Upcoming Events
Ornitherapy: The Power of Birding
Guest speaker: Holly Merker
In today’s fast-paced world, slowing down by noticing birds offers many rewards, especially by supporting our mental and physical well-being. Research shows that time spent in bird-rich biodiverse ecosystems actively reduces stress, depression, and anxiety, while helping build a stronger heart and immune system. We’ll delve into our personal connections to birds, learn how to maximize the wellness benefits while birding, and cover the latest research surrounding the positive impact of wild birds on human wellbeing.
Wabasha Public Library & Bird City MN: Ornitherapy
Guest speaker: Holly Merker, founder of Ornitherapy & Nature-based Wellness for Bird City Wabasha and Wabasha Public Libary
In today’s fast-paced world, slowing down by noticing birds offers many rewards, especially by supporting our mental and physical well-being. Research shows that time spent in bird-rich biodiverse ecosystems actively reduces stress, depression, and anxiety, while helping build a stronger heart and immune system. We’ll delve into our personal connections to birds, learn how to maximize the wellness benefits while birding, and cover the latest research surrounding the positive impact of wild birds on human wellbeing.
Ornitherapy: The Power of Birding
For the Connecticut Ornithological Association’s 42nd Annual Meeting
Ornitherapy: The Power of Birding
Baird Ornithological Club
Ornitherapy: The Power of Birding
In today’s fast-paced world, slowing down by noticing birds offers many rewards, especially by supporting our mental and physical well-being. Research shows that time spent in bird-rich biodiverse ecosystems actively reduces stress, depression, and anxiety, while supporting heart health and a stronger immune system.
Within the program we’ll delve into our personal connections to birds, learn how to maximize the wellness benefits while noticing birds, and cover the latest research surrounding the positive impact of wild birds on human wellbeing.
The Wellness Benefits of Feeding Wild Birds
Do You Find Joy in Feeding Wild Birds?
You are practicing Ornitherapy...
Come learn how birds can improve your health and wellbeing, and for that of the birds, too.
Join award-winning author, Holly Merker, as she shares tips on how wild birds can enhance your personal wellbeing and why and how feeding birds is “heart healthy”
Panama: Foothill & Rainforest Birding Extension
This Hillstar Nature pre-tour option will enhance the Panama Cloud Forest Retreat & Canal main trip and will showcase some of the premier birding hotspots in Central Panama, all focused just an hour outside of Panama City. This provides a complimentary experience to the Panama Chill Mode trip by offering a different array of the “best of” some of the Canal Zone’s well-known pockets of birdlife.
March in central Panama can offer some incredible spectacles of raptor and vulture migration if the timing and weather are right, and we’ll hope to see some mind-blowing avian airshows couples with dazzling and colorful species in addition to those we’ll see on the main tour.
Register here!
March in central Panama can offer some incredible spectacles of raptor and vulture migration if the timing and weather are right, and we’ll hope to see some mind-blowing avian airshows couples with dazzling and colorful species in addition to those we’ll see on the main tour.
Panama: A Cloud Forest Retreat & The Canal
On this weeklong retreat, sample lowland rainforest birding at the canal, followed by an extended stay at one of Panama's best kept secrets: Mount Totumas Cloud Forest ecoresort. Few birding lodges combine such a relaxed atmosphere with such thrilling birds. Join us as we soak up Cloud Forest vibes, while seeking Resplendent Quetzal, Three-wattled Bellbird, Keel-billed Toucan, and other iconic Neotropical birds and animals.
Guides: Holly Merker & Domi Alveo
Register here through Hillstar Nature
Guides: Holly Merker & Domi Alveo
Forest Bathing with Birds
Celebrate Earth Day by deepening your connection with the forest and birds around you.
With origins inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin Yoku, Forest Bathing is a research-based practice that harnesses the health and restorative benefits the natural world holds for us. Birds intertwine with all habitats, and through a framework of guided "invitations" centering around them, we can deepen our connections to nature by engaging the senses, noticing, and awakening our experience of reciprocity with the natural world.
This experience will be a bit different than a traditional outdoor guided walk, as we will not be focusing on sharing naturalist knowledge or identification, but instead allowing the forest and birds to intentionally guide us into slowing our pace and opening awareness. Our experience will culminate with a tea celebration in honor of earth day, birds, and the natural world around us.
