The welcome sign as you approach the parking area shows an artistic depiction of the land, including farm fields. Pickering Creek leases out several agricultural plots to a trusted local farmer. It wouldn’t be a true representation of the Eastern Shore landscape without a few rows of corn!
Mickey Pullen
Mark Scallion is the Executive Director of the Pickering Creek Audubon Center. The Center only retains six full time staff members – with a handful of part-time seasonal help and the occasional student intern. Folks in these positions work in administration or educational programming; Pickering Creek does not have a maintenance staff. That means they are always looking for volunteers to help keep the space looking spiffy. Those who are lucky enough to land a position are invited to live on-site, like Scallion does with his wife and 12-year-old son.
Mickey Pullen
Pickering Creek boasts around six miles of walkable trails. Depending on your choice of adventure, you will see several gardens, murals, working agricultural fields, wetlands, ponds, the creek (of course), and you may even stumble upon a historic building. With the Center being completely free and open to the public “more or less dawn to dusk”, “it is our hope that people come explore,” Scallion said.
Mickey Pullen
There it is, Pickering Creek, a tributary of the Wye River. While it is far from the largest body of water on the Shore, it seems to stretch so far that it might as well cover the earth. Roughly 75 acres of additional land was added to Pickering Creek Audubon Center’s portfolio thanks to a donation of 10 adjoining acres in 2016 and the purchase of 65 acres in 2022. Scallion commented that “those acquisitions are a big step forward…For us, the classroom is outdoors, so it expands the classroom and what people can come out here and do.” I couldn’t think of a better classroom view than this.
Mickey Pullen
This is called a “living shoreline.” There was originally a bulkhead here, but the staff at Pickering Creek have been working to restore the shoreline to what it would have been prior to humans messing with it. Those ropes are there to ensure that the geese don’t mess with it now. Since removing the bulkhead and replacing it with sand, pebble, and natural grasses, Scallion said there has been heightened fish and horseshoe crab activity.
Mickey Pullen
Homes and outbuildings and everything in between dot the property. Some are used as indoor retreats during unfavorable weather, others are homes for staff, storage facilities, living historical tributes, or guest spaces for visiting partners. If you are curious on how Scallion distinguishes them: there are six heated buildings and about 20 unheated buildings.
Mickey Pullen
Pickering Creek began with siblings George Olds and Margaret Strahl. The brother and sister duo decided to deed the land to the Chesapeake Audubon Society in 1984. “They envisioned a place that the community could come to enjoy nature and learn about it,” said Scallion.
Mickey Pullen
Local artist Sue Stockman painted this mural at the Pollinator Garden, taking inspiration strictly from wildlife she had seen on the property herself. The goal was to create a physical representation of the colorful flora and fauna for fall and winter visitors to enjoy.
Mickey Pullen
Staff and seasonal volunteers help to maintain the garden by practicing “targeted weeding” – which gets rid of harmful invasive species and ensures none of the native plants trample their neighbors. Samantha Pitts, Community Partnerships Coordinator and Teacher at the Audubon Center, said that similar native plant gardens have been planted at several local school campuses.
Mickey Pullen
Pickering Creek’s Pollinator Garden was recently re-done with students from Caroline County Public Schools. The garden focuses on providing a safe and healthy habitat for native plants to thrive, as well as the pollinators like butterflies and bees.
Mickey Pullen
Like the rest of the property, the area leading up to the Pollinator Garden is covered in tall trees and lush greenery. Mother Nature can’t help but reclaim even the small bits of human intervention like buildings and fences in a place like Pickering Creek.
Mickey Pullen
Gilbert Byron is called the “Thoreau of the Chesapeake.” He built this tiny cottage all by himself to live and write in. It now sits unassumingly in the middle of Pickering Creek’s woods – as Byron would have wanted it. The Center has slowly made improvements to the structure, but Scallion joked that the cabin is probably in better shape now than it was right after Byron finished it.
Mickey Pullen
The Gilbert Byron house was actually moved here from its original foundation in St. Michaels. Several artifacts spread throughout speak to the life of Byron.
Mickey Pullen
During the summertime when schools are closed and field trips take a pause, Pickering Creek hosts an annual summer camp. They usually entertain about 35 kids from kindergarten through seventh grade daily for seven weeks, with some middle and high school students also serving as junior counselors. I’ve been told that is a highly sought-after position.
Mickey Pullen
Those who participate in the summer camp get shuttled via truck-pulled wagon to the pier, where yet another classroom on pilings awaits. Students can observe fish and other wildlife in the shallow pools. But in order to get there, the wagon must be powered by song. “If they’re not singing, it doesn’t go,” Scallion laughed.
Mickey Pullen
Hitnes, an Italian muralist turned street artist, landed in North America for the first time in 2016. Pickering Creek was his first stop. He painted two murals of birds – this one is a green heron – on the sides of Pickering Creek’s buildings.
Mickey Pullen
The Center is home to hundreds – if not thousands – of native plant species. Some are more glamorous to the eye than others, but they all play a vital role in our ecosystem. If you do decide to meander through these gorgeous woods, keep in mind that a thriving ecosystem also needs bugs. Enough said.
Mickey Pullen
The program staff at Pickering Creek aim to see every student in at least one grade level from each school system they partner with – including Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, and Wicomico counties. Field trips to Pickering Creek are usually built into the science curriculums, but now, there is a push for Pickering Creek to offer programs related to social studies. “Not everybody is totally into science, so it kind of helps them look at Chesapeake Bay issues,” Scallion explained. He added that learning how local history intertwines with the natural landscape can be an eye-opening experience.
Mickey Pullen
“Every day we’re either at a school or they’re here,” Scallion said about the Center’s academic programming, “Our goal is for them to realize that they can affect change, as opposed to us just telling them what to do.”
Mickey Pullen
Outside of school systems, Pickering Creek regularly works with Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Shore Rivers, Building African American Minds, Talbot Mentors, the Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center, Delmarva Community Resources, Tuckahoe State Park, and more.
Mickey Pullen
