I received the youth scholarship last winter to attend Hog Island Audubon Camp in Maine this summer. I wanted to take another moment to say thank you for the scholarship, because it was my first time I had been able to attend a youth birding camp, and it was one of the most incredible life experiences I’ve had.
Being on Hog Island was magical itself, the spruce forests and surrounding shores are breathtakingly beautiful. Learning about the ecology of the place alongside other eager youth, through birding, herping, and intertidal exploration was inspiring and perspective changing. Birding the mainland was also awesome, hearing a Canada Warbler (a lifer for me) in the thick undergrowth, watching male bobolinks descend into the vast meadows and hearing their intricate, almost electronic warble, watching Herring Gulls catch and fight over fish, and sharing all these sights and observations with fellow youth was an amazing experience. But by far my favorite birding took place when we boated to Eastern Egg Rock, where the colony of Atlantic Puffins that are a part of the famous Project Puffin live. Being among an offshore, isolated puffin and tern colony was an unforgettable experience. Vigilantly walking on narrow trails in shoulder high grass, watching our every step for tern eggs on the path, hearing from the summer interns about life on the island and the seabird research, and watching through a slit of a bird blind to see puffins flying to their burrows with bills full of long shiny fish was so cool! Not only that, but we were fortunate enough to be able to see the rare Tufted Puffin that was frequenting the island, the first tufted puffin to somehow make its way to the Atlantic coast. Being on that island was such an incredible, immersive experience, it definitely reinforced my passion for hands-on ornithological research, and my determination to make a career out of my passion for birds.
The culture of Hog Island Audubon Camp was even more admirable than the birds. In the evenings we would gather to check birds off of an old-timey pamphlet checklist, and we celebrated such holidays as “international guillemot appreciation day” where we wore white duck taped “wing bars” on our sleeves, and participated in a celebratory chant about guillemots, and “dendroica memorial day” where we mourned the 14th anniversary of the loss of the name dendroica for a genus of warblers, which we celebrated by dressing up as our favorite former dendroica warbler (I was a black-throated blue). Being immersed in a culture where celebration and connection revolves primarily around birds and the natural world was an uplifting experience.
I learned so much, not just about ornithology, but about how to become a better birder. I learned to find the people who were talking about something I was unfamiliar with, and listen to them. Learning from others who knew more, who were even crazier birders than me, was the key lesson I learned from this camp. I made so many connections, lifelong friends, memories, and I have many stories from my time at Hog Island to tell for years to come. Attending the Hog Island Audubon Camp was a key moment of my life because it made me so excited by how much I still have yet to learn about ornithology, ecology, and what it means to be a birder.
Thank you so much for your youth scholarship opportunity. I was able to have these unforgettable experiences and learn these valuable lessons and truths that will serve me throughout my life and career because of the youth scholarship. I am very lucky and eternally grateful for the scholarship the Central Valley Bird Club gave me, and I am so glad it exists so other young birders can have the incredible experience and learn valuable lessons similar to mine. Thank you all so much for the effort you put into keeping the scholarship opportunity running!
Thank you for what you do for young birders like me,
Happy Birding!
Mackenzie
