Our 2022 Bill Drummond Young Birder Scholarship recipients, Jocelyn Pyne and Johnny Owens, report that they had wonderful experiences in June in the Coastal Maine Bird Study for Teens program at National Audubon’s camp at Hog Island, Maine.

“I had a great time at Hog Island,” Jocelyn says. “I learned so much about not just birds but also the plants and other animals on and around Hog Island! I had so many unforgettable experiences including getting to see a banding demonstration which gave us close up one-of-a-kind views of birds often flitting about in the treetops. Banding has been something I have wanted to do for a long time. Visiting Eastern Egg Rock was truly amazing, an experience you can have nowhere else. We were able to get great views of the nesting species on the island, especially the terns. I loved meeting the researchers who live on Egg Rock during the summer and learning about the research they conduct on the island. It was nice to go birding with other teens who also love birds. Looking back on my trip I can’t help but smile.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed my week on Hog Island,” says Johnny, “from learning about tracking bird migration, to landing on Eastern Egg Rock and seeing the large colony of nesting seabirds, to meeting the researchers who work on Eastern Egg Rock. It was so amazing to have the chance to meet highly influential researchers and conservationists, and to see the successfully restored puffin colony on Eastern Egg Rock up close. I loved spending time with birders my own age with whom I could relate. The camp was not limited to serious birding all the time; now and then people would do a ‘lifer dance’ for life birds. . .I learned the whole story of how Eastern Egg Rock’s puffin colony was reconstructed, how the Merlin sound ID app was created, and how ‘sketch biology’ works. I am immensely thankful for this incredible opportunity that the board of the Brookline Bird Club and the generous donors of the Bill Drummond Scholarship Fund made possible for me.”