Pacing: This program has been developed for most all mobility levels. In tradition with Forest Bathing principals, this will be a slow-paced experience on unpaved trails, some with elevation, and will include gathering time where we’ll sit and sometimes stand, for short periods of time.
Space is limited for this event. More details will be provided upon sign-up.
Holly Merker is a certified Forest Therapy Guide and Practitioner, Mindful Birding leader, and professional birding guide who is delighted to share this restorative practice with the Bondsville Mill community.
Register by emailing ornitherapy@gmail.com
Mindful Birding at Dusk
Celebrate Earth Day with Mindful Birding at Dusk at Chanticleer Gardens
Through a guided experience, we'll practice simple mindfulness exercises to engage our sensory awareness while intentionally tuning into the birds surrounding us.
Techniques and prompts accompany the gently guided walk and / or “sit spot” experiences, which strive to enhance our observation skills, promoting a deepening of our experiences with birds around us. This in turn amplifies the multitude of benefits birds provide to our overall wellbeing.
Participants will be provided “Mindful Birding” journals and offered prompts to increase observation and awareness to have a take-away from the experience to continue the practice in their relationships with birds around them.
Mindful Birding combines observing birds with mindfulness techniques, creating a practice that incorporates a heightened awareness. Labeling or identifying birds is not the primary focus, but instead, the intention is slowing down and noticing, with the birds as our guides.
Spring Birds of Acadia
Schoodic Institute’s Seth Benz is joined by Holly Merker, an author of Ornitherapy, to lead this leisurely all-inclusive tour designed to enhance your enjoyment of all birds, especially those that frequent or pass through Acadia National Park and its immediate surroundings.
We’ll move at a leisurely pace while learning about bird song and sight identification, bird habitats and behavior, and we’ll pay extra attention to enhancing your field birding skills and enjoyment of nature. The entire tour will be based out of Schoodic Institute, a research and learning center, ideally situated just a stone’s throw from Schoodic Point, a migration checkpoint that tallies tens of thousands of passing birds annually. Lodging is in cozy cabins where you will be awakened by birdsong – Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, and Magnolia Warbler. Blue-headed vireos and Northern Parula warblers often serenade you as you walk to Schooner Commons, the Institute’s dining hall. Maine has a way of spoiling birders – and this spring tour is designed to do just that.
Spring Migration and Monhegan
Hog Island Audubon Camp in Maine
Mark Garland Session Director with Holly Merker and Tom Reed
This program now SOLD OUT!
Join us for a special spring experience in Mid-coast Maine. Birding highlights will be nesting species on territory and late spring migrants heading to breeding grounds.
The week includes an overnight trip by boat to Monhegan Island, a world-renowned migratory hotspot, beautiful island village, and vibrant artists’ colony. We’ll walk several short trails on the island, enjoying the spectacular scenery while searching for songbirds. Another highlight of the week is an excursion to Eastern Egg Rock, famous for its nesting Atlantic Puffins and three species of terns. Walks on Hog Island and at nearby mainland sites take us to a variety of habitats and, hopefully, a great assortment of birds, which will be in their most brilliant breeding plumage. We’ll visit spruce forests, meadows, rocky coastlines, and perhaps other habitats. Back at camp and on our walks, we’ll discuss details of migration, conservation challenges facing birds, and the fast-growing practice of mindful birding.
Register here: https://hogisland.audubon.org/programs/spring-monhegan
Joy of Birding - Hog Island Audubon
Coastal Maine, US
ADULT PROGRAMMING
Session Director: Holly Merker
Register Here: https://hogisland.audubon.org/programs/joy-birding
This session aims to provide a better understanding of birds while expanding upon your skills in identifying by sight and by ear. Surround yourself in the splendors and nurturing land and seascapes of coastal Maine, while living on a quiet island surrounded by birds.
With a multi-talented staff to help guide you, the emphasis will focus on building upon your birding skills and enhancing your joy, while showing you some of the iconic coastal Maine bird life. Think puffins, terns, guillemots, warblers, Bobolinks, and more!
We’ll provide engaging workshops, field trips, and programs each day, offering you a front-row -view to dynamic seabird colonies, lush summer landscapes on the mainland, and the rich and historic forests and trails that exist on Hog Island itself.
A focus will be on techniques such as: birding by ear, optimizing your optics, using apps for birding, field identification techniques, and more. You will take-away new birding skills and expand on those you already have – useful for wherever life takes you.
