Spring Migration & Monhegan Island

May 25 – May 30, 2025

Registration is open now for the 2025 Camp season! All campers must agree to the Camper Guidelines and Cancellation Policy. Please read this policy before registering.

The National Audubon Society is in the process of updating our health forms for the upcoming season. You will receive a notification from Camp Docs and Hog Island when health forms, required for attending Hog Island, open in February.

The deadline to pay your tuition in full and complete your registration forms is April 1, 2025.

REGISTER NOW

Find answers to frequently asked questions about lodging, transportation, schedules, packing lists, meals, and more here. For technical support with CampDoc, please visit their help page or contact support@campdoc.com.

Sunrise over Monhegan! Photo: John Skolits (Spring Migration & Monhegan participant)

Join us for a special spring experience in Mid-coast Maine. Birding highlights will be nesting species on territory and late spring migrants heading to breeding grounds.

The week includes an overnight trip by boat to Monhegan Island, a world-renowned migratory hotspot, beautiful island village, and vibrant artists’ colony. We’ll walk several short trails on the island, enjoying the spectacular scenery while searching for songbirds. Another highlight of the week is an excursion to Eastern Egg Rock, famous for its nesting Atlantic Puffins and three species of terns. Walks on Hog Island and at nearby mainland sites take us to a variety of habitats and, hopefully, a great assortment of birds, which will be in their most brilliant breeding plumage. We’ll visit spruce forests, meadows, rocky coastlines, and perhaps other habitats. Back at camp and on our walks, we’ll discuss details of migration, conservation challenges facing birds, and the fast-growing practice of mindful birding.

Pricing: $1990

The base registration fee includes meals, housing, instruction, and all field trips. This also includes your hotel room, ferry transportation, and most meals on Monhegan (participants will be responsible for purchasing one lunch on the second day of the Monhegan Island trip). Participants will also be responsible for gratuity for cleaning and breakfast at their Monhegan hotels. This price is based on a standard shared room (with 2 twin beds) a shared bathroom. A limited number of upgraded accommodations are available for an additional cost. Two upgrade options are a single room for solo travelers or a room with a private bath for two people traveling together. There are no single rooms with private bathrooms available. Please see our lodging page for more information.

Participants must arrange their own transportation to and from the Audubon dock in Bremen at the start and end of the session. Please see our transportation page for more information.

There are several different scholarship opportunities available to help participants attend Hog Island sessions! Please see our scholarships page for more information about Hog Island Scholarships. You should also check with your local Audubon chapter or bird club for additional opportunities.

Requirements: There are no prerequisites for this program! Birders of all skill levels are welcome as are less experienced/enthusiastic partners, friends, or family. Participants must be able to walk over uneven terrain for 2 miles. Monhegan Island has unimproved trails with hills and rocky outcroppings that require the ability to walk uphill and on a single-track trail. 

Director: Mark Garland
Instructors:

Holly Merker has been in awe of birds and the wonders of the natural world since childhood. She shares her passion by connecting others to nature in her work as a professional birding guide and nature-based wellness specialist, award-winning author, and public speaker. Combining professional backgrounds in bird identification, art therapy, certification in nature and forest therapy and wellness counseling, and mindfulness practice, she works as a global advocate for Mindful Birding. With dedication to bird conservation, Holly has been the eBird state coordinator/data reviewer for Pennsylvania since 2005 and was a two-term voting member and Chairperson of the Pennsylvania Ornithological Records Committee. She considers herself a migration junkie and lives her life around the seasonal journeys of birds. Holly believes strongly that birding holds a key to wellbeing, co-authoring two books on this subject, and founding the Mindful Birding Network and co-hosting the Mindful Birding Podcast.

NOTE: Audubon reserves the right to alter itineraries, instructors and particular arrangements, or to substitute similar itineraries or arrangements, at no penalty. If Audubon cancels a session, it will issue full refunds of all deposits or payments to the paid participants.