Mountains to Sea Birding for Teens

June 23-28, 2024

Description:

Mountains to Sea Birding for Teens is designed for ages 14-17 with an avid interest in birds only. There is a limit of 14 participants per session. This intensive 5-night program will cover boreal to coastal bird species in Maine. We will spend part of the week at Maine Audubon's Borestone Mountain Sanctuary looking for northern maine bird species. The remaining part of the week we will stay on Hog Island and explore the coast for shorebirds, nesting species, and puffins! A service component will be included during the week so that teens can be hands-on and a tour of the Mad River Decoys by Audubon will be provided, including a paint-your-own decoy activity. Teens will learn about conservation projects around the world and see how decoys are produced to bring back species. An emphasis will be placed on creating field notebooks throughout the week. For more info on field notebooks check out this blog post on the ABA website.

The historic cottages at Borestone and Hog Island will be more rustic in nature than the traditional Hog Island cabins. All participants should bring a sleeping bag and prepare for camping conditions while at Borestone and dorms at Hog Island. Electricity will be provided at Borestone but phone reception is very limited and there will be no internet available at either camp. Be prepared to unplug during the week and get connected to the outdoors!

Prerequisite: This program requires physical and emotional maturity. After reserving your place in the session, additional registration materials will be sent to applicants. Final acceptance in the program is contigent upon staff review of application materials, which include recommendation letters and a series of questions to be completed by the teen.

Teen Leaders

Doug Hitchcox, Naturalist and Birding Guide, Maine Audubon
Lindsay Strout, Educator
Amanda Leemann, Staff Naturalist, Audubon Seabird Institute

Guest Instructor

Eric Snyder, Facilities and Operations Manager, Audubon Seabird Institute

Pricing:

The prices listed below are per person and include meals, housing, instruction and all boat trips. Participants must arrange transportation to and from the Audubon dock in Bremen at the start and end of the session (see directions page). Participants can be picked up and dropped off at the Portland airport by Audubon staff for an additional fee of $100. 14 years olds CANNOT fly independently to camp (call if you have questions), must be able to be an independent minor on an aircraft to be picked up and dropped off. All participants needing a shuttle from the aiport must arrive by 1pm and all departing flights must start no earlier than 11:30am, drop-off will be at 9:30am at the airport. Check with your local Audubon chapter or bird club for scholarship opportunities.

$1690 – for individual enrollment

If the program is sold out, please add your name to the wait list. There are usually a few cancellations, and the first people on the wait list are almost always able to enroll. For questions regarding the wait list status, program, registration, lodging or meals, please contact the Audubon Camp program manager at hogisland@audubon.org or (207) 360-7733. Also, some questions may have answers on our lodging and frequently asked questions pages.

All participants must agree to the Camper Guidelines - please read before registering.

Registration:

**June 23–28, 2024 – CLICK HERE TO REGISTER – SOLD OUT – Join waitlist**

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.