Pickering Creek Audubon Center is a 400-acre working farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland situated next to the tidal Pickering Creek in Talbot County, Maryland. The Center’s property features a variety of habitats including mature hardwood forest, fresh and brackish marsh, meadow, tidal and non-tidal wetlands, over a mile of shoreline on a tidal creek, and cropland. Just over 100 acres are devoted to low impact “best management practice” agriculture. The farmed acreage of Pickering Creek is its link to the significant farming heritage of the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Envisioned as a place to learn about the environment, and the unique ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay region, Margaret Strahl and her brother, George Olds donated to the Chesapeake Audubon Society in 1984. It was their wish that all members of the community, whether watermen, farmers, birders, painters, naturalists, children or adults would have access to the property. For this reason, Pickering Creek is free and open to the public 365 days a year from sunrise to sunset. On any day, you can enjoy a wonderful stroll through the woods and along the creek, encounter a variety of wildlife, possibly even a Bald Eagle or a Delmarva Fox Squirrel.

Pickering Creek Audubon Center was donated to the Chesapeake Audubon Society (CAS), an individual 501 c(3) charity, and a chapter of the National Audubon Society (NAS). CAS operated Pickering Creek Environmental Center between 1983 and 2000, when it then became known as Pickering Creek Audubon Center, when it entered into a successful partnership with National Audubon Society as the operating agency.  Thanks to the solid leadership of Audubon, the dedication of staff and volunteers of Pickering Creek, and the steadfast support of CAS, along with the consistent generosity of supporters of Pickering Creek Audubon Center’s work, In July 2021, the board of Chesapeake Audubon Society and Pickering Creek decided to return to their own leadership and management of Pickering Creek Audubon Center. 

Environmental Education
The center has been providing excellent environmental and science education programs to students from eight Maryland Counties and the District of Columbia for more than 25 years. Over 16,000 school children visit each year and are given the opportunity to make a physical and emotional connection to their Bay.

Community
The eastern shore community is the heart of Pickering Creek. Our partners, volunteers, members and supporters are farmers, watermen, business people, scientists, teachers, families and, of course, children. We are enriched by their participation and their ideas for new ideas for improving our programs and facilities each year. With over 240 active volunteers, Pickering is a model for community involvement. Volunteers donate over 3,330 hours each year maintaining walking trails, monitoring a 60 nest box Eastern Bluebird trail, implementing habitat restoration projects, tending the gardens, and the buildings and grounds. The grounds are living connections to the farm and water communities of this historic region.

For information contact: Mark Scallion, Center Director @ 410.822.4903