Registration Information for First-time Attendees
The NORTH SHORE BIRDING FESTIVAL (NSBF) offers highly affordable field trips with no additional festival registration fee!  
With so many local birders crazy about the Lake Apopka North Shore, the festival always attracts many great leaders resulting in a fantastic ratio of leaders to trip participants. 
Orange Audubon Society is fund-raising toward the Orange Audubon Nature Center at Apopka Birding Park, and each year the festival has been a significant fund-raiser, thanks to expenses kept low by organizers and trip leaders volunteering their time. 
Trip prices have increased incrementally this year to better contribute to fundraising toward the nature center. We thank all the registrants for contributing in this way, and by the December 2026 festival, we hope to show off the new nature center.
Field Trip gathering at McDonald Canal area before taking off in carpools or own cars, 2019 festival. This was pre-pandemic. Trips have been smaller in recent festivals. Photo: Deborah Green
​​​​​​​Trip Start Location
There is no central registration site or exhibit hall -- yet! You will meet your trip leaders at the field trip start sites. The address of your field trip start location is included in the registration email as well as on the Locations and Lodging page. Use your GPS, unless the directions indicate otherwise.
The McDonald Canal Boat Ramp area (photo above), a Lake County park, will be the starting place for about half the trips offered. Bring your own hand sanitizer. 
This year we are back at Wekiwa Springs State Park Youth Camp for dinners on Friday and Saturday. 
Since you have to pay entry to Wekiwa Springs State Park, check the festival schedule for other activities before and after the dinner. 
Also, the new concessionaire, Guest Services, is providing us a discount code for canoe rentals. The Wekiva River is one of Florida's two Wild and Scenic Rivers and is a gorgeous river to canoe. We encourage you to leave a few hours and plan that into your schedule. 
Completing Registration
After studying the schedule page and selecting trips you want, see what is available and book it through our SignUp Genius registration program. Included in your registration is a required liability waiver. If you have any questions, email festival@orangeaudubonfl.org or call (407) 637-2525.
Things to note:
Our festival uses no buses. We will be driving unpaved back roads and parking alongside the road to get out and bird. For four Big Day trips on Saturday we will use rental vans. Other trips may require carpooling, because of limited parking and because it is easier for all participants to spot the bird if there are fewer cars. If you prefer not to carpool, please choose another trip.
David Simpson leading trip, 2018 festival. Photo: Joyce Stefancic
Very important: You cannot leave a trip early because that would require one of the leaders to escort you to an entrance gate, which would be a detriment to the trip for all the participants.  Choose trips that fit your schedule. 
Please arrive there 5-10 minutes prior to the start time to check in. If you are more than 5 minutes late, you will be left behind. Plan your route to be on time.
Accessibility and Bathrooms
Thursday Trip to Neighborhood Lakes Scenic Trail & Trailhead is wheelchair accessible.
The amount of walking for each trip is indicated in the trip description under the Schedule tab. If you are unable to do any walking, we recommend that you visit the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive— which can be done entirely by car—on your own.  The 11-mile one-way Drive is open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and most federal holidays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. with exit by 5 p.m. The address is 2850 Lust Road, Apopka, FL 32703.
Bathroom availability is indicated on the detailed trip description to the extent that we have the information from our trip leaders. Most of our field trip sites are remote, and all may not have facilities. 
Cancellation policy
If a trip leader decides that a trip must be cancelled due to safety concerns, the trip fee will be refunded in full or participants may transfer to an alternate field trip depending on space availability. Participants may also opt to donate their refunds to support the Festival, which ultimately supports Orange Audubon’s nature center effort.

If you have your own reason to cancel, you can receive a full refund, minus a $5 per trip handling fee, up to two weeks before the first day of the festival, in other words by November 27th. Requests received by email between Thursday November 20th and Thursday, November 27th (Thanksgiving, two weeks before the start of the festival) will receive a 50% refund. After Thanksgiving, no refunds will be possible.

Most refunds will be made to your credit card after about a week but we reserve the right to refund after the festival. Please consider if your fees can remain a donation to the festival and Orange Audubon Society’s fund-raising toward a nature center. Address all cancellation communications to festival@orangeaudubonfl.org. Thank you
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Health Precautions
Following the pandemic, most field trips remain small. As part of registration each individual registrant, leader and/or volunteer (participant) will fill out the Participant Release and Waiver of Liability form (Release). 
Lunch at the McDonald Canal, 2019 NORTH SHORE BIRDING FESTIVAL. Photos: Deborah Green
Lunches
Since many of our trip locations are remote from restaurants, box lunches are included with registration for Saturday and Sunday all-day or morning trips leaving from the McDonald Canal. 
This year we will not be including lunches for Friday trips or for trips leaving from other locations, and ask that you plan ahead and bring your own provisions. 
For Saturday and Sunday trips that include lunches (listed in trip description), participants will indicate their lunch preference (non-vegetarian, vegetarian, or vegan) during registration. For more restrictive diets, please bring your own.
If possible, participants should bring their own folding chair for the Saturday and Sunday lunches. 
The lunches in the past have been a social event and opportunity for Orange Audubon Society to sell its festival merchandise. Currently the festival has no optics vendors. Once our nature center is open, we look forward to hosting an Expo Hall.
Keynote Dinners
Keynotes with dinners are an opportunity for a gathering of participants. 
Dinner/keynote prices are $30 regular. ($20 college student, $10 youth up to 18.) There are vegetarian and vegan options. 4:30 p.m. - 6:30p.m. Dinner service starts at 5 p.m. Talk at 5:30 p.m. 
Orange Audubon Society volunteers do a beautiful job presenting dinners, catered by delicious local restaurants. We hope you join us on Friday or Saturday!
Trip Fees
The North Shore Birding Festival is run entirely by Orange Audubon Society volunteers. All proceeds from the festival benefit Orange Audubon Society's Nature Center fund.
With no additional overall festival registration fee, here are trip fees:
$85-95 for all-day trips with box lunch included 
$65 for most morning half-day trips with box lunch included 
$55 for most morning half-day trips without lunch included 
$50 for most afternoon half-day trips (lunch not included) 
Select morning and afternoon trips have lower prices.
College students and Young Birders (ages 8 to 16) can register for half price for select trips (not including Big Day or boat trips). Since our registration program does not allow variable pricing, this year you must contact the festival committee chair at festival@orangeaudubonfl.org to make discount payment arrangements.
Young Birders (ages 8-16) will be registered by their parent or guardian, who must sign the liability waiver.
For out-of-town college students, a few scholarships of up to $100 are still available on a reimbursement basis, to help defray costs of lodging and travel. These scholarships are thanks to the generosity of Orange Audubon Society members and other festival participants and are very limited. To apply, follow procedures outlined at this link.
Donations to Orange Audubon Society, Inc., a Florida nonprofit [501(c)(3)] organization, are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. 
Orange Audubon Society, Inc. is a Florida not-for-profit organization, tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  
A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE, 1-800-435-7352, WITHIN THE STATE.  VISIT WWW.FDACS.GOV FOR HELP.  REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.  REGISTRATION NO. CH2330
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