12th Annual Down East Spring Birding Festival Accepting Registrations

TRESCOTT TOWNSHIP, Maine - March 6, 2015 - PRLog -- The Down East Spring Birding Festival is accepting registrations for its 12^th annual event held over Memorial Day weekend, May 22- 25, 2015. The festival, which features guided bird walks, boat rides, and presentations for advanced, intermediate, and beginning birders has been rated one of the best in the country by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Yankee Magazine listed it as an Editor’s Choice event in 2014.

The birding festival begins Friday, May 22, at Cobscook Community Learning Center in Trescott. The first scheduled event is a boat trip out to Machias Seal Island to view puffins and other birds like razorbills with Captain Andrew Patterson. Other presentations include Birding by Ear with Bob Duchesne, popular Audubon trip leader, Bangor Daily News columnist, and founder of the Maine Birding Trail. The presentation will be followed by Birding Optics with Carroll Tiernan of Maine Audubon and afternoon hikes at the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge in Edmunds. The evening closes with a dinner social and presentation at the CCLC.

Saturday, May 23, will offer a fun-filled, free day of activities for families at the CCLC. Kids’ birding activities will start at 10:00 am led by Colin Brown of the CCLC’s Outdoor Adventure Club. The Chewonki Foundation will present “The Batmobile: Bats pf the World” at 11:30 am and 1:00 pm. This full day of activity closes with an evening “Moving Event” led by MNWR staff as we search for eagles, whip-poor-wills, and other birds.

Sunday offers another full day of hikes, boat trips, and presentations, ending with an evening dinner and entertainment at the CCLC, followed by a hike. Monday is a half-day of birding events, and includes wrap-up bird tallies and conversations with birders.

The festival is headquartered at the Cobscook Community Learning Center in Trescott and events are spread across the region to allow participants to experience the region’s habitat and diverse bird species. Guided birding walks take place in Eastport, Perry, Baring, Columbia, Edmunds, Indian Township, Red Beach, Lubec, Cutler, Trescott, and Campobello Island.

Residents of Washington and Charlotte Counties can sign up for the whole festival for $65. The non-resident fee is $85. Single day passes are available for $20 for residents or $30 for non-residents. A day pass includes all hikes, presentations and events for that day. Some events, such as boat trips, require an extra charge.

For more information, or to register for the Down East Spring Birding Festival, visit the festival website at: http://www.cclc.me/page/911-3214/downeast-spring-birding-..., call the CCLC at: (207) 733-2233 ext 330, or email birdfest@thecclc.org. Early registration is recommended, as some events fill up early.