Volunteer Highlights

Seventeen students and their advisory teachers from The Country School completed the second of two service learning days at Pickering Creek on March 8.  Students participated in FeederWatch and collected water quality data.  They are taking the skills they’ve picked up at Pickering Creek as citizen scientists back to school. They are in the process of setting up a Project FeederWatch site and planning for a native plants garden at The Country School. 

The new wetland viewing platform is almost complete! Just a few finishing details and a final inspection are needed. Official debut coming soon!

April 2nd was a busy day. Volunteers joined Pickering Creek and the Town of Easton for a Clean Stream Cleanup of the Rails to Trails.  Eighteen bags of trash were collected from just over half of the trail from Dutchman’s Lane to Goldsborough.  Meanwhile, Master Gardeners and students from the St. Peter and Paul Key Club prepared the garden bed and installed the first native plants in the new Byron House garden. It already looks wonderful. Additional planting will be done later this spring.

Volunteer Spotlight: A Few Good Men…

If you are a frequent visitor at Pickering Creek, you’ve seen them. They can be found all over Center getting things done that we don’t always think about… until something doesn’t work. They are the volunteers that rise up to the many repair and maintenance challenges at the Center.  Some of these volunteers are the fellows who have been hard at work on the new wetland viewing platform.  These gentlemen bring a valuable suite of skills and to their volunteer work at the Center and interesting backgrounds. 

John Bayliss has been volunteering at Pickering Creek for about 10 years. He is a member of the Pickering Board of Trustees and is the chair of the building and grounds committee.  John has done everything from organizing the amazing painting job on the main office last year to bush-hogging and invasive plant control. In his other life, he runs his own business as a produce marketing consultant.  John loves the outdoors and enjoys boating and hunting as much as he can.

John Bayliss introduced John Trax to volunteering at Pickering Creek in 2009.  Together they undertook a total labor of love, repairing and renovating the cottage beside the office as staff housing.  For about five or six weeks in 2009 they spent on average 3 or 4 days a week making repairs and alternations to walls, floors and plumbing. 

John Trax is a civil and environmental engineer retired from the EPA. As a matter of fact, he began his career at EPA during the agency’s infancy in the Nixon era.  John has taken advantage of his retirement to more fully pursue his hobby of woodworking.  He’s quite skilled and has done some cabinetry professionally.  However, he mostly works out of his shop at home to create unique items purely out of enjoyment of the work. One recent creation was a delicately carved jewelry case for a granddaughter.  John has put his skills to work on number of projects a Pickering Creek. His handiwork includes one of the cabinets in the cottage and new trim around the screens on the porches and doors of the office. John Trax has recently become a member of the Pickering Creek Board of Trustees.

Coming Up in April

Earth Day Work Day April 16 10am-3pm

Get your work gloves out and join Pickering Creek Staff for Earth Day Work Day on Saturday, April 16 from 10-3pm. We will tackle a number of projects including invasive plant removal, trail clearing, and gardening.  Bring along your water bottle and your own pruning tools if you wish. Audubon has challenged Pickering Creek to engage 150 new volunteers this year, and so far the Center has 91 new folks.  If the Center can meet another 59 new volunteers through our upcoming Earth Day event and our International Migratory Bird Day Volunteer Day on May 14, the Center will receive $7,000 in support of its programs, as well as the fantastic benefit of meeting new volunteers.  So please encourage a friend to volunteer with you. Lunch will be provided as well as some tools, gloves and extra water.   We will meet at the Welcome Center before breaking into work groups at 10am.  Please contact the Volunteer Coordinator in advance so that she can plan for work and lunch accordingly.

Earth Day Work Day at Pickering Creek Audubon Center is one of the events supported by Together Green, a unique partnership between the National Audubon Society and Toyota to promote citizen involvement in conservation.  Help Pickering Creek meet its goal of involving new volunteers in citizen science and conservation stewardship.  Come join staff and other volunteers. Bring along interested family and friends, and spread the word out about this event to others! Your support does make a difference.

Help Wanted! Volunteer Office Assistant

Pickering Creek Educators are deep in the midst of school programming and can really use some help in the office on a regular basis. We are looking for an office assistant to help us keep up with office tasks that get put on the backburner while we are in the classroom and conducting field trips.  The office assistant would come in once a week for two or three hours. He or she would help with tasks like uploading data and pictures, preparing mailings, and organizing files.  Computer skills are a must; interest in writing is a plus.

Mark your Calendar

Plan on bringing the family out for International Migratory Bird Day Celebration May 14 9am-12 noon

Be on the lookout for details about this final Together Green Volunteer Day of the 2010-2011 season in May edition of Bird Call. 

Upcoming Public Program You Can Enjoy
April 29- Delmarva Birding Weekend Owl Prowl at Pickering Creek