Updated April 26,2020:
The BBC is sorry to announce that National Audubon has cancelled all 2020 summer camps at Hog Island in Maine, so that our two Young Birder Scholarship recipients, May Adams and Jackson Frost, will not be able to participate in the Coastal Maine Studies for Teens program in June. However, the Hog Island staff has allowed the BBC to roll over our payments to reserve two slots for the same program in 2021, and we have offered these slots to May and Jackson as full scholarships. They’re both excellent scholarship recipients, and, while we anticipated this cancellation, we’re disappointed they will miss out on a 2020 camp, and we hope they will be able to take advantage of this scholarship opportunity in 2021. The BBC also hopes to grant two additional Young Birder Scholarships to the Hog Island program in 2021, but that will depend on our ability to reserve additional slots.

The BBC is pleased to announce that our annual Young Birder Scholarships have been awarded to May Adams of Wales, MA and Jackson Frost of Scituate, MA. These scholarships, instituted to nurture interest in bird study and conservation among young birders, cover the full cost ($1395) of the Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens program at National Audubon’s Hog Island camp on June 16-21, 2020. The Scholarship Evaluation Committee was impressed by the high quality of all seven applications we received, and we thank all the applicants for their interest and effort.

May has an abiding interest in animal welfare, bird conservation, and the use of photography to study bird behavior. She has nursed chickens through illnesses, exhibited her bird photos at the Palmer Public Library, and produced an educational video on bird vision.

Jackson volunteers as a seabird steward for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, and he takes particular pleasure in turning family members and friends into birders. He hopes to pursue a career in ornithology.

Congratulations, May and Jackson!

These scholarships are supported through the generous donations of club members. To donate, you can designate an amount on the “BBC Young Birder Scholarship” line on the back page of the club bulletin when you renew your membership or, especially for life members, at any other time you might wish to donate. You can also donate online by clicking the Donate link on the BBC home page and entering an amount in the box for “Young Birder Scholarship.”