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January 25, 2021

The Talbot Spy

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Ecosystem Eco Notes

Engaging Speakers this February with Pickering Creek

January 17, 2021 by Pickering Creek Audubon Center Leave a Comment

Samara Ocher with a Puffin

Pickering Creek’s great line up of engaging online programs to keep you sane during the pandemic continues in February.  The month’s highlights include webinars by science writer and cartoonist Rosemary Mosco and environmental educator and scientist Samara Ocher.

Rosemary will present Comics with a Naturalist’s Knowledge on Thursday February 11th ay 7pm via zoom webinar. Rosemary makes books and cartoons that connect people with the natural world. Her Bird and Moon nature comics were the subject of an award-winning exhibit at Cornell’s Museum of the Earth, and they’re collected in the book, “Birding Is My Favorite Video Game”, a 2019 ALA Great Graphic Novel for Teens. She co-wrote the New York Times best-selling book, “The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid” and wrote a graphic novel about the solar system. She speaks at birding festivals and writes for Audubon and the PBS kids’ show, Elinor Wonders Why. Otherwise, she spends a lot of time out in the field, taking pictures of eye-wateringly tiny butterflies. Delight in Rosemary’s whimsical depictions of birds, reptiles, mammals, and more while picking up marvelous tidbits to share at your next (virtual) dinner party! This program will enchant, fascinate and inspire – you don’t want to miss it!

Samara Ocher will present Puffins & Petrels: Seabirds in the Field on Wednesday February 17 at 7:00 PM via Zoom webinar.  As their name suggests, seabirds spend the majority of their lives out at sea. These amazing birds soar above the waves of the open ocean, and dive beneath them for fish, without land in sight for most of the year. Come summertime, albatross, puffins, petrels, and more converge on tiny islands all over the world to form breeding colonies, often returning to the same island where they were born. Many birds even find the same mate each year, picking out their partner from among hundreds if not thousands! They’ll spend the summer caring for their nestlings and taking turns heading out to sea to forage for fish, krill, squid, and other seafood delicacies to feed their chicks. At the end of the summer, both parents and chicks abscond to the water, often under the cover of night to escape the hungry eyes (and mouths) of predators. They’ll spend the rest of the year flying, swimming, and eating miles out at sea, then return next year to begin again.

When seabirds come together in these breeding colonies every summer, they present us with a unique opportunity to study and observe them. While they can be difficult to find during most of the year, during the summer they’ve gathered in one location, and on land! These seabird islands tend to be remote, so any scientist eager to get their hands dirty (with copious amounts of guano) must pack up their gear and live amongst the seabirds for the summer season. They keep track of these breeding colonies from year to year, giving them a peek into the lives of these otherwise inconspicuous but fascinating birds. Seabirds also provide us with a window into their marine ecosystems. It’s much easier to record the number of puffin fledglings from a bird blind on a remote island than it is to count the number of juvenile rockfish in a fishery under the waves! If seabird populations are healthy, we can infer that the other members of their ecosystem, such as important fisheries species, are thriving as well. Samara will share more about some of the species she’s studied, life on a seabird island, and how scientists keep tack of populations from year to year.

A lifelong lover of birds and the ocean, Samara has studied seabirds in both the field and the laboratory. She received her Master’s degree in Marine Biology from Northeastern University, and completed her research at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute using computer models to study the population demographics of the Wandering Albatross. Spurred by her continuing fascination of the unique adaptations seabirds use to survive in their marine ecosystems, she then spent a summer as a field researcher on the Farallon Islands in California. These rocky outcroppings are home to 13 species of breeding seabirds, with over 200,000 birds nesting there each year. She worked as a naturalist for Audubon’s Project Puffin in Maine, living on a research island for two weeks and educating the public on boat tours of the breeding islands for the remainder of the summer. Samara always carts her trusty DSLR camera along on all her seabirding adventures, and is looking forward to sharing her experiences, photos, and passion for these unique birds and their ecosystems.

