Down East Spring Birding Festival

The annual Down East Spring Birding Festival provides a unique birding experience during spring migration and the breeding season with guided hikes and boat tours, all led by local guides with local knowledge

Festival Headquarters

5:30 am - 8:00 pm EDT
COBSCOOK INSTITUTE
Stop by to use the restroom, have a cup of coffee, fill your water bottle, take a rest, or get information.

Friday Morning

Breakfast
5:30 am - 9:00 am EDT
FESTIVAL HQ
Join us for an early morning cuppa & complimentary light meal.

Campobello Island with Susan Cline, Pete Colman
6:00 am - 10:00 am EDT
CANADA
This is a driving and walking tour within Roosevelt Campobello International Park. Campobello Island is a stopover for thousands of migrating birds. The habitat includes marine shoreland, salt and freshwater marshes, sphagnum bogs, coniferous, deciduous and mixed forest, forest edges, thickets, brushy and open fields, cliffs, banks, and ponds.
Event in EDT Time Zone

Machias Seal Island Boat Trip with Chris Bartlett  + $250.00
7:00 am - 12:00 pm EDT
EASTERN REGION
Machias Seal Island has the largest Atlantic Puffin colony on the Maine coast. The trip to the island takes about an hour. Weather and sea conditions permitting, you should have over two hours on the island, with 45-60 minutes in a blind with puffins all around. The rest of the time, you’ll be on a ground-level, open-observation platform. If the boat is unable to land, we will motor around the island with excellent opportunities to view the island’s birds.

Edmunds in the Morning with Maurry Mills
7:00 am - 10:00 am EDT
EASTERN REGION
We will caravan in our own vehicles to drive along the gravel roads inside the 8,800-acre Edmunds Division of the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, with stops to watch and listen for birds. This part of the refuge has more of the coastal spruce-fir habitat than the northern Baring Division. Starting in 1993 a series of 3-to-5-acre clear cuts were done to increase habitat for early successional species such as American Woodcock and Chestnut-sided Warbler.

Morong Cove Walk with Chris West
7:00 am - 10:00 am EDT
EASTERN REGION
The Morong Cove West Unit of Cobscook Bay Wildlife Management Area offers an easy 3.3-mile walk through former historical homesteads, orchards, and old fields. The trail winds through a diverse forest with access to the shoreline and offers opportunities for viewing waterfowl, eagles, tidal wading birds, and other upland bird species.

Orange River Canoe Paddle with Colin Brown, Spencer McCormick, Nathaniel Sharp  + $40.00
7:00 am - 10:00 am EDT
EASTERN REGION
Enjoy an easy flatwater paddle through the exemplary wetland and forested habitats of the Downeast Coastal Conservancy’s Orange River Conservation Area.

Friday Afternoon & Evening

Birding by Ear Workshop with Bob Duchesne
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EDT
FESTIVAL HQ
Join this presentation by Bob Duchesne-avid bird guide, Bangor Daily News columnist, YouTube contributor, and author of the official guide to the Maine Birding Trail-as he helps you demystify birding by ear. In this popular presentation, Bob will offer simple tips for mentally organizing what you’re hearing and help you take advantage of what you already know. Experienced birders are encouraged to share their own tips.

Warbler Walks with Colin Brown, Woody Gillies, Bridget VerVaet, Doug Hitchcox, Bob Duchesne, Sandi McRae Duchesne, Nathaniel Sharp
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm EDT
FESTIVAL HQ
Enjoy a non-strenuous walk especially for beginning birders on the Cobscook Institute campus and nearby trails. Birders of all levels are welcome to join us and “pass forward” the wealth of your experience. No driving is involved. We will get to exercise our birding-by-ear skills as well as our birding-by-eye skills, and observe the associations between birds and habitats.

Edmunds in the Afternoon with Maurry Mills
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm EDT
EASTERN REGION
This excursion for birders of all levels involves driving in our own cars and non-strenuous walking along the roads and trails of the Edmunds Division of Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge. We will exercise our birding-by-ear skills as well as our birding-by-eye skills, and observe the associations between birds and habitats.

Plants of the Northern Forest Walk with Louise Barteau
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm EDT
EASTERN REGION
Along the trail we will identify and talk about the plants of the northern forest that line the trail.

Welcome Dinner  + $30.00
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm EDT
FESTIVAL HQ
Join your fellow Birding Festival participants for a delicious dinner catered by Angie Garrison. This will be a great time to catch up with organizers and old friends and to make new friends.

Keynote Talk: Maine is Weird with Bob Duchesne
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm EDT
FESTIVAL HQ
The Top Ten Reasons Maine is Weird will surprise even most Mainers. In fact, due to these historical quirks, the Festival area has won the title of birdiest coastal county in America multiple times. The state’s geology, geography and history are vastly different from other states, which explains why so many birds come here.

Bag Lunch Options

FRIDAY- Vegan Sandwich  + $18.00
6:00 am - 1:30 pm EDT
Pick-up at Festival HQ - PRE-ORDER REQUIRED

FRIDAY- Turkey Sandwich  + $18.00
6:00 am - 1:30 pm EDT
Pick-up at Festival HQ - PRE-ORDER REQUIRED