Nature Walk at Pickering Creek’s New Forest
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
3:30-5:00 PM
$5 per person
Join Director, Mark Scallion, for an exploration of the Center’s newly acquired woods. We’ll start by walking Pickering’s meadow trail and then duck into the adjacent woods for a ramble across open woodland. Highlights could include woodpeckers, owls, turkeys, foxes and more. Walks are a great introduction to the Center’s campus and programs and an opportunity for you to learn more about what the Center has to offer and for us to learn about your interests. REGISTER HERE

Waterfowl Migration
Saturday, March 11th
7 am – 8:30 am
$5 per person
Out with the old and in with the new! It’s the time of year when our wonderful winter waterfowl are off to their summer destinations and some migratory friends stop off on their long journeys. Join Pickering Creek naturalists as we enjoy a short walk into our wetlands to look for ducks, swans and geese before they’re gone until the fall! REGISTER HERE

Volunteer for Spring Trail Day
Saturday, March 18, 2023
9:00-11:00 am
Get outdoors to enjoy signs of spring as you help us prepare our trails for upcoming spring school field trips and welcoming for visitors. We will be continuing our ongoing trail maintenance and care along our Farm to Bay trail. This will include “mulching” the trail with wood chips, lining it with branches and clipping back briars as needed. There’s something for everyone and many hands accomplish satisfying progress you can see on the trail.

Whimsy: Signs of Spring
Friday, March 31st
3:30 – 5 PM
$5 per person
Say goodbye to winter and hello to warmer weather, wildflowers blooming and creatures large and small coming out of their winter daze! Join Pickering Creek naturalists as we search for signs of spring with an easy walk around our meadows and forest. Help us find our first fiddleheads and march through a meadow of mayapples as we prepare for spring to finally arrive! Recommended for ages 4-7 but everyone is welcome! REGISTER HERE

In Owls of the Eastern Ice, American researcher and conservationist Jonathan Slaght takes us to the Primoriye region of Eastern Russia, where we join a small team for late-night monitoring missions, on mad dashes across thawing rivers, drink vodka with mystics, hermits, and scientists, and listen to fireside tales of Amur tigers. Most captivating of all are the fish owls themselves: careful hunters, devoted parents, singers of eerie duets, and irrepressible survivors in a harsh and shrinking habitat.

On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 7pm, join Pickering Creek and wildlife biologist, author, and leading Blakiston’s fish owl expert, Jonathan Slaght, for a conversation about the world’s largest owl, the stories of his field research and the conservation efforts underway to protect this secretive species.

Dr. Slaght is the Director of Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Russia Program. He manages research projects involving endangered species such as Blakiston’s fish owls and Amur tigers, and coordinates WCS avian conservation activities along the East Asia-Australasian Flyway from the Arctic to the Tropics. Slaght has been featured by the BBC World Service, the New York Times, The Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine, The New Yorker, and Audubon Magazine, among others.

Pickering Creek’s cosponsors for this program are the Talbot Bird Club and the Chesapeake Forum.

To sign up, register here: http://weblink.donorperfect.com/easternice

Nature Walk at Pickering Creek’s New Forest
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
3:30-5:00 PM
$5 per person
Join Director, Mark Scallion, for an exploration of the Center’s newly acquired woods. We’ll start by walking Pickering’s meadow trail and then duck into the adjacent woods for a ramble across open woodland. Highlights could include woodpeckers, owls, turkeys, foxes and more. Walks are a great introduction to the Center’s campus and programs and an opportunity for you to learn more about what the Center has to offer and for us to learn about your interests. REGISTER HERE

Whimsy: Everlasting Evergreens
Thursday, January 26th
3:30 – 5:00 pm
$5 per person
While the rest of our fields and forests look bare, the dark green of our evergreen trees mark a stark contrast. Come join Pickering Creek educators as we explore what makes these trees and shrubs so special! We’ll be going for an easy hike through our forests where we’ll collect pine cones for some pine cone crafts where you could take home a pine cone bird feeder, pine cone owl or pine cone door decoration! Ages 4-7 recommended but everyone is welcome. REGISTER HERE

