Ecosystem

Barefootin: A Workboat’s First Priority: It must Float by Dennis Forney

April 9, 2021 by Dennis Forney Leave a Comment

Darrin Ford and Tom Stevenson, in Ford’s adapted crab scrape, leave Broad Creek’s oyster beds for the Bozman docks after a successful morning of oyster tonging

Working on the water requires a boat. Lots of different kinds of boats for specific purposes. They can do a lot of things in a lot of different ways, adaptable depending on conditions and opportunities.

But first off they have to float. It’s always best that a boat keep most of the water on its outside rather than on its inside.

Ford’s scrape is now on the railway at PT Hambleton’s in Bozman for needed attention before her next enterprise

Albert used to have a boat built as a crab scrape. Beamy and low, its builder constructed it for the shallow, eelgrass-laden waters around the chain of islands separating Tangier Sound from the main stem of the Chesapeake Bay. I call those islands the Chesapeake archipelago: Bloodsworth, Hoopers, South Marsh, Smith, Tangier, Hoopers, Watts and many more that stud the marshes of that low country along the lower Eastern Shore.

Scrapes are designed to pull a basket-like dredge over the bottom with a rope bag at the end of it. The goal is to catch blue crabs that are getting ready to shed – peelers; crabs that are in the process of shedding – soft crabs backing out of their old hard shells to grow larger; and the completed soft crabs themselves hiding in the grasses from rockfish, rays and other predators. Just like the duck’s luck, succulent soft crabs attract lots of hungry critters, including humans.

When the dredge and bag are pulled in, watermen then go about separating crabs from grass. The boat’s low-slung nature makes it easier to pull rigs aboard.

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michael’s displays this restored crab scrape as part of its sampling of workboats indigenous to the region.

Albert’s was an old scrape whose graceful shear – her gunnel curve from stern up to stem – appealed to him. He used her in the rivers, bays, guts, creeks and other marshy waterways around Lewes, on the sea side of Delmarva. She was in steady need of attention to keep the water where it was supposed to be. That’s why he named her Colander.

Colander came to mind late in March when I was watching watermen harvesting oysters in Broad Creek north of the Choptank River mouth, inside Tilghman Island.

An interpretive sign at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michael’s illustrates some of the methods – including scraping – used for harvesting crabs.

Men anchored a wide variety of boats over the bars to gather their day’s catch. Most were of the classic Chesapeake deadrise style, but one stood out among the rest because of its distinctive character. Unlike the rest of the vessels there that day, it was not designed for oystering. A crab scrape.

So what? It floats, the engine works, there’s deck space for bushels of oysters. Its generous beam makes it stable and its wide gunnels provide a steady platform for tonging. And just like its low freeboard makes it easy to hoist crab scraping dredges aboard for harvesting, that also favors bringing aboard tongs filled with rock-heavy oysters.

The first thing you wonder when you see it is whether the boat is sinking, it sits so low in the water. Then you notice its high-stemmed bow. Despite its appearance it all works.

This week Darrin Ford’s scrape sits on a railway at PT Hambleton’s boatyard and seafood operation in Bozman. Oyster season over, the vessel needs attention before Ford turns her to his next harvesting enterprise. Gunnel repairs, fiberglassing here and there, bottom paint.

She’s a far cry from what she looked like 40 or 50 years ago when she first left one of the Tangier Sound boatyards. But her stout lumber and deceptive design, regular patching and maintenance, keep her in the game, enabling Ford to make a living harvesting the Bay’s bounty.

Dennis Forney grew up on the Chester River in Chestertown. After graduating Oberlin College, he returned to the Shore where he wrote for the Queen Anne’s Record Observer, the Bay Times, the Star Democrat, and the Watermen’s Gazette. He moved to Lewes, Delaware in 1975 with his wife Becky where they lived for 45 years, raising their family and enjoying the saltwater life. Forney and Trish Vernon founded the Cape Gazette, a community newspaper serving eastern Sussex County, in 1993, where he served as publisher until 2020. He continues to write for the Cape Gazette as publisher emeritus and expanded his Delmarva footprint in 2020 with a move to Bozman in Talbot County.

