Schoodic Institute announces a full schedule of bird tours and workshops for 2021. All events and activities follow state and federal COVID-19 safety precautions and space is limited.
Led by Bird Ecology Program Director Seth Benz, Schoodic Institute bird tours provide participants with the opportunity to contribute to long-term research projects on Acadia’s birds.
Maine has a way of spoiling people. Our spring season is noisy with the breeding songbirds of the northern forest. Their return is eagerly anticipated and monitored closely at Frazer Point each May. The first tour of 2021 is the Puffin and Warbler Overnight.
Summer is high season for puffins. They nest in Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge, just a short boat ride from Winter Harbor. Schoodic Institute’s Puffin Day Trip & Picnic is a short tour while Atlantic Puffin and Lobster Overnight adds a dinner presentation on seabirds.
Acadia’s Birds by Land & Sea tours focus on terrestrial birding hotspots and nearshore waters of the Gulf of Maine. The four-day Acadia’s Birds & Whales is offered to showcase seabirds, pelagic birds, and whales.
In late summer, these same birds begin to form foraging flocks prior to migration, chattering to each other and revealing their locations. The beaches flood with migrating shorebirds, and the offshore waters fill with pelagic species. Many of these birds, such as Great and Sooty Shearwaters and Wilson’s Storm-petrels, nest on islands in the South Atlantic then leave before the Southern Hemisphere winter to summer in Maine. Meanwhile, some subarctic breeders begin winging their way to their wintering areas in August and September. Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers harass the gulls and shearwaters. Great and South Polar Skuas join them on rare occasions. Red and Red-necked Phalaropes congregate in mixed swarms near where whales feed. Experience this great natural wonder during the Winged Migration tour.
September is the best time for a great variety of species, including hawks, falcons, waterbirds, shorebirds, and songbirds, all on the move during fall migration. The Hawks on the Wing tour explores hawk identification and migration timing in detail in parallel with the annual Cadillac Mountain Hawk Watch.
In October, the waters of Schoodic Point are filled with migrating waterbirds: loons, sea ducks, and cormorants. A variety of other species may be seen during Seabirds at Schoodic Point, including falcons, jaegers, gulls, shorebirds, and songbirds. 2020 marks the fifth season of daily monitoring of this phenomenal autumn flight, and workshop participants will contribute to this scientific effort by helping spot birds and documenting the flight.
2021 SCHEDULE BIRDING GETAWAYS WITH SCHOODIC INSTITUTE
| MAY 21-22 | PUFFIN AND WARBLER OVERNIGHT I |
| MAY 22-23 | PUFFIN AND WARBLER OVERNIGHT II |
| MAY 24-25 | PUFFIN AND WARBLER OVERNIGHT III |
| MAY 29 | SCHOODIC INSTITUTE’S PUFFIN DAY TRIP AND PICNIC I |
| JUNE 18-22 | ACADIA’S BIRDS BY LAND & SEA I |
| JUNE 25-26 | ATLANTIC PUFFIN AND LOBSTER OVERNIGHT I |
| JUNE 27 | SCHOODIC INSTITUTE’S PUFFIN DAY TRIP AND PICNIC II |
| JULY 3 | SCHOODIC INSTITUTE’S PUFFIN DAY TRIP AND PICNIC III |
| JULY 9-10 | ATLANTIC PUFFIN AND LOBSTER OVERNIGHT II |
| JULY 12-15 | ACADIA’S BIRDS AND WHALES I |
| JULY 26-29 | ACADIA’S BIRDS AND WHALES II |
| AUG 20-24 | ACADIA’S BIRDS BY LAND & SEA II |
| AUG 27-31 | WINGED MIGRATION BIRD TOUR |
| SEPT 17-19 | HAWKS ON THE WING I |
| OCT 1-3 | HAWKS ON THE WING II |
| OCT 15-17 | SEABIRDS AT SCHOODIC POINT |