To register for one of these programs visit https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Pickering Creek Audobon Center

February Public Programs at Pickering Creek Audubon Center

January 6, 2021 by Pickering Creek Audubon Center

Comics with a Naturalist’s Knowledge with Rosemary Mosco
Thursday, February 11
th 
7:00 – 8:00 PM
$7/ per person

Pickering Creek is pleased to announce that Rosemary Mosco, the creator of Bird and Moon Comics and the New York Times best-selling book, “The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid,” will join us virtually for an engaging talk on sharing science and humor through her art. Delight in Rosemary’s whimsical depictions of birds, reptiles, mammals, and more while picking up marvelous tidbits to share at your next (virtual) dinner party! This program will enchant, fascinate and inspire – you don’t want to miss it! To register, visit https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

Getting Ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count
Friday, February 12, 2021
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
FREE

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a free, fun, and easy event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations. Join Audubon Staff to help us kick off the GBBC weekend with birdy crafts, activities and bird watching challenges and get ready to share sharing birding stories online all weekend.  To register, visit https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

Puffins & Petrels: Seabirds in the Field
Wednesday, February, 17, 2021
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
$5.00 per person

Seabirds spend most of their lives over (or under) the water, miles away from the shore. The only reliable way to study them is by living amongst them when they form summer breeding colonies in the thousands on small uninhabited islands. Learn what makes seabirds like puffins, albatross, and storm-petrels so special, find out what techniques we use to study them, and discover how scientists use this information to strengthen ecosystem-wide conservation efforts. To register, visit https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Pickering Creek Audobon Center

Pickering Creek Audubon Center Public Programs for January 2021

December 3, 2020 by Pickering Creek Audubon Center

WEBINAR: The Art of Audubon: Exploring John James Audubon’s artwork
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
$5.00 per person
Nature & art go hand in hand. The beauty and majesty of our surroundings have been inspiring artists for centuries to paint, sketch, draw, photograph and more. Join Pickering Creek Naturalists as we discuss the artwork of John James Audubon and the complicated legacy he left behind. To register, visit https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

Kids Craft Along: Happy Hibernation (Webinar)
Friday, January 22, 2021
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Free
Who’s sleeping in that cave? What about that warm nest in that tree? How do animals survive during the cold and snowy winters in Maryland? Join us for an afternoon of arts and crafts about hibernating animals during the winter! To register, visit https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

WEBINAR: Deciphering Winter Bird Behavior
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Free
Ever wonder how overwintering birds survive the cold? Though we’re all familiar with the sight of Canada Geese and other species flying south for the winter in search of more resources, other residential species find ways to stick it out locally. Some have physical adaptations to help them beat the cold, while others change their behaviors. Join us to find out more, and to learn what you can do to help birds all winter long. To register, visit https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Pickering Creek Audobon Center

Pickering Creek Webinar: Bird Friendly Pantry

November 29, 2020 by Pickering Creek Audubon Center

Ken Elkins

Pickering Creek will be joined by their friend Ken Elkins of Audubon Connecticut for a unique webinar on Thursday December 3rd, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm, entitled Bird Friendly Pantry.

Every birder or nature-lover has a genesis moment—the point at which their passion is born. For Audubon Education Program Manager Ken Elkins, the moment he got hooked was at age 10 when he noticed and observed the birds at his grandmother’s feeders at her home in Vermont. The experience was fascinating, and Ken has been obsessed with birds and nature ever since.

Active in the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) since he was a teenager, Ken’s later participation in Connecticut and National Envirothons led him to pursue a degree in Environmental Biology from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science & Forestry. He started his career in conservation education at Westmoor Park in West Hartford, Connecticut, and quickly moved on to The Connecticut Audubon Society (CAS) where he taught at all five of their Centers and became their Director of Education. While at CAS, Ken led many EcoTravel trips and organized their World Series of Birding team for eight years.