May Public Programs from Pickering Creek Audubon Center

April 4, 2021 by Pickering Creek Audubon Center Leave a Comment

WEBINAR: Kids Science Center: Seeds on the Grow!
May 7, 2021
1:00 – 2:00 pm
FREE
Plants are amazing but before the mightiest oak tree towers over the ground, it has to start as a seed! Join Pickering Creek educators as we talk all about super seeds and how they grow then conduct some fun at home seed experiments! Recommended for ages 4-8 but all ages are welcome! To register, visit https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

WEBINAR: Love is in the Air: Native Plants for Pollinators
May 20, 2021
7:00 – 8:00 pm
FREE
Spring is a critical season for pollinators that are emerging to look for food and mates. It is typical to associate pollinators with meadows and flowers, but native trees fill a very important void in the early season of spring. We’ll talk about the importance of seasonality, the influence of climate change, and what native plants can support a wide variety of pollinators. To register, visit https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

Stop Trash Pollution: Join Bay-Wide Cleanup Events in April

March 30, 2021 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

Volunteers removed over 200 pounds of trash from the Miles River watershedduring Project Clean Stream in 2019.

Trash is everywhere throughout our watersheds—floating in ditches and streams, littering roadways, dirtying parks, and fluttering through farm fields. In April, ShoreRivers and volunteers will host community trash cleanups to help rid our towns, streets, and parks of litter before it reaches our waterways.These events are part of the annual Project Clean Stream, a Bay-wide cleanup organized by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. Thousands of people across the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed—six states and the District of Columbia—will work together to clean our shared water resource. This is a great way to get outside and make a tangible difference in for own rivers while being a part of the larger effort all across the Bay.

Join a Project Clean Stream cleanup near you:

Saturday, April 3 at 9:00am: Unionville Road on the Miles River
Saturday, April 10 at 8:30am: Fox Hole Landing on the Sassafras River
Saturday, April 10 at 9:30am: Turners Creekon the Sassafras River
Sunday, April 11 at 1:30pm: Wye Mills on the Wye River
Saturday, April 17 at 9:00am: Sassafras Natural Resource Management Area on the Sassafras River
Sunday, April 18 at 9:00am: Greensboro Community Park on the Choptank River
Sunday, April 18 at 1:00 pm: Chestertown rail trail on the Chester River
Saturday, April 24 at 9:00 am: Easton Point Marina on the Choptank River

If you are interested in volunteering to take part in any of these cleanups, please contact Laura Wood at lwood@shorerivers.org.Trash bags and gloves are provided; volunteers are encouraged to bring water, a mask, and wear appropriate attire. To plan your own Project Clean Stream event, visit www.allianceforthebay.org/project/project-clean-stream/

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

Spring Nature Play Trail Debuts at Pickering April 2

March 27, 2021 by Pickering Creek Audubon Center Leave a Comment

Pickering Creek Audubon Center will debut its Spring Nature Play Trail on Friday April 2nd. The trail begins near the Pickering Creek Welcome Center and loops through the nearby wetland boardwalk, woods, and pond loop. The trail features fourteen stops that encourage kids and families to explore nature through short fun activities. The trail is self-guided, and in both English and Spanish. At each stop, learn about nests by following interactive signs with prompts like, “Many eggs are brown, to help them camouflage with the ground so predators don’t eat them. Pick up three brown things before the next sign!” Each location asks kids and families to engage a different sense as they explore nature around them.

“The Spring Nature Play Trail is a great way for families to get outside during spring break and enjoy a pleasant walk at the Center as spring begins to unfold,” says trail designer Sammi Ocher. “Buds are getting ready to burst, birds are picking nest locations, early spring flowers are emerging, and frogs and toads are beginning to sing.” The trail will be in place from Friday April 2nd through Sunday April 18th and coincides with area school’s spring break. Keep an eye on the weather and remember boots as it has been a wet winter and puddles are one of spring’s promises.

After enjoying the Spring Nature Play Trail, further explorations lie beyond, with over four miles of trails and several beautiful vistas over Pickering Creek and the Center’s expansive wetlands, Pickering Creek has miles of trails for exploration and enjoyment.