Join us in experiencing the transformative magic of Hog Island Camp. Absorb nature’s rich boost of relaxation, a renewed sense of wonder and discovery, while learning with new friends. It will be a joy that will last a lifetime.
Please note that this session runs concurrently with Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens. You will overlap with the teen campers during meals and evening programs, which makes for a wonderful opportunity for sharing the joy of birding across different ages!
Puffins, Loons, and Blueberry Barrens
Acadia National Park and Surrounding Areas, Maine, USA
Schoodic Institute’s Seth Benz teams up with the Mindful Birding Network’s founder Holly Merker for a special tour designed to enhance your enjoyment of all birds, especially those that nest in Acadia National Park or its nearby surroundings.
We’ll travel and walk at a leisurely pace while learning about sight identification, bird habitats and behavior, and we’ll pay extra attention to enhancing your field birding skills and enjoyment of nature. Schoodic Institute is ideally situated just a stone’s throw from Schoodic Point, a migration through-point that tallies tens of thousands of passing birds annually. Lodging is in cozy cabins where you will be awakened by birdsong – Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, and Magnolia Warbler. Blue-headed vireos and Northern Parula warblers often serenade you as you walk to Schooner Commons, the Institute’s dining hall. Featured field trips include a boat cruise to see Atlantic Puffin, a visit to the east coast’s largest blueberry barrens where Upland Sandpiper, Vesper Sparrow, and Northern Harrier nest, and a visit to the Somes-Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary with chances of seeing a Common Loon chick or two.
American Birding Association's Camp Delaware Bay
Camp for teens aged 13-17 - NOW SOLD OUT
Holly Merker Camp Director
Our Camp Delaware Bay visits many of the mid-Atlantic’s most celebrated birding hotspots during peak shorebird migration. From Bombay Hook and Prime Hook national wildlife refuges in Delaware to legendary hotspots in and around Cape May, New Jersey, we’ll bird the beaches, Bayshore, marshes, and woodlands of the region, finding a wonderful variety of species.
Mindful Birding
Coastal Maine, US
Register HERE: https://hogisland.audubon.org/programs/camp
Holly Merker, Session Director
There’s no better place to spend time decompressing and rejuvenating than Hog Island, and we are thrilled to offer this session that focuses on the restorative qualities of birds and nature.
Globally recognized for its health enhancing effects, nature-based wellness programming is making a widespread splash in wellness trends. Both modern research and ancient wisdom affirm the wellness benefits of nature and birding that we will explore during this session. With a team of skilled and certified instructors, this session will incorporate a variety of mindfulness techniques including mindful birding, nature journaling, yoga, and forest bathing (Shinrin Yoku), all within the peaceful and picturesque surroundings of Muscongus Bay.
Daily excursions on land and water will deepen our connections to birds and nature, fostering experiences of awe as we immerse in the sensations of lush forests and sandy coastlines. The camp environment encourages a sense of community and connection with your fellow participants. You’ll take away techniques that can bolster your own wellness routine and which you can share with others.
Whether you're an educator, caregiver, health professional, nature enthusiast, or just someone in need of a break from routine life, we welcome you in this rejuvenating session that will bring you relaxation, connections, and a great way to launch into autumn invigorated with renewed energy and wellbeing.
Fall Migration and Monhegan
https://hogisland.audubon.org/programs/fall-monhegan
Scott Weidensaul, Session Director
Instructors: Holly Merker and Seth Benz
This special, small-group session is devoted to the wonders of fall migration and will include an overnight stay on the iconic and beautiful Monhegan Island. The rest of the week will be spent traveling to the best migrant hotspots around Hog Island based on the weather, tides, and bird migration patterns.
This intensive week of birding will take participants from tidal marshes and beaches to hawk watches, spruce forests, and the outer islands and waters of Muscongus Bay. The highlight will be an overnight trip to Monhegan Island, one of the best "migrant traps" in the Northeast -- a place justly famous for its birding and dramatic rocky coastline, which has inspired artists for more than a century. Learn about how and why birds migrate and the conservation challenges facing them from experts in the field of ornithology.
Mindful Birding at Chanticleer Gardens
Mindful Birding at Chanticleer Gardens
End your busy day with the calming effects of nature’s beauty and birds, and a gently guided experience to soothe your mind, body, and spirit.
Through a guided experience, we'll practice simple mindfulness exercises to engage our sensory awareness while intentionally tuning into the birds surrounding us.
