Mindful Birding: Rekindling Connections with Nature
August 24 – August 28, 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.
We are thrilled to offer this brand-new program for next summer. We know from recent research that mindful practices have many positive impacts on our mental, physical, and emotional health. Whether you're an educator, caregiver, health professional, or nature enthusiast, we can all benefit from mindful connections to nature.
Come join us to learn nature-based wellness techniques that deepen our connection to nature and support our self-care, and bring home skills that can be incorporated into your own work. This session will highlight several different practices like mindful birding, nature journaling, mindful movement, and forest therapy in the peaceful and picturesque surroundings of Muscongus Bay. The director, Holly Merker, is a certified nature and forest therapy guide, founder of The Mindful Birding Network, an author of Ornitherapy, and long-time instructor and session director here on Hog Island. We hope you will join us for a week of learning, healing, and tranquility.
Please note, this program is shorter than a typical camp week. It will run from Sunday August 24 – Thursday August 25.
Pricing: $1425
The base registration fee includes meals, housing, instruction, and all field trips. 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 pre-requisites for this program. All skill levels are welcome.
Director:
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.
Instructors
Sabina Einstein Molander
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.
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