Ken’s presentation will answer the question: What does Bird Friendly mean? As an example, Bird Friendly coffee comes from farms using a combination of foliage cover, tree height and biodiversity to provide quality habitat for birds and other wildlife. Join Pickering Creek to learn more about coffee and other pantry items that are bird friendly. This program is presented in partnership with Bent of the River Audubon Center in Connecticut.

Register at https://act.audubon.org/a/bird-friendly-pantry

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Pickering Creek Audobon Center

Hands-On Outdoor Fall Fun this Thanksgiving

October 24, 2020 by Pickering Creek Audubon Center

Pickering Creek Audubon Center’s EcoCamp Fall Adventures, an off-shoot of the successful summer EcoCamp, is now available for use over the Thanksgiving holiday and beyond. Adventure kits include all the supplies you’ll need to explore, create, and learn in nature, with both indoor and outdoor activities designed to deepen you and your student’s understanding of science while strengthening their connection with the natural world.

The EcoCamp Fall Adventure kit is a great way for your family to come together this Thanksgiving. Hit the trails at Pickering Creek and use the included activity guide and supplies to discover all that the outdoors have to offer. Work together to complete a Fall scavenger hunt, search under fallen logs for hidden insects, and learn what you can do at home to help local wildlife and habitats. It’s the perfect way to keep busy over the holiday weekend while school is on break, while spending time together as a family and learning about nature!

If you are travelling for Thanksgiving or don’t live near the Center, EcoCamp Fall Adventures flexible formatting allows families to adapt to their own schedules and locations, any nearby nature space will work, including your backyard or local greenspace.  The wide range of activities included helps each family engage with nature on their terms. It’s a great way for kids, parents and grandparents to have fun in this November while connecting with the natural world. This program is designed to get kids outdoors for discovery in your own backyard, with adventures in learning that inspire a life-long curiosity in nature and science.  Our fun, time-tested camp programs, adapted for your neighborhood, spark curiosity and sharpen thinking skills through experimentation, exploration, art, community science and sharing our findings.  

EcoCamp Fall Adventures activities are designed so that most campers can complete them on their own, however taking on the program as a family activity can be very rewarding and is welcome.

Your kit contains an EcoCamp drawstring bag to keep your camper’s exploration supplies together, plus a wood cookie necklace for their nature names and containers for scooping, collecting, and earth moving. Additional supplies might include outdoor equipment (i.e. bug nets, kids binoculars), experimental setups (i.e. pipettes, test tubes), and crafts (i.e. pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks).

Visit https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/ecocamp-adventures for more information and to register.  The registration deadline is November 15, pickup of kits will be November 20th.

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Pickering Creek Audobon Center

“Birds & Birding in our Eastern Shore Backyards” Virtual Classes and Field Trips

September 8, 2020 by Spy Desk

Dr. Wayne Bell

When the Pandemic hit Talbot County, Chesapeake Forum and Pickering Creek Audubon Center both knew they needed to find new ways to offer classes and programs. Dr. Wayne Bell and Mary Helen Gillen of Pickering Creek Audubon Center put their heads together to create a ZOOM online platform for a birding class.

Dr. Bell will hold one Zoom webinar session a month for three months starting on September 10, 2020, with two different field trip destinations between each class. The class will allow participants to mute or unmute as they choose, which will make it easier to ask questions and contribute to the discussion. “With 12 participants in the course, we can have everyone on the screen for a class with more give and take among us all, and for field trips we can split into two groups of six to maintain social distancing.”Field trips will be shorter (8am to 11am) and local.The selected short list includes Black Walnut Point at Tilghman Island, Pickering Creek, the Oxford conservation park, and even some private lands through the generous permission of the landowners. This multi session course is $15, and no birding experience is needed.

