Monday Paddle on Pickering Creek
Monday, May 1 & May 15, 2023
5:30-7:00 PM
$5 per person
Join us for a leisurely canoe paddle along the shores of Pickering Creek. Soak in the sights and sounds of the creek by canoe with a friend or family member as the early evening light dances on the waters 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! Canoes & Lifejackets provided.

Azalea Bloom with Author Bryan Mackay
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
8:00 am – 4:00 pm
$40 per person
The National Arboretum is one of the lesser known gems of Washington DC, but nowhere else are the glories of spring so abundantly displayed. We expect more than 50,000 azaleas to be near peak flowering! We’ll stroll the wood chip paths of Azlea Hill in search of the perfect bush. The National Bonsai Museum never fails to enchant, and the National Capital Columns adorn a nearby meadow. Finally, we’ll walk the trails of Fern Valley in search of native wildflowers, where our naturalist guide and author of Hike Maryland and A Year Across Maryland, Bryan Mackay, will delight you with tales of botanical trivia. Van transportation from Pickering Creek to the National Arboretum is provided. Space is limited so first come, first served! REGISTER HERE

Tracks & Traces: Part 1
Monday, May 8, 2023
4:30 – 6:00 pm
$5 per person
Who has been here? What were they doing? When were they here? Where did they go? Why were they here? Join us to learn the art of seeing animal movements through our environment. In a two-part workshop we will learn how to identify and interpret animal tracks in relation to the environment around them. Participants will learn how to record track sightings and cast plaster tracks. Even if you missed part 1, part 2 will cover new ground so feel free to come out regardless! Children are welcome with attending adults

Tracks & Traces: Part 2
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
8:30 – 10:00 am
$5 per person
Explore the world of birds beyond identification and classification. Bird and other animals share a language to help them navigate their worlds, stay safe and stay connected to each other. Learn how to “listen” to what birds say through their vocalizations and behaviors in this guided field experience. Activity will be light with a lot of time spent sitting or standing quietly. Participants will sharpen their observation skills and walk away understanding some basic bird behaviors that will offer a peek at what is going on in the landscape around them in real time. We will cover new ground in part 2, so participating in Part 1 is not required! Children are welcome with attending adults.

Oyster Gardening
Thursday, May 18, 2023
4:30 – 6:00 pm
$5 per person
Pickering Creek Educators are excited to introduce you to our new crew of unsung heroes, the Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica). Oyster gardening provides important nursery habitat as well as filtering the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries; oyster reefs are a vital part of conserving the Chesapeake Bay. We invite you to come learn about our new spat growing program, the challenges these bivalve face, and the research methods we use to analyze the success of our oyster nurseries.

Birding the Pocomoke with Wayne Bell
Thursday, May 18, 2023
6:30 am – 1:30 pm
$25 per person
Join experienced birder Wayne Bell and Pickering staff as we tour the marshlands around the Pocomoke-Nassawango in Wicomico County. The Pocomoke-Nassawango is the premier site for Forest-Interior Dwelling Species (FIDS) on the Delmarva peninsula, and it hosts significant populations of at-risk bird species because of its large size and varied habitats. We’ll hope to see Prothonotary Warbler, American Redstart, Scarlet Tanager, Ovenbird, Northern Parula, Louisiana Waterthrush and other Warblers, Vireos and Flycatchers. The best birds are up early and resting by midday. We’ll leave the ACME in Easton at 6:30AM. Rain date May 17. Van transportation provided, or you can follow along by car.

Whimsy: Nature Art
Friday, May 26, 2023
3:30 – 5:00 pm
$5 per person
Nature uplifts and energizes us everyday. You don’t have to be a Picasso or Monet to get outside and take inspiration from nature to make art! You and your little ones are invited to come out to Pickering Creek and make nature-inspired arts and crafts to celebrate spring and how much fun it is to just be outside. Ages 4-7 recommended but all are welcome!

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

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.

Campers will explore the new woods in Summer 2023.

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.

Abundant mountain laurel in the new woods.

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