Pickering Creek’s Trails are open daily from 7am to 7pm during this spring. There is no admission fee. Guests are asked to carry masks and wear them when passing each other on trails, restrooms facilities are limited at this time, so plan accordingly. For all our guidelines please check:

https://pickering.audubon.org/visit/planning-visit

Weidensaul Speaks About New Bird Book

March 21, 2021 by Pickering Creek Audubon Center Leave a Comment

Scott Weidensaul. Photo Credit: Chris DeSorbo

On April 1^st at 7:00PM via zoom webinar Pickering Creek presents A World on the Wing: A Talk with Author Scott Weidensaul. A World on the Wing, the newest book from acclaimed nature writer Scott Weidensaul, is at once a celebration of global bird migration, an exploration of our rapidly evolving understanding of the science that underpins it, and a cautionary tale of the challenges humans have placed in the way of migrating birds. It conveys both the wonder of bird migration and its global sweep, from the mudflats of the Yellow Sea in China to the wilderness of central Alaska, the remote mountains of northeastern India to the dusty hills of southern Cyprus. A World on the Wing is also the story of Weidensaul’s own journey over the past two decades from a deeply interested amateur to someone immersed in migration research, using cutting-edge technology to answer questions that have fascinated him all his life–and, with fellow scientists, researchers, and bird lovers, trying to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change and other looming challenges.

Ornithologist and author Scott Weidensaul celebrates the natural world—particularly birds and bird migration—in his research, his writing and his public speaking. Scott’s writing career began in 1978 with a weekly natural history column in the local newspaper, the Pottsville Republican in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, where he grew up. The column soon led a fulltime reporting job, which he held until 1988, when he left to become a freelance writer specializing in nature and wildlife. (He continued to write about nature for newspapers, however, including long-running columns for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Harrisburg Patriot-News.)

Weidensaul has written more than 30 books, including his widely acclaimed Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds (North Point 1999), which was a finalist for the 2000 Pulitzer Prize. His newest book, A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds (W.W. Norton) will be published in March 2021. Weidensaul’s writing has appeared in dozens of publications, including Audubon, Living Bird, Bird Watcher’s Digest and National Wildlife, among many others. He lectures widely on conservation and nature, and directs ornithological programs for National Audubon’s famed Hog Island Center on the coast of Maine.

In addition to writing about wildlife, Weidensaul is an active field researcher whose work focuses on bird migration. He is a co-director of Project Owlnet, a collaborative effort among nearly 125 banding and research stations across North America studying owl migration, and for more than 20 years he has directed a major effort to study the movements of northern saw-whet owls, one of the smallest and least-understood raptors in North America.

Weidensaul co-founded Project SNOWstorm, which uses cutting-edge tracking technology to study snowy owls, and is a founder of the Critical Connections project, which is tracking the migration of birds that breed on National Park lands in Alaska. He is also part of a continental effort to understand the rapid evolution, by several species of western hummingbirds, of a new migratory route and wintering range in the East.

To register:

https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

Contractor Named, Work to Resume on Tred Avon Oyster Sanctuary

March 17, 2021 by Bay Journal Leave a Comment

Work is set to resume by early April on the protracted restoration of oyster reefs in Maryland’s Tred Avon River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District announced Wednesday that it has awarded a $3.8 million contract to a Florida company to construct 34 acres of reefs in the river.

The Tred Avon is one of five Maryland waterways targeted for large-scale oyster restoration. With Bay oyster populations depleted to 1% or 2% of their historic abundance by pollution, overfishing and disease, Maryland and Virginia have each pledged as part of the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement to rebuild oyster populations and habitat in five of their Bay tributaries by 2025.

The other Maryland tributaries targeted for large-scale oyster restoration are Harris Creek and the Little Choptank, St. Mary’s and Manokin rivers. Work has been completed in Harris Creek and the Little Choptank, with the St. Mary’s getting under way and the Manokin still in planning.

The Tred Avon project has suffered repeated delays since it began in 2015. It became a battleground of sorts, as watermen objected to the materials and methods used to rebuild reefs and repopulate them with oysters.

Watermen complained that granite rocks used to build reefs in the Tred Avon and Harris Creek snagged crabbing gear and that improperly constructed granite reefs in Harris Creek had damaged boats. They also argued that oysters would not thrive on the granite, contending that oyster shell is the only suitable surface on which spat, or baby oysters, can settle and grow.

Research has shown, however, that juvenile oysters will do well on other hard surfaces in the water, and monitoring of the granite reefs built in Harris Creek found oysters in great numbers on them, and even at higher densities than on reefs rebuilt with shells.

Acting on watermen’s concerns, the Hogan administration placed a hold in 2016 on Tred Avon reef construction, though it later relented. But further delays and cost overruns ensued because of the state’s insistence at that time that no more granite be used in the reef construction. By the time the state withdrew those conditions, federal funding from past budgets had been depleted.

A three-year funding drought followed, easing last year, when the Army Corps included $5 million for Bay oyster restoration in its work plan.

