When adults hear the word "camp", they immediately associate that storied American place with happy children out on summer vacation along with their own long-ago memories of fun and new friends, learning to swim and canoe, and the thrill of spooky stories told at night in the glow of a campfire.
The Audubon Camp in Maine, however, is a summer place largely for adults, and has been, remarkably so, since its founding. In 1936, Roger Tory Peterson was hired as an Ornithology Instructor for the teachers and youth leaders who came for two-week coastal ecology sessions to a lovely, spruce-covered island, in Muscongus Bay.
In recent years, the Hog Island Audubon camp, which is now under the direction of Dr. Steve Kress, began to specialize in a wide variety of six-day birding and ornithology programs, from "Breaking into Birding" which introduces basic topics such as field identification, to "Hands-On Bird Science", a methods session teaching skills in bird-banding, study skin preparation, sound recording, etc. Each session has nationally-known expert Instructors on-hand to share their knowledge and skills including Pete Dunne, Scott Weidensaul, Laura Erickson, and Dr. Frank Gill. There are exciting field trips to the restored Atlantic Puffin and tern colony nearby, as well as to many other habitats.
Hog Island Camp will celebrate its 80th anniversary this summer! Registration is open and scholarships are still available for the June session. Visit Hog Island's website to see why so many people return year after year to this beloved destination for birders.
Learn more at: http://hogisland.audubon.org