Techniques and prompts accompany the gently guided walk and / or “sit spot” experiences, which strive to enhance our observation skills, promoting a deepening of our experiences with birds around us. This in turn amplifies the multitude of benefits birds provide to our overall wellbeing.
Participants will be provided “Mindful Birding” journals and offered prompts to increase observation and awareness to have a take-away from the experience to continue the practice in their relationships with birds around them.
Mindful Birding combines observing birds with mindfulness techniques, creating a practice that incorporates a heightened awareness. Labeling or identifying birds is not the primary focus, but instead, the intention is slowing down and noticing, with the birds as our guides.
Mindful Birding at Stoneleigh Gardens
Mindful Birding at Stoneleigh : A Natural Garden
End your busy day with the calming effects of being surrounded by nature’s beauty and birds, and a gently guided experience to soothe your mind, body, and spirit.
Through a guided experience, we'll practice simple mindfulness exercises to engage our sensory awareness while intentionally tuning into the birds surrounding us.
Techniques and prompts accompany the gently guided walk and / or “sit spot” experiences, which strive to enhance our observation skills, promoting a deepening of our experiences with birds around us. This in turn amplifies the multitude of benefits birds provide to our overall wellbeing.
Participants will be provided “Mindful Birding” journals and offered prompts to increase observation and awareness to have a take-away from the experience to continue the practice in their relationships with birds around them.
Mindful Birding combines observing birds with mindfulness techniques, creating a practice that incorporates a heightened awareness. Labeling or identifying birds is not the primary focus, but instead, the intention is slowing down and noticing, with the birds as our guides.
Panama Mindful Birding Retreat
Multi-day soothing experience nesting in the lush mountains of Panama
Learn more or Register here
On this retreat, we will be joined by Holly Merker. At times we will gather for workshops about mindful birding, and plenty of time will also be available for optional mindful activities, including yoga, meditation, forest bathing, nature sketching, and free time to enjoy in nature.
This 7-day mindful birding retreat is set in the lush highlands of western Panama. It is one of the best places in the world to see the extravagantly beautiful Resplendent Quetzal, as well as Black-faced Solitaire, Long-tailed and Black-and-yellow silky-flycatchers, Golden-browed Chlorophonia, Talamanca and Fiery-throated hummingbirds among more than a dozen other species of hummers, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo, Buffy Tuftedcheek, and Collared Trogon are just some of the amazing birds we can see in this region. In addition to birds, we also can revel in the beauty of native orchids, butterflies and other wildlife.
Tri-Moraine Audubon Society: Ornitherapy
Guest speaker: Holly Merker, founder of Ornitherapy
In today’s fast-paced world, slowing down by noticing birds offers many rewards, especially by supporting our mental and physical well-being. Research shows that time spent in bird-rich biodiverse ecosystems actively reduces stress, depression, and anxiety, while helping build a stronger heart and immune system. We’ll delve into our personal connections to birds, learn how to maximize the wellness benefits while birding, and cover the latest research surrounding the positive impact of wild birds on human wellbeing.
Rye Garden Club
Private presentation on the Power of Mindful Birding for the Rye Garden Club
The Wellness Benefits of Feeding Wild Birds
Do You Find Joy in Feeding Wild Birds?
You are practicing Ornitherapy...
Come learn how birds can improve your health and wellbeing, and for that of the birds, too.
Join award-winning author, Holly Merker, as she shares tips on how wild birds can enhance your personal wellbeing and why and how feeding birds is “heart healthy”
The Wellness Benefits of Feeding Wild Birds
Do You Find Joy in Feeding Wild Birds?
You are practicing Ornitherapy...
Come learn how birds can improve your health and wellbeing, and for that of the birds, too.
Join award-winning author, Holly Merker, as she shares tips on how wild birds can enhance your personal wellbeing and why and how feeding birds is “heart healthy”
Festival of the Cranes 2025
Join me at this year’s 36th annual Festival of the Cranes!
Learn more HERE
Immerse yourself in an awe-inspiring experience as thousands of sandhill cranes, snow geese, ducks, and a myriad of other migratory birds return to the beautiful Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
This is a multi-day event…stay tuned for more details
Ornitherapy & the Wellness Benefits of Nature
A lecture for St. Lawrence University
“Ornitherapy & the Wellness Benefits of Nature: A look at Nature-based Health & Wellness Interventions”
provided by Holly Merker, Nature-based Wellness Programming Provider and award-winning author
The Power of Birding - Columbus Audubon
Columbus, Ohio
Join us for our 2025 – 2026 in-person Monthly Program series in partnership with and located at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center on Tuesday, October 28.