Allison Colden, a fisheries scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said she was glad the Tred Avon project is moving forward. She noted that the Annapolis-based environmental group had joined others in urging Congress to provide the federal funding needed to finish the restoration project.

The company selected for the Tred Avon project, BlueForge LLC of St. Petersburg, is to build 12-inch high stone reefs on 21 acres of river bottom, plus 13 acres of reefs only 6 inches high to avoid navigation problems. All will be built of stone in waters that will be at least 6.75 feet deep at mean low water.

“Our team is excited to begin the final portion of restoration work in the Tred Avon River, which will bring us to a total of 130 acres restored in the oyster sanctuary,” said Col. John T. Litz, Baltimore District commander.

To date, 92.5 acres of reef have been completed, with 440 million hatchery-spawned seed oysters planted.

The work had been expected to be done earlier to avoid potential impacts on striped bass spawning in the spring, but unspecified contractual issues delayed the award until now, said Cynthia Mitchell, a Baltimore District spokesperson. The Army requested and obtained regulatory approval to do the work through April, she said, with the construction completed by May.

“We’re thrilled that funding has been allocated to complete the final stages of reef restoration in the Tred Avon River,” said Ward Slacum, executive director of the Oyster Recovery Partnership.

A 2019 monitoring report found that more than 95% of all restored reefs to date in Harris Creek, Little Choptank and Tred Avon Rivers had at least the minimum acceptable density of oysters, which is set at 15 oysters per square meter over 30% of the reef area being measured. More than 80% of the reefs monitored had ideal densities of at least 50 oysters per square meter.

“These reefs provide habitat and water quality benefits for the ecosystem,” said Sean Corson, director of the Chesapeake Bay office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which contributes funding and monitoring of the restoration efforts. “They also will benefit the economy through increased harvest of commercially important species — like blue crab — that use reefs for habitat.

By Timothy B. Wheeler

Bird by Bird at Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center by Debra Messick

March 15, 2021 by Debra Messick Leave a Comment

Is there a socially distant, sanity preserving “pandemic pastime” which helped you survive the Covid-19 year?

While some may negatively characterize the monastic misery experienced as being “for the birds,” others coping with quarantine’s limiting confines found a source of soothing yet stimulating salvation by finally having the homebound downtime ideal for observing feathered backyard visitors.

Cooper’s Hawk scoping out a shallow pool for smaller birds feeding on water insects (photo by Anne Brunson)

The Delmarva Peninsula, after all, is perfectly located along the great Atlantic Flyway migratory route traveled seasonally by birds seeking optimal temperatures for feeding and breeding purposes.

For folks interested in a safe space featuring a veritable birdwatching feast above and beyond their own backyard feeder, the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center provides an ideal ‘hot spot.’

According to the CBEC website (bayrestoration.org), the site, established originally as Horsehead Wetlands Center on a 315-acre Grasonville farm property by the Wildfowl Trust of North America, has operated as a protective educational sanctuary since 1985. Currently containing 510 acres, the site caters to habitat requirements of common, uncommon, and migratory birds, with lakes and ponds, marsh, forest, and shoreline.

In fact, as many as 600 bird varieties may be viewed throughout the premises at various seasons of the year, according to the Cornell University Ornithology Lab’s eBird app.

Specimens currently or soon to be returning include Sparrows, Bluebirds, Wood Ducks, Great Snowy Egrets, and Ospreys.

But several breeds, such as Yellow-rumped and Black-and-white Warblers, Chickadees, White-breasted, Red-breasted, and Brown-headed Nuthatches, Cardinals, Mockingbirds, Mourning Doves, and Sharp-shinned, Red-shouldered, and Coopers Hawks, have succeeded in putting down year ‘round roots in our region, a phenomenon a number of us can relate to.

Elderly Great Horned Owl, among several Raptors being cared for at CBEC due to debilitating injury or displacement.
(Photo by Anne Brunson)

Anne Brunson and husband Dave, native mid-Westerners, retired to a Kent Island condo several years ago after a stint working in D.C. Unable to set up feeders at their residence, they found an optimal outlet for their birding “fix” at nearby CBEC. The couple now serve as Volunteer Coordinators for CBEC, assisting Executive Director Judy Wink.

The 78-year-old Wink, aptly described both as dedicated nature lover and dynamic force of nature, brings nearly a lifetime of field experience to her position, having started birding at the age of 4.

Wink spent her childhood on a farm outside of New Ringgold in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, later relocating to Carbon County’s Jim Thorpe area in the Poconos.

