Signs of Spring at the Tides Inn
March 19, 2025
Around the Northern Neck Region, we look to the skies to tell us when spring has arrived. “It’s a competition: who can find the first osprey,” says Will Smiley, our resident ecologist. “When ospreys return, that’s the biggest sign of spring.”
The fish hawks, as they’re also known, spend their winter in Florida, the Caribbean or even South America before migrating back to the Chesapeake Bay Region in mid-to-late March. If you’re visiting us during early springtime, you can join our popular Bird Watching Cruise to search for their nests.
Of course, ospreys aren’t the only creatures we welcome back during this season. Here, five others to be on the lookout for:
Blue Crabs
The Chesapeake Bay’s most iconic species endures quite a journey each year: After mating in the fall, female blue crabs swim to the mouth of the Bay to spawn before slowly journeying back to their homes, including Carter’s Creek, right outside the Tides’ front door. (The males are a bit lazier, burying themselves in the mud for the winter.) By the end of April, the ladies have returned and the men start freeing themselves from the depths. Crabbing season begins.
River Otters
These cute mammals are relatively elusive in Carter’s Creek, so you’re lucky if you spot one. But Smiley has seen a pair swim up to the dock before disappearing underwater again.