This month’s keynote will be delivered by Holly Merker who will discuss the wellness benefits of birding. Arrive at 6:30pm to participate in the bird quiz, draw a door prize ticket, and enjoy refreshments.
We will begin the program at 7 pm with a Conservation Spotlight by Eric Sagasser. The Featured Presentation will begin immediately following the Conservation Spotlight. Winners for the door prize and bird quiz will be announced after the presentations.
Tickets Here: https://tickets.audubon.org/events/019884f2-a302-dcf6-400a-32e8cfc8791f
Women's Wellness in Nature Day Retreat
Retreat to the beautiful Ashland Nature Center for a day of activities that will benefit your health, mind, mood, and soul. Forget about your day-to-day life and immerse yourself in the natural world, healthy food, nature observation, art, and more to give your mind and body a needed break.
Start the day with gentle body movement sessions suitable for all. Savor a tasty breakfast then relax with immersive outdoor activities designed to put you in touch with nature in a mindful and rejuvenating way, including Mindful Birding and Forest Bathing. After a catered sit-down lunch, choose from a selection of creative nature experiences.
Enjoy a campfire circle to reflect on the day before heading out. Take home products and memories from your experiences are also included. Led by Shelli Smith, Dianne Esry, Holly Merker, and the DelNature Women's Wellness in Nature Team.
Register through Delaware Nature Society HERE
Mindful Birding at Stoneleigh
Register here: https://wp.natlands.org/event/mindfulbird-stoneleigh-2025-1014/
Mindful birding combines bird watching with mindfulness techniques to develop heighted awareness and a deeper experience. During this session, we’ll use birds as our guide to help us slow and more deeply notice the world around us.
Instructor Holly Merker will offer prompts and techniques during this guided walk or “sit spot” experience. Participants will also be provided “ornitherapy journals” to have a take-away from the experience to continue their mindfulness birding practice.
No prior experience with birds or mindfulness practice is necessary to attend.
Benefits of Mindful Birding:
Enjoy a reprieve from life stressors and pressures.
Stimulate and promote a more positive overall wellbeing, mind and body.
Gain enhanced sensory awareness (sight, sound, smell, touch).
Better understand birdlife through intentional observation.
Enhance your observation skills, in turn building a stronger foundation for overall bird identification.
Increase self-reflection through birds and the natural world.
Frontiers in Ornithology Student Symposium
The Frontiers in Ornithology Symposium: an event for students ages 13-23 and their mentors.
The primary mission of this event is to focus on ornithology, conservation science and related academic pursuits. The symposium does not focus on birding, bird identification techniques, or listing birds, but instead on cutting-edge technologies being used in avian research and study, careers in ornithology, and how to pursue that focus in higher education, vocationally, or avocationally. Our goal is to educate and inspire students to take their passion for birds to a higher level. Join us in 2025 for keynotes, speakers, and networking opportunities.
Keynote for Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology Annual Meeting
Keynote “Ornitherapy: The Power of Birding”
In today’s fast-paced digital world, birding offers a vital escape, while supporting mental and physical well-being. Research shows that time spent in nature and around birds can actively reduce stress, depression, and anxiety, while helping build a stronger heart and immune system.
Within the program we’ll delve into our personal connections to birds, learn how to maximize the wellness benefits of birding, and cover the latest research surrounding the positive impact of wild birds on human wellbeing.
Learn more and Register Here
Mindful Birding Retreat: Belize
Mindful Birding Retreat in Belize
Whitehawk Birding with Holly Merker
THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT
Our Belize: Mindful Birding Retreat is a 6-day experience and will be slightly different from a typical birding tour. We will take our time to truly enjoy the beauty and wonder of the birds we see and will spend some time observing their behavior and learning more about them.
On this retreat, we will be joined by Holly Merker, an author of Ornitherapy: For your Mind, Body, and Soul and Founder of the Mindful Birding Network, who will open our eyes to the practice of ornitherapy through gentle ornitherapy sessions and forest bathing.