“I basically went to school in the woods, Wink confided, adding that she was home-schooled until 9th grade when “I realized I wanted to go to college one day,” Wink confided.

A neighbor, Maurice Broun, happened to be the first curator of Kempton, Pa’s Hawk Mountain Wild Bird Sanctuary, from 1939-1968. Taking her under his proverbial wing, he guided her steadily growing knowledge of the birding world she was eager to learn, becoming an inspiration and lifelong mentor.

Throughout her career Wink has channeled and paid forward Broun’s remarkably detailed and finely honed knowledge of endless avian characteristics, as well as the fundamental skill of patience he practiced and preached.

Prior to COVID, CBEC regularly hosted 20,000 visitors annually, including school groups and summer camps. Despite health restrictions curtailing organized programming on the premises last year, 40,000 people still flocked to the Center on family outings, picnics, kayaking (with legs not visible, birds are less wary and may come closer, Wink advised), and photo ops. They came during every season, especially at sunrise and sunset, when the birds are most active, Wink added.

During a two-hour guided tour of the area last week, Wink and Anne Brunson’s fact filled play by play brought the serene landscape to life. Once, I would have passed by a smattering of decayed loblolly pine remnants, unimpressed. Now, I was able to spot the pockmarked portals identifying the remains as primo real estate preferred by the discerning Brown-headed Nuthatch, a “cavity dweller” who desires “broken rotten snags” in primitive locales. No neatly “manicured” tree lined streets for him!

While both women have enjoyed birding adventures in far off places (Wink visits Costa Rica several times a year), they eagerly revel in comparing notes about the eagles nesting high above trees surrounding Lake Knapp, whose freshwater is a “huge draw” for migrating birds scoping out bathing and drinking sources.

In early Spring Lake Knapp’s mudflats provide wading birds such as plovers and sandpipers inviting spots for scavenging food to subsist on for a day or two stop-over. During low tide, Wink has enjoyed seeing mama otters offering their young offspring swimming lessons.

From the Lake’s wooden lookout viewing stand (one of numerous Center projects crafted by area Eagle Scouts), Route 50 traffic is visible off in the distance. The very real proximity of civilization’s ever encroaching danger serves as a daunting reminder just how precious a little thing like bird watching can be, for them, and for us.

For more information visit Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center at bayrestoration.org or call 410-827-6694.

Debra Messick is a retired Dorchester County Public Library associate and lifelong freelance writer. A transplanted native Philadelphian, she has enjoyed residing in Cambridge MD since 1995.

At Long Last: The Choptank Promising Vital Signs with Horn Point’s Tom Fisher

March 10, 2021 by Dave Wheelan Leave a Comment

For a countless number of painful years, Tom Fisher, now professor emeritus at the Horn Point Laboratory of the UM Center for Environmental Science, didn’t have much good to say about the Choptank River’s ecological health. Year after year, the Horn Point Lab researcher would need to share increasingly alarming news about the Choptank’s vital signs and its devastating impact on the Chesapeake Bay’s ecosystem. It was not a pretty story.

But that didn’t stop Tom from somberly collecting data every year to document the decline of the river, including data points provided by USGS gauging station near Greensboro and MD DNR, and assess for himself how much damage had been done over the past year by looking at phosphorus and nitrogen numbers.

But in the last few years, those numbers have started to change. Rather than see the anticipated decline in water quality, the trend line was reversing. For the first time in decades, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations were decreasing. But why?

The scientist in Tom kicked in to answer that question. In keeping with the suspense of a murder mystery, Fisher probed and explored evidence to solve the riddle. And, as it turned out, the heroes of the story turn out to be none other than the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act of 2000. These public investments provided funds to reduce smokestack emissions and upgrade wastewater treatment plants.

Years after the legislation was passed, the impact of these legislative actions on the Bay’s health now show their fingerprints: improving water quality in the Choptank River at the Rt. 50 bridge.

The Spy spoke to Tom by Zoom last week to talk more about these promising results.

This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information about UM Center for Environmental Science – Horn Point please go here.

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge to Hold Virtual Eagle Festival

March 5, 2021 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is hosting a Virtual Eagle Festival March 12–14, 2021. With the pandemic and continuing need for social distancing, this year’s activities will be conducted online, with programs taking place on Facebook (@BlackwaterNWR) and Zoom, while encouraging visitors to enjoy the refuge on their own. In addition, the Wildlife Drive will be free-of-charge on March 13 and 14 for those who wish to visit the refuge to see eagles and other wildlife.