More than 130 people stepped forward in support of our recently concluded “More Acres, More Trails, More Space to Explore” campaign, exceeding the campaign’s 2.5 million dollar goal.  This September Pickering Creek was able to acquire 63 acres of woods adjacent to the Center’s 400-acre main campus and allocate money for trail creation as well as trail maintenance and improvement across the campus.  Together we were also able to add to the Center’s endowment to ensure our ability to care for these new acres and trails and seed future land protection efforts around the Center. This marks the Center’s second acquisition of land in the last ten years, preserving invaluable undeveloped land in Talbot County for the entire community to benefit from- both wild and human.

Over the last 30 years, Pickering Creek has played a major role in providing space in the community for people seeking places to enjoy nature for exercise, respite, and outdoor exploration and learning.  “Over the next three years we will work to create trails throughout the new woods, adding new dimension to Pickering’s already fantastic trail system, and fully integrating those trails within our main campus,” says Director Mark Scallion.  New interpretive panels, trails maps will be sprouting up during that time to both celebrate the expanded property lines as well as ‘mulch the pathway’ to new and exciting learning adventures.

When brother and sister George Olds and Margaret Strahl donated Pickering Creek’s main campus in the early 1980s they envisioned a place where everyone in the community would feel welcome as they explored nature as it is intended. In 2016, shortly after the completion of the Center’s Master Site Plan, Pickering Creek Audubon Center received a generous donation of a home within a 10-acre woods across the Creek from the Peterson Family.  The Petersons envisioned that their gift would expand Pickering’s ability to reach new people and encourage others to imagine the fantastic impact for the community that comes from expanding the center’s acres and protecting it boundaries.

In 2018, a significant lead gift allowed us to begin evaluating our ability to acquire the 63 acres adjacent to the center which were at the time being prepped for sale and/or development. Our process was slowed by covid and then a decision to amicably part ways with the National Audubon Society, however the urgency did not let up. As one of the projects key supporters stated again and again, “They are not making land anymore.”

Together, we envisioned protecting important forested land for wildlife, protecting the Center’s wild experience for everyone from school kids to trail hikers.  Beyond that we saw the opportunity to offer more trails to explore at Pickering Creek.  And since we see the best classroom that was ever built is the great outdoors itself– and not a building– creating an even bigger classroom for adventures at Pickering Creek would be an excellent choice for the community.  The property features large oaks and tulip poplars and is home to turkey, barred owls, beaver, spring peepers and wood ducks.

The addition of these acres will add tremendous opportunities for discovery for our school year program participants as well as summer camp kids.  We envision campers canoeing across the creek to these woods and having wild experiences exploring a remote woodland seemingly disconnected from the rest of the world they usually explore.  A new great place with logs to climb over, toads to catch, salamanders to search for and big trees to lie under.

Over the next three years the Center will add new trails for individuals and families to explore and seamlessly connect them to main campus trails accessed from the main parking area near our farm buildings.  Expect the first trails to open in late 2023.

Pickering will be offering guided walks through these woods on the second Wednesday of every month in the afternoon from December through next May.  These guided opportunities will share big trees, beautiful creek views and the peaceful quiet of these delightful woods that have only been enjoyed by a very small handful of people and myriad wildlife over the last 50 years.  Sign up for a walk at www.pickeringcreek.org

Pickering Creek Audubon Center will debut its Thanksgiving Kids Interactive Trail on Friday November 19^th.  The trail circles the Pickering Creek pond and features eleven stops that encourage kids and families to explore nature through short fun activities.  The trail is self guided and starts at the Center’s main parking lot. At the stops it asks kids to do interactive activities like: “Hop like a rabbit down the trail, if you see a Hawk or Eagle overhead freeze until it passes.”  Each location asks students to engage a different sense as they explore nature around them.