Fall Migration & Monhegan
Hog Island Audubon Camp in Maine (for adults)
SOLD OUT - Wait List Open
This special, small-group session is devoted to the wonders of fall migration and will include an overnight stay on the iconic and beautiful Monhegan Island. The rest of the week will be spent traveling to the best migrant hotspots around Hog Island based on the weather, tides, and bird migration patterns.
This intensive week of birding will take participants from tidal marshes and beaches to hawk watches, spruce forests, and the outer islands and waters of Muscongus Bay. The highlight will be an overnight trip to Monhegan Island, one of the best "migrant traps" in the Northeast -- a place justly famous for its birding and dramatic rocky coastline, which has inspired artists for more than a century. Learn about how and why birds migrate and the conservation challenges facing them from experts in the field of ornithology.
With Scott Weidensaul, Dr. Sara Morris, and Holly Merker
Ornitherapy: The Power of Birding
Guest Lecturer : Presentation for private community club
Mindful Birding: Rekindling Our Connections to Nature
NOW SOLD OUT - WAITING LIST OPEN
A multi-day experience - Hog Island Audubon Camp, Bremen, Maine USA
led by Holly Merker, Rebekah Lowell, Sabina Molander, Tammah Watts and more skilled instructors
Limited Space: Registration here
There’s no better place to spend time decompressing and rejuvenating than Hog Island, and we are thrilled to offer this brand-new program for 2025. Centering on the restorative qualities of birds and nature, we’ll optimize the wellness benefits modern research and ancient wisdom affirms that nature provides us.
Globally recognized for its health enhancing effects, nature-based wellness programming is making a widespread splash in wellness trends. With a team of skilled and certified instructors, this session will incorporate techniques in mindful birding, nature journaling, yoga, and forest bathing (Shinrin Yoku), all within the peaceful and picturesque surroundings of Muscongus Bay.
Daily excursions on land and water will deepen our connections to birds and nature, fostering experiences of awe as we immerse in the sensations of lush forests and sandy coastlines. You’ll take away techniques that can bolster your own wellness routine and which you can share with others.
Whether you're an educator, caregiver, health professional, nature enthusiast, or just someone in need of a break from routine life, we welcome you in this rejuvenating session that will bring you relaxation, connections, and a great way to launch into autumn invigorated with renewed energy and wellbeing.
Please note, this program is shorter than a typical camp week, running from Sunday August 24 – Thursday August 25.
Wellness Wednesday Lecture: Birding is for Everyone
Guest Speaker: Private group presentation and program
Forest Bathing at Rushton Farm
Newtown Square, PA
The lush and thoughtfully stewarded landscapes and garden at Rushton Farm provide the perfect backdrop for reaping the wellness benefits that nature provides us.
With origins inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin Yoku, Forest Bathing or Forest Therapy, harnesses the health and restorative benefits the natural world holds for us. This experience will be a bit different than a traditional outdoor guided walk, not focusing on sharing naturalist knowledge or identification, but instead allowing the forest and birds to intentionally guide us into slowing our pace by a skilled leader who is a Certified Forest Therapy Guide.
With a framework of guided “invitations” centering around biodiversity and the forest, we will deepen our connections to nature by engaging the senses, noticing, and awakening our experience of reciprocity with the natural world. A tea ceremony will be included to culminate the experience as we celebrate the summer landscapes and the forest. Forest Bathing can be calming, contemplative, mindful, revealing, soothing, awe inspiring, and more. Any skill-level of experience in nature is welcomed. This is a great way to celebrate late summer and boost your wellbeing.
Bird City Presents Ornitherapy: The Power of Wild Birds
A Bird City Network Webinar: Ornitherapy - the Power of Wild Birds
JOIN Bird City Network as we welcome Holly Merker to learn how to maximize the wellness benefits of deepening our connections to birds. Holly will cover the latest research surrounding the positive impact of wild birds on human wellbeing.
Pause & Play Book Chat
Dekalb County, Georgia via ZOOM
Join us for a collaborative experience sharing the joys and wonders of birds, exploring the wellness benefits they bring to us: mind, body, and spirit.
How birding can be a refuge for healing, relaxation, and renewal.
The science of bird connection — reducing stress and fostering well-being.
An interactive, mindful bird-observation activity led by Holly.
How can we foster more “pause & play” moments in our daily routines?
Tips for starting small — a walk in your local park, a few minutes of bird-watching from your balcony, or adding nature breaks to ease stress.