Zoom courses are live with interactive dialogue in real time. The webinar classes are also being recorded and accessed via a link so that you may watch at your convenience if you miss the class or simply want to audit. Chesapeake Forum will offer Zoom training sessions for registrants who are unfamiliar with the technology. You will learn how to sign in and be comfortable joining classroom discussions. The goal is to prepare you to participate fully in our virtual classrooms.

Mary Helen Gillen says “Wayne is such an approachable person.  He responds to questions with stories that explain… ‘oh, and we also learned this other thing.’ Such a wealth of knowledge that he easily shares.”  “It’s a win-win partnering for us with Pickering Creek,” Bell concludes, “At heart I’m a community guy… working together is important!” Registration is available starting August 24th. To register for the course, or for more information about Chesapeake Forum Fall 2020 classes go to our website at https://chesapeakeforum.org/ or visit us on Facebook.

Filed Under: Ed Notes Tagged With: Chesapeake Forum, Education, local news, Pickering Creek Audobon Center, The Talbot Spy

Director of Pickering Creek Audubon Center Contributes to Publication on Teaching about Climate Change

September 4, 2020 by Pickering Creek Audubon Center

Mark Scallion

“Teaching Climate Change in the United States” by Joseph Henderson and Andrea Drewes was released on April 8th in both online and print formats through the Taylor Francis group. The book highlights best practices in climate change education through the analysis of a rich collection of case studies that showcase educational programs across the United States. 

Framed against the political backdrop of a country in which climate change denial presents a significant threat to global action for mitigation and adaptation, each case study examines the various strategies employed by those working in this increasingly challenging sociopolitical environment. Via co-authored chapters written by educational researchers and climate change education practitioners in conversation with one another, a wide range of education programs is represented. These range from traditional institutions such as K-12 schools and universities to the contemporary learning environments of museums and environmental education centers. The role of mass media and community-level educational initiatives is also examined. The authors cover a multitude of topics, including the challenge of multi-stakeholder projects, tensions between indigenous knowledge and scientific research, education for youth activism, and professional learning.

With stories of success and failure from the field, this book provides climate change researchers and educators with tools to help them navigate increasingly rough and rising waters.

Talbot County’s own, Mark Scallion, Director of Pickering Creek Audubon Center is one of eight contributors to the seventh chapter of the book entitled Becoming a Persistent Professional Development Community for Informal Educators Addressing Climate Change: A Story from Two Perspectives. Partners Cat Stylinski (UMCES), Joe Heimlich (COSI Center for Research and Evaluation), Lesley Bensinger (Delaware Nature Society), Sharon Bowen (The Maryland Zoo), Sarah Milbourne (MDDNR), Bart Merrick (NOAA), and Christopher Petrone (Delaware SeaGrant) shared their experiences with climate change education, working as a Maryland/Delaware ‘Community of Practice on Climate Education.’

Communities of practice (CoPs) offer an effective professional development approach that supports informal educators in their climate change education work. The chapter tells the story – through both community facilitators’ and members’ voices – of how a facilitated Community of Practice transitioned to an independent, unfunded, yet sustained effort, that remains valuable to its members. The facilitators describe how they initiated and supported the Community of Practice, including increasingly requiring members to take on leadership roles and eventually full control of the community. Members recall anxiety about this leadership transition but also a strong commitment to long-term sustainability. The chapter outlines several lessons for transitioning to a self-sustaining CoP Overall, both facilitators and members believe the CoP had dramatic professional and personal impacts on participants in terms of their climate change education efforts.

Pickering Creek Audubon Center has inspired generations to learn about and protect wildlife and the natural world. As one of the leading causes of wildlife and habitat degradation, education about climate change has been part of the majority of Pickering Creek’s programming for many years. Led by Director Mark Scallion, Pickering Creek’s four educator/naturalists and three seasonal educators make over 13,000 contacts each year with students of all ages to build their awareness of the human impact on our land, water, and air and the life it supports and develop their desire and capacity to become stewards of it.

Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Pickering Creek Audobon Center, The Talbot Spy

Pickering Creek Audubon Center Programs Adapt to Meet the Need!

