Chesapeake Bay Program

The Purple Pitcher Plant is a killing machine—about 1% of the time.

This carnivorous plant has pitcher-shaped leaves that fill with rainwater and drown insects caught inside. Downward-pointing hairs inside the leaves keep the prey from climbing back out.

Instead of digesting the prey itself, the plant relies on a tiny aquatic ecosystem of bacteria and larvae living inside the pitcher to break down the insects so it can absorb their nutrients.

However, only a very small number of visiting insects are actually caught inside the plant. The rest live to tell the tale of this murderous plant.

(Photos by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)

Once a vital railroad line during the Civil War, High Bridge Trail is now a 32-mile haven for hikers, bicyclists, and horseback riders.

High Bridge soars 160 feet above the Appomattox River, offering breathtaking, panoramic views of the surrounding Virginia countryside.

The trail is a National Recreation Trail recognizing exemplary trails of local and regional significance, connecting people to nature, to each other, and to our shared history and culture.

(Photo courtesy of Virginia State Parks)

It's starting to feel like fall in the Chesapeake Bay watershed! 🎃

This region has a lovely mix of fall foliage, apple picking, spooky history for Halloween and much more. 🍂

What's your favorite autumn activity?

5 reasons to fall in love with autumn in the Chesapeake From apple picking to fall foliage, the Bay watershed is fall-tastic!

Depending on what part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed you live in, now could be the time to enjoy asters, goldenrod, and mountain mint. 🌼

These flowers offer a critical source of sustenance to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators when other plants are dying back.

They also add a nice pop of color to our forests and gardens.

Three late-season blooms bring color to the Chesapeake Keep an eye out for these vibrant native flowers

As the Chesapeake Bay warms, public health experts are warning of a steady increase in Vibrio bacteria, which thrive in warmer brackish waters.

In recent years, the number of vibrio infections reported in Maryland has more than doubled — from 100 in 2018 to 260 in 2025, according to the state Department of Health. This year, 72 cases had been reported by late June.

Vibrio on the rise as climate warms the Chesapeake Bay One day last July, Vernon Spear scratched his forearm on a crab pot as he pulled it out of the Choptank River from his pier in Cambridge, MD. He put

Outside of a seafood restaurant in Kent Island, a team wrapped six piling in a natural material covered in a million juvenile oysters. 🦪

The pilings may turn into mini oyster reefs within a year.

Kent Island restaurant adds 1 million new oysters to Chesapeake Bay – WTOP News The goal was to build new oyster beds around the pilings left over from where a pier that used to be used by boaters docking to have lunch at Libbey’s Coastal K

Looks can be deceiving: One green supports the Bay, the other suffocates it. 👀

Underwater grasses, also known as submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), play a critical part in keeping the Bay healthy. These grasses evolved from land plants so they can be identified by their leaf patterns, roots and flowers just like the plants in your background.

Alternatively, harmful algal blooms caused by excess nutrients create "dead zones" that harm fish, shellfish and other underwater life. These blooms can look like foam, scum, clumpy mats or paint on the surface of the water.

Think you know your Bay greenery? Put your knowledge to the test! Afterwards, head to the pinned comment to check your answers—then tell us your score!

(Photos by Rhiannon Johnston, Alicia Pimental, Matt Rath, & Michael Land/Chesapeake Bay Program, Eric Vance/EPA, Tim Daley/PA DEP, & Suzanne Webster/UMCES IAN)

A recent survey across the Chesapeake Bay reveals that osprey nesting success has reached one of its lowest levels in years.

According to the report, roughly four out of every five pairs that nested in brackish waters along the Bay’s mainstem and its lower tributaries failed to fledge any young.

Birds migrating to those waters in the spring produced just 0.25 chicks per pair, which is far below the range of 0.8 to 1.3 young per nest needed to maintain their numbers.

Researchers attribute these widespread reproductive failures primarily to a food shortage.

Osprey nesting woes in the Chesapeake Bay worsen, survey finds Osprey breeding continues to falter around the Chesapeake Bay, a new survey has found, with the meager hatching and survival of chicks this year well below what is needed to

Want to help get rid of the invasive spotted lanternfly that's flooding our communities? Learn to spot Tree of Heaven.

Tree of Heaven is the primary host plant for the spotted lanternfly. The insect relies on the tree as a vital food source, absorbing the tree's natural toxins to make itself unpalatable to potential predators. Both the insect and tree are invasives from Asia that cause severe harm to our local ecosystem.

Learn how to identify this fast-spreading tree, tell it apart from native lookalikes, and manage it effectively in your yard.

The Tree of Heaven: The Invasive That's Probably in Your Backyard Learn all about the notorious invasive tree that thrives in our urban environment — for better or for worse. Should we get rid of it or leave it be?

Good news from the Eastern Shore! 🌾

The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy has permanently protected 153 acres of land near Oxford, Maryland.

The easement means that the full 213 acres of farmland owned by Herschell B. Claggett Sr. are protected from development. This landmark easement will protect critical wildlife habitat and waters of the Choptank River and Chesapeake Bay.

ESLC conserves 153 acres in Talbot County, tenth easement for Herschell B. Claggett Sr. - ESLC ESLC has conserved 153 acres of Herschell B. Claggett Sr.'s farm on Island Creek in Talbot County, MD through DNR CREP easement program