An opportunity for participants to share their routines and routines they’d like to try.
Ornitherapy Workshop
Join us for an interactive outdoor experience in Old Saybrook, Connecticut
Through observation, we can learn not only about birds, but gain insight into our own lives while exploring our connection to the world around us. This fosters stewardship and bolsters conservation.
Within the program, we’ll delve into our connections to birds, how to maximize the wellness benefits of bird feeding and bringing birds closer and learn about the latest research surrounding the impact of birds on human wellbeing.
The Joy of Birding
Session Director: Holly Merker
This session aims to provide a better understanding of birds while expanding upon your skills in identifying by sight and by ear. Surround yourself in the splendors and nurturing land and seascapes of coastal Maine, while living on a quiet island surrounded by birds.
With a multi-talented staff to help guide you, the emphasis will focus on building upon your birding skills and enhancing your joy, while showing you some of the iconic coastal Maine bird life. Think puffins, terns, guillemots, warblers, Bobolinks, and more!
We’ll provide engaging workshops, field trips, and programs each day, offering you a front-row -view to dynamic seabird colonies, lush summer landscapes on the mainland, and the rich and historic forests and trails that exist on Hog Island itself.
A focus will be on techniques such as: birding by ear, optimizing your optics, using apps for birding, field identification techniques, and more. You will take-away new birding skills and expand on those you already have – useful for wherever life takes you.
Join us in experiencing the transformative magic of Hog Island Camp. Absorb nature’s rich boost of relaxation, a renewed sense of wonder and discovery, while learning with new friends. It will be a joy that will last a lifetime.
Please note that this session runs concurrently with Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens. You will overlap with the teen campers during meals and evening programs, which makes for a wonderful opportunity for sharing the joy of birding across different ages!
Mindful Birding at Dusk
Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
Watching birds is not only fun, but good for you! Learn why getting your daily dose of Ornitherapy is just what the doctor ordered….
Ornitherapy leads to a more mindful approach to the observation of birds, benefitting our mind, body, and soul.
We’re pushed and pulled in many directions, no matter our age. If we allow birds and nature to slow us down, we are practicing a form of self care. Research shows that exposure to nature actively reduces stress, depression, and anxiety, while helping build a stronger heart and immune system.
Birds are gateways into deeper experiences with nature, magnifying these benefits. Through observation, we can learn not only about birds, but gain insight into our own lives while exploring our connection to the world around us. This fosters stewardship and bolsters conservation.
Spring Migration & Monhegan Island
Mark Garland Session Director with Holly Merker and Tom Reed
Join us for a special spring experience in Mid-coast Maine. Birding highlights will be nesting species on territory and late spring migrants heading to breeding grounds.
The week includes an overnight trip by boat to Monhegan Island, a world-renowned migratory hotspot, beautiful island village, and vibrant artists’ colony. We’ll walk several short trails on the island, enjoying the spectacular scenery while searching for songbirds. Another highlight of the week is an excursion to Eastern Egg Rock, famous for its nesting Atlantic Puffins and three species of terns. Walks on Hog Island and at nearby mainland sites take us to a variety of habitats and, hopefully, a great assortment of birds, which will be in their most brilliant breeding plumage. We’ll visit spruce forests, meadows, rocky coastlines, and perhaps other habitats. Back at camp and on our walks, we’ll discuss details of migration, conservation challenges facing birds, and the fast-growing practice of mindful birding.
Register here: https://hogisland.audubon.org/programs/spring-monhegan
Spring Birds of Acadia with Puffin Cruise
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT
Schoodic Institute’s Seth Benz is joined by Holly Merker, an author of Ornitherapy, to lead this leisurely all-inclusive tour designed to enhance your enjoyment of all birds, especially those that frequent or pass through Acadia National Park and its immediate surroundings.
We’ll move at a leisurely pace while learning about bird song and sight identification, bird habitats and behavior, and we’ll pay extra attention to enhancing your field birding skills and enjoyment of nature. The entire tour will be based out of Schoodic Institute, a research and learning center, ideally situated just a stone’s throw from Schoodic Point, a migration checkpoint that tallies tens of thousands of passing birds annually. Lodging is in cozy cabins where you will be awakened by birdsong – Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, and Magnolia Warbler. Blue-headed vireos and Northern Parula warblers often serenade you as you walk to Schooner Commons, the Institute’s dining hall. Maine has a way of spoiling birders – and this spring tour is designed to do just that.
