New episode of MPT series Outdoors Maryland debuts December 2

OWINGS MILLS, MD – Maryland Public Television’s (MPT) award-winning original series Outdoors Maryland continues its 37th season with a new episode on December 2. Produced in cooperation with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Outdoors Maryland continues to captivate viewers with memorable stories and compelling videography.

Outdoors Maryland airs Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. on MPT and online at mpt.org/livestream, with encore broadcasts on Saturdays at 4:30 p.m. Episodes will be available to watch live and on demand via MPT’s online video player and the free PBS app at the time of their premiere.

Segments debuting during the December 2 episode include:

• For the Birds (Montgomery County): When Maryland’s birds of prey need a helping hand, the team at Owl Moon Raptor Center comes to the rescue. Follow along as they rescue and rehab owls, ospreys, eagles, and others. Plus, tag along with a father-daughter falconry duo to experience the thrill of hunting with hawks.

• Breaking the Ice (Queen Anne’s, Talbot, and Dorchester counties): Spend a chilly January day aboard one of the DNR’s Chesapeake “icebreakers” – AV Sandusky – as it plows a channel through frozen bay waters. Along the way, meet boaters trapped in iced-over marinas, from a father-daughter sailing duo whose Caribbean plans were put on hold by the sudden cold snap, to the Florida-bound captain of a 1960s wooden motor yacht stuck at Campbell’s Boatyard in Oxford, to the Chesapeake watermen itching to get out and harvest oysters.

• An Island Becoming (Talbot County): Meet the wildlife of Poplar Island – from migrating monarchs to rare waterbirds to terrapins aplenty – and the scientists working to study and protect them. Like many bay islands, Poplar was destined to disappear due to sinking land, rising seas, and erosion. But the need to find a home for dredge material from Chesapeake shipping channels created a unique opportunity to rebuild Poplar Island and, in the process, restore key habitat for a variety of state species.

Audiences are invited to engage with the series on social media @OutdoorsMarylandTV on Facebook and @OutdoorsMarylandTV on Instagram.

Outdoors Maryland will air encore presentations of season 37 episodes starting on January 13, leading up to the final two new episodes of the season, which will debut on February 3 and 10.

Since debuting in 1988, MPT has produced more than 700 Outdoors Maryland stories on topics ranging from science-oriented environmental issues to segments about fascinating people, animals, and places across the state. The series has earned more than 50 awards over 37 years of production, including 30 Emmy® Awards from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.