The Eagle Festival will kick off on Facebook on March 12 at 12:00 p.m. with a welcome by refuge staff and a roundup of the best hotspots to see eagles at the refuge. This will be followed at 1:00 p.m. with a brief introduction to eagle identification.

On Saturday, March 13 at 10:00 a.m., join Mike Callahan of Nanjemoy Creek Environmental Education Center as he presents his program, “The Bald Eagle, Icon of Blackwater NWR and our National Symbol” with a live bald eagle. At 2:00 p.m., Tuckahoe State Park staff will give us a behind-the-scenes look at the Scales and Tales Aviary while answering commonly asked questions about eagles. Tune in for appearances by several live birds of prey!

On Saturday, March 13 at 11:30 a.m., join refuge staff for story and craft time as we watch together the picture book Owl Babies, and then make our very own ‘owl baby’ with a few basic supplies. A limited number of kits with all the necessary supplies will be available to pick up in advance. Registration is required for this Zoom program. Email michele_whitbeck@fws.gov with “Owl Babies” in the subject line, and the names and number of children participating. Deadline to register for this program is March 12.

On Sunday, March 14 at 10:00 a.m., Mike Callahan returns to Facebook with live birds of prey for a program titled “Raptors Rule,” highlighting some of our native raptors of Maryland. At 1:00 p.m., gather the kids for a puppet show and learn all about the adventures of a young Canada goose as he explores the refuge’s habitats and discovers the animals that call Blackwater NWR home. At 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, check out the bald eagle highlight reel from the Friends of Blackwater, where they’ve captured some of the best videos from the four wildlife cameras on the refuge!

Tired of looking at your screen? Grab the family and head out to the refuge for a StoryWalk^® where the kids can read the picture book Over in the Forest: Come and Take a Peek. Pages from the book will be installed along the Woods Trail beginning March 12 through the end of the month.

All online events will be monitored by refuge staff, who will be standing by to answer your questions during the programs. For more information and a schedule of programs, visit www.fws.gov/refuge/Blackwater. If you have any questions, please email us at fw5rw_BWNWR@fws.gov.

The Blackwater NWR Visitor Center remains closed for the month of March. Brochures, maps, and an introductory video are available at a self-service station in the breezeway of the Visitor Center from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Friday through Monday. For visitors with questions, or inquiries regarding purchasing a federal pass, “Text a Ranger” at 443-205-5290 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Friday through Monday. The Wildlife Drive and refuge trails remain open daily from sunrise to sunset.

To protect the health of those who live, work, and visit U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service public lands and facilities, face masks are required. They are also required outdoors when physical distancing is not possible, like on narrow or busy trails, boardwalks, and observation decks.

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, protects over 32,000 acres of rich tidal marsh, mixed hardwood and pine forest, managed freshwater wetlands and cropland for a diversity of wildlife. To learn more, visit our website at www.fws.gov/refuge/blackwater or @BlackwaterNWR.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.

Tallamy Featured in Pickering’s Spring Speaker Series

March 2, 2021 by Pickering Creek Audubon Center Leave a Comment

Pickering Creek’s great line up of engaging online programs continues as we all get ready and dream of spring gardens and migrating waterbirds, raptors and songbirds. A full list of Pickering’s great virtual programming is available at its website pickering.audubon.org. These two are of particular interest.

On March 15 at 7:00 PM via zoom webinar Pickering presents Nature’s Best Hope with Entomologist Doug Tallamy. Recent headlines about global insect declines and three billion fewer birds in North America are a bleak reality check about how ineffective our current landscape designs have been at sustaining the plants and animals that sustain us. Such losses are not an option if we wish to continue our current standard of living on Planet Earth. The good news is that none of this is inevitable. Tallamy will discuss simple steps that each of us can- and must- take to reverse declining biodiversity and will explain why we, ourselves, are nature’s best hope. “Doug is an amazingly engaging speaker,” says Pickering Director Mark Scallion, “his presentations really bring home the importance of changing our views of landscaping. You will be dazzled by the plethora of amazing images in his visually stunning presentation.”

Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 104 research publications and has taught insect related courses for 40 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens was published by Timber Press in 2007 and was awarded the 2008 Silver Medal by the Garden Writers’ Association. The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, was published in 2014. Doug’s new book ‘Nature’s Best Hope’ released by Timber Press in February 2020, is a New York Times Best Seller.

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