“This is a great way to explore the fall season as a family while engaging kids and giving adults a chance to stretch their legs and walk off some of the Thanksgiving Feast,” says Pickering Creek Director Mark Scallion.  The trail will be in place from Friday November 19th through Sunday December 4th.  Keep an eye on the weather and remember boots if it has been rainy!

After enjoying the kids interactive trail, further explorations lie beyond, with over four miles of trails and several beautiful vistas over Pickering Creek and the Center’s expansive wetlands, Pickering Creek has miles of trails for exploration and enjoyment.

Pickering Creek’s Trails are open daily from 7am to 5pm during the winter months. The trail is sponsored by the Talbot Optimists Club.  For all our general guidelines please check:

https://pickering.audubon.org/visit/planning-visit

As summer winds down, our local birds have finished their breeding season, and the fledglings are striking out on their own. Several birds will be switching their diets from insects to high fat seeds and suets to help them get ready for wintering here or migrating south.  That means it’s time to get your bird feeders back out and clean them. You can run them through the dishwasher, or wash with boiling water and soap to get them ready.  

Bird feeding helps sustain birds through the harshest winter days as well as provides exciting interactions with birds as you get to see beautiful cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches, goldfinch, titmice, finches and more bouncing around your feeding station every time you peek out your window. You’ll have hours of endless entertainment as you watch your favorite cardinals and goldfinches come to the feeder as well as see surprises like white-breasted nuthatches and fox sparrows.  

Pickering Creek Audubon Center’s annual birdseed sale will be held from Oct 17th to the Nov 2nd. Friends of the birds can order seed during this time period. A large variety of seeds including black oil sunflower and thistle will be available as well as a variety of seed mixes and suet cakes.  Our seed provider provides a high quality seed, typically with less chaff and other debris than what you will find in seed purchased at big box retailers.  This year all payments will be made by credit card online, staff are available at the office if you prefer to call your payment in.  The largest order wins a free birdfeeder!  

Order forms will be available beginning October 17^th at https://pickeringcreek.org 

Seed pick up will be at our Second Annual Birdseed Social on Monday Nov 7th from 3:30 to 5:30pm at Pickering Creek.   Come have a drink and snack on us, meet fellow bird lovers, and pick up your seed! We will have Pickering Creek staff onsite to answer any bird questions you might have.

Monday Paddle at Pickering Creek Audubon Center

Mondays, September 19th & 26th & October 3rd & 17th

5:00- 6:30 pm

$5 per person

As the evenings cool down, summer ends and the trees begin their preparations for fall, it is a great time to enjoy being on the water! Join us for a leisurely canoe paddle along the shores of Pickering Creek. See the Barn Swallows swoop up their last meal of the evening, rays flap in the water, and the Eagles and Osprey soar overhead. Families welcome!

Nature Walk with the Executive Director: New Forest

Thursday, October 13, 2022

5:00-6:30 PM

$5 per person

Join Director Mark Scallion for a trail walk at the Center. Walks are a great introduction to the Center’s trails and programs and an opportunity for you to learn more about what the Center has to offer and for us to learn about your interests. This month will venture onto Pickering’s new acquired 63 acre woods. We’ll adventure to a different part of the Center each month, so come as often as you like!

Adults Only Twilight Adventure

Friday, October 21st

6:00 – 8:00 PM

$5 per person

Explore Pickering in the waning light of a day as the brilliant fall colors in our meadows and woodlands soften and fade into shadows of the evening. Join Pickering staff for a ¾ mile evening walk along our forest trails that take you from the front of the farm to the waterfront. Sharpen your senses and sense the outdoors in new ways as we look for signs of our wild neighbors that become more active at dusk. End the evening with marshmallows over a campfire and a leisurely wagon ride back to the parking area.

For more information, please visit https://pickeringcreek.org/programs/upcoming-programs/