Maine Birding Adventure
This Trip is currently full.
Contact PalomarAudubon@gmail.com about being added to the waitlist.
Hello Adventure Lovers! Are you ready for another exciting birding adventure sponsored by PAS? How about a trip to the exact opposite corner of the United States, Acadia National Park, Maine? This trip is planned for July 18-23, 2026; prime nesting season for the Atlantic Puffin. We will stay in cabins in the national park, and eat our meals in the dining hall there. Our tour leader will be Seth Benz, an accomplished birder who has amassed over 30 years of experience. He is the director of the Schoodic Institute Bird Ecology Program at Acadia National Park. As part of our tour, we will take a pelagic trip to the stunning Petit Manan Island to view the nesting Atlantic Puffins, our target bird! I will attach the tentative 6-day itinerary. The cabins where we will stay have two private bedrooms with a shared bathroom, living room, and kitchen. Although they are called cabins, they are more like a small apartment. I will attach a link to the lodging so you will be able to view the cabins. (Go to “Cabins” and click to see the floor plan.) I was told that they will place us with 2 people in each cabin. There is no option for a single supplement, but your sleeping space will be private. The dining hall where we will have our meals will be either cafeteria style or buffet style, with options for everyone. Our lunch meals will be picnics packed for us at the institute, and taken along to eat during the day when we are out birding. There will be opportunities for you to make choices. We will be dining on lobster for our final dinner, or something equally delicious for the non-lobster lovers. The cost for this all-inclusive trip will be $1,989 per person. There will be a 30% deposit of $567 due at the time of booking, and the balance of $1,422 due 60 days before the date of the trip. The trip includes all meals, lodging, guides, transportation (including airport pick up and drop off), and the Acadia Puffin Cruise. Not included are alcoholic drinks, personal items, tips to guides and boat captain, and airfare to and from Maine. Now for the bad news: this trip is limited to only 10 participants. This is necessary due to the limited number of cabins and the limited number of vehicles for transportation. We will hold a lottery for the 10 positions. If you are traveling with another person, both names will go in the lottery on the same ticket. That way it is either both of you or neither of you when the names are drawn. There will be a wait list; if you don’t make the top 10, and because the trip is so far away, there is a good chance that people on the wait list will have the opportunity to move up. There is also a possibility that the institute will be able to offer us a second trip, back-to-back with the first one, if we have more than double the interest. Trip #2 would have the exact same itinerary as Trip #1. So please, if you are interested in this trip, don’t be shy about signing up! The lottery will be held on October 22nd. We are allowing 2 1/2 weeks for everyone to have a chance to hear about this offering and to decide if you are interested. On October 22nd, we will let everyone know their position, following the drawing. (We hope to know at that time if we will be able to book a second trip following the first.) The top 10 people will then need to submit their deposit, which will hold our spot/dates for this tour. The Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park is booking and charging PAS for a group of 10, which means that your payment will be made to Palomar Audubon, and Palomar Audubon will make one payment for the whole group. For this reason, the deposit will be non-refundable unless there is someone on the wait list to take your place. It is highly likely that there will be someone on the wait list to move into your slot in the event that your plans change and you are unable to go, but this is information that you need to consider before putting your name in the lottery. Are you in? Please send your interest in participating to diannebenham@me.com. Make sure to let us know if you want your name in the lottery as a single or if you have a travel partner. I will answer your email to let you know I received it and that you are in the lottery. Please do NOT reply to this group email, as your response will go to the whole group rather than to my email address. On October 22nd, I will contact each person to let them know the results of the lottery. Let’s Go Birding in Maine!!!