Acadia Birding Festival

Where there are birds, there will be birders - and with spring in full swing, Acadia National Park is an avian hotspot. So it's no surprise that bird lovers from around the country will be converging for the 27th annual Acadia Birding Festival, held the week after Memorial Day weekend from Wednesday to Sunday.

Set in a unique location - where land meets sea, and the boreal forest overlaps with eastern deciduous woodlands – Acadia is a patchwork of different habitat types. As such it hosts an impressively diverse set of birds. Ranging from Atlantic Puffins to Boreal Chickadees to a rainbow array of warblers, more than 300 species have been recorded in and around the park. The Acadia Birding Festival offers a chance to explore this bird haven with the expert guidance of 30 or so of Maine’s top birders. Its choose-your-own-adventure format allows participants to either register for the whole four-day festival or sign up for individual events. Festival-goers can do their birding on foot, by canoe, from the comfort of a van, or all of the above. They can even opt for a half-day voyage aboard the 112-foot catamaran Friendship V, chartered from the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co., for a rare opportunity to go birding on the open ocean alongside knowledgeable guides. 

 

In between lectures and field and boat trips, festival participants can take part in workshops to sharpen their birding skills, socialize over a sumptuous lobster feast, peruse vendor booths, and more. .

 

Please Pre-Register Online (Pay-per-event). Costs range from $25 to $125. For more information, contact Becky Marvil at beckym@acadiabirdingfestival.com.