.

Smoking, drugs, alcohol, and weapons are prohibited and pets are not allowed.

Tours run rain or shine but may be canceled in the event of severe weather. Please note that the island weather can be more severe than on the mainland, is unpredictable, and can change quickly. The boat cannot travel to the island in severe weather, or if there is ice on the water. If inclement weather is predicted for the day of your tour, plan to check your email before leaving the house to travel to the dock, in case of cancellation. Plan to arrive at the dock at least 15 minutes before scheduled boat departure in the morning.

The lottery system for awarding birding tour seats is evolving and is subject to change.

History:

In the 1800s, Poplar Island was about 1,100 acres in size and supported a human community of farmers, fishermen, and village business owners. But over time, the people began leaving because the island was subject to severe and increasing erosion. By the 1990s, the island was reduced to several small clumps protruding above the water, with a total area of only about 4 acres.

Today, the land area of Poplar Island has been significantly expanded through an ongoing project using dredged material collected from the Chesapeake Bay’s shipping channels leading to the Baltimore Harbor. The restoration is being carried out through a partnership between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Maryland Department of Transportation, the Maryland Port Administration, and the Maryland Environmental Service (MES); MES performs day-to-day operations on the site.

The original Poplar Island restoration project was planned to bring the island back to it’s size of about 1,140 acres in the 1800s. However, the project has been expanded, and a new area on the north end of the island will bring it to a total of 1,715 acres. The final island will consist of approximately 776 acres of tidal wetlands, including low marsh and high marsh habitat, bird nesting islands, and open water ponds, plus an upland portion of approximately 829 acres.

Birdlife:

Over 265 species have been reported on eBird from the Poplar Island hotspot.  There are separate eBird hotspots for nearby Coaches Island and Jefferson Island, both privately owned but viewable from Poplar Island. Although there are no public tours of Poplar Island in the winter, we have knowledge of the wintering birds there from reports made by the biologists employed on the island.

eBird reports include 33 species of waterfowl, including all the expected species for the Chesapeake Bay, such as Canvasback and Redhead, but also a smattering of sea ducks, including  Surf Scoter, Black Scoter, White-winged Scoter, King Eider, and Long-tailed Duck.  Some species can be found year-round, or nearly so, including large numbers of Mallard and American Black Duck, plus Ruddy Duck and all three scoters.

Rallids typically found on the island include Clapper Rail, Virginia Rail, Sora, American Coot, and Common Gallinule.

Poplar Island is truly remarkable for its shorebirds, with 36 species, reported: essentially all the shorebirds that can reliably be found in Maryland plus a couple of rarities. Black-necked Stilts breed on the island, and American Avocets can be present in large numbers during post-breding dispersion. Regularly occurring plovers include Black-bellied, American Golden-, Semipalmated, and Killdeer, and there have been several reports of endangered Piping Plovers, but they are not regular. Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit, and Hudsonian Godwit sometimes appear. Small numbers of Purple Sandpipers may be on the rock jetties from fall through late spring. White-rumped, Buff-breasted, and Baird’s Sandpipers turn up most years. Ruff has been reported. Other expected shorebirds include the peeps (Least, Western, and Semipalmated Sandpipers ); Ruddy Turnstone; Red Knot; Stilt Sandpiper; Sanderling; Dunlin; Pectoral Sandpiper; both dowitchers (although Long-billed is less frequent); Wilson’s Snipe; Red-necked and Wilsons Phalaropes; Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers (Solitary being less frequent); Willet (making their presence known with noisy calls); and both yellowlegs.

Twelve species of gulls have been reported: the regulars are Herring, Great Black-backed, Ring-billed, Laughing (summer), and Bonaparte’s (winter).  Lesser Black-backed Gull is almost regular. Rarities include Sabine’s, Black-headed, Franklin’s, California, Iceland, and Glaucous. Terns are also featured, with Common, Forster’s and Least nesting on the island. Other regularly occurring terns include Caspian, Royal, and Black; and there have been rare sightings of Sandwich and Gull-billed. Black Skimmers can occasionally be seen skimming the waters of the Bay.

Loons (Common and Red-throated) and grebes (Pied-billed, Horned, and Red-necked) are regular; Eared Grebes are occasional drop-ins durng migration. Northern Gannets are regular in winter, and there is one incidence of Brown Booby being seen offshore; Brown Boobies have been increasing visitors to the middle and upper Bay. Brown Pelicans are numerous on or near Coach’s Island and flying up and down the Bay. There are occasional reports of American White Pelican, but these are unexpected.

Poplar Island is also well known for its waders. There is a rookery on the island, hosting Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, and Cattle Egret. Black-crowned Night-Herons can be found near an old barge, and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons are sometimes present. American and Least Bitterns nest in the marshes, as does Green Heron. Glossy Ibis can almost always be found, and Tricolored Heron, another southern species that appears to be extending its range northward, is becoming more regular.

Bald Eagles and Osprey are present in large numbers, and Northern Harriers are frequently seen. Other resident raptors, for all or part of the year, include both vultures; Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks; Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks; and American Kestrel, Merlin, and Peregrine Falcon. There are sporadic sightings of Barn Owl, and Short-eared Owls and sometimes Snowy Owl show up in winter.

With so much water, Poplar Island is a great place for swallows, with all the expected species for Maryland.  Among landbirds, notables include Marsh Wren and Seaside Sparrow, which breed on the island. Winter residents include American Pipit; Snow Bunting; and Field, White-crowned, Savannah, and Swamp Sparrows. Migrating sparrows have included Nelson’s; Lincoln’s; and Vesper.

Given the lack of forested habitat on Poplar Island, warbler sightings are more sporadic, but Common Yellowthroats breed in the marshes in large numbers; Palm Warblers use the rock jetties during migration and can be numerous; and Yellow-rumped Warblers overwinter.