Mindful Birding for Penn Memory Center
A special program for the Penn Memory Center designed for patients and caregivers
Spring Migration Celebration
With Holly Merker and Alex Harper
Spring Migration Celebration at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
A two-day event featuring workshops, field trips, and more as we celebrate birds in springtime in one of the most majestic and serene locations in the United States
Details and signups to be announced soon!
End the Day with Mindful Birding
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
A joint program with WBU Glen Mills & Holly Merker of Ornitherapy & Nature-based Wellness, LLC.
Join us to gently end the day with a meditative experience in the natural world.
Through a guided experience, we'll practice simple mindfulness exercises to engage our sensory awareness while intentionally tuning into the birds surrounding us.
Techniques and prompts accompany the gently guided walk and / or “sit spot” experiences, which strive to enhance our observation skills, promoting a deepening of our experiences with birds around us. This in turn amplifies the multitude of benefits birds provide to our overall wellbeing.
Participants will be provided “Ornitherapy Journals” and offered prompts to increase observation and awareness to have a take-away from the experience to continue the practice in their relationships with birds around them.
No experience with birds or mindfulness practice are necessary to attend.
Register with Wild Birds Unlimited Glen Mills
Forest Bathing with Birds - Earth Day Celebration
For the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club
Trip Leader: Holly Merker
Free to all members and non-members
Celebrate Earth Day by deepening your connection with the forest, and birds around you. With origins inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin Yoku, or Forest Bathing, harnesses the health and restorative benefits the natural world holds for us. Birds intertwine with all habitats, and through a framework of guided “invitations” centering around them, we can deepen our connections to nature by engaging the senses, noticing, and awakening our experience of reciprocity with the natural world.
This experience will be a bit different than a traditional outdoor guided walk, not focusing on sharing naturalist knowledge or identification, but instead allowing the forest and birds to intentionally guide us into to slowing our pace. A tea celebration among the group will be included in the experience as we celebrate earth day, birds, and the natural world around us.
Led by Holly Merker, certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide and certified Forest Therapy Practitioner, Wellness Counselor, Mindful Birding specialist, and professional birding guide. Holly is a DVOC Fellow and Life Member who is excited to share this new approach to wellness with the club.
Limited to 12 people; contact leader to reserve your spot at ornitherapy@gmail.com
Specific details on what to bring, preparing for weather, what to expect will be shared via email from Holly upon sign up.
Pacing: This program has been developed for most all mobility levels. In tradition with Forest Bathing principals, this will be a slow-paced experience on unpaved trails, some with elevation, and will include gathering time where we’ll sit and sometimes stand, for short periods of time.
More details will be provided upon sign-up.
The Mindful Birding Project
An in-person workshop and day-long immersive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In collaboration and partnership with Barbara Patterson of Ft Collins Audubon, and other organizations.
Birding for Wellness: Accessible Mindful Birding
Led by Holly Merker, Chesterbrook, PA (near Phila) in partnership with the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club / DVOC
Birding for Wellness Series: Accessible Mindful Birding
Mindful Birding pairs observing birds with mindfulness techniques, creating a practice that cultivates a heightened awareness and fosters connections. Labeling or identifying birds is not the primary focus, but instead the intention is slowing down and noticing, using birds as our guides. This style of birding is inclusive and accessible for people of varying abilities.
Through guided instruction, we'll practice simple mindfulness exercises to engage our sensory awareness while intentionally tuning into the birds surrounding us. Techniques and prompts will accompany the gently guided walk, which can enhance our observation skills, deepening our experiences with wild birds around us. This in turn amplifies the positive benefits birds provide to our overall wellness.
Participants will receive a take-home journal to foster observation and awareness and provide take-away techniques.
No experience with birding or mindfulness practice are necessary to attend. A few pairs of binoculars will be available to borrow from your guide. All are welcomed!
Accessibility information: This program has been developed to be inclusive and accessible. People with mobility disabilities are particularly welcomed to attend. Please contact leader in advance with any questions. This will be a slow-paced walk on wide and mostly flat paved trails, traveling less than two miles. There are no stairs or steep inclines. We might sometimes stand for short periods of time as we observe birds and share our experiences with birds. On-site indoor restrooms are available.
Space is limited. Register by contacting the guide at: ornitherapy@gmail.com