July 15, 2020 by Pickering Creek Audubon Center

Spring student field experiences at Pickering Creek Audubon Center may have come to a grinding halt this past March thanks to the health pandemic, but it didn’t mean students weren’t still being connected to the outdoors and in-depth science investigations with Pickering Creek’s help.  As schools closed, the four full time Pickering Creek staff and their three seasonal educators quickly shifted gears as the landscape for students evolved through April and May. Ultimately the Center worked in partnership with science supervisors and teachers in Caroline, Talbot and Wicomico Counties to create substantial “learn from home” materials for students.  In most school systems, students received 2-4 weeks worth of materials at a time, and Pickering provided intact units that covered science content being offered by schools during one of those multi week periods.  Science content provided by the Center refreshed students on experiences and materials already covered earlier in the year with Pickering Creek about birds, habitat and the Chesapeake Bay.  With materials provided by the Center in consultation with teachers, students learned about specific issues relating to the health of our environment for both birds and the Bay even while schooling at home.

As an example, high school students in Caroline County explored the driving question, “How have humans impacted habitat health in the Chesapeake Bay watershed?”  Students considered the schoolyard inventory they had conducted during the winter and research they had conducted while school was still being conducted in person through mid March.  They then read about conservation success stories provided by the Center, where communities understood a conservation issue and took action to address the situation.  Next, students explored why scientists collect data and collected data of their own about habitat in their yard or neighborhood.

Exploration of nature for all continues at Pickering Creek.

Based on the data collected, students then reviewed a selection of at home actions they could take and chose one that they felt they could implement.  These actions included, making a poster about the conservation issue, writing a letter to someone who can make a difference, or making a household policy that would have a positive impact.   Each action option provided detailed guidance on how to complete the process and think through the information the student may want to highlight and share.  The effort concludes with reflection on the project encouraging the student to consider what they liked about the project, what was hardest and advice they would give future students participating in the program.  One exemplary student project was a poster for her community that identified invasive plants that should be avoided and great native plants that can be used in their place to make a yard beautiful and help pollinators like monarch butterflies.  Brian, a middle school teacher captures the program’s impact well, “ Working through the project with my students has ultimately brought us to a deeper level of realism when it comes to our direct impact on wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.  The way each lesson and project was designed provided my students with confidence in their own voice; even to the point of empowering many to go above and beyond school requirements and act as the “driving force of change” throughout their own communities.  Thank you so much for helping us access that power within, and for the steadfast support you’ve provided us throughout the school year.”  

Since early April, Pickering Creek Audubon Center has also been offering online programming for adults about various topics including shorebird and raptor identification, using native plants to benefit wildlife, and listening and understanding bird language. Attendance at these online offerings has been robust with over 100 households participating in some of the programs.  Kids have also enjoyed online story times, exploration of turtles, tracks and traces of mammals and the very popular kids “draw along.”  This summer in lieu of the ever popular EcoCamp, Pickering is hosting “EcoCamp at Home” which includes a collection of materials to help young naturalists explore their own yards, online meet-ups and special opportunities to visit Pickering for a family exploration activity.  Spaces are still available.

In addition to local programming for the Eastern Shore community, Pickering staff was also able to contribute to the nationally distributed Audubon for Kids website, sharing engaging materials on climate and how it effects birds. Pickering Director Mark Scallion says, “While we can’t wait to have students back outside at the Center, we are pleased by the materials we’ve continued to be able to bring to our community to help make sure everyone is still connected to birds nature and the outdoors around them.”

At home nature activities and a list of upcoming online programs can be found on Pickering Creek’s website: www.pickeringcreek.org.  The Center’s trails are open daily through the summer from 7am-7pm and feature over four miles of paths through meadows, wetlands, forest and along tidal Pickering Creek.

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Filed Under: Eco Notes Tagged With: Ecosystem, local news, Pickering Creek Audobon Center, The Talbot Spy

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