Osprey with fish by Don Marsh

From Steve Kress

The legendary Audubon Camp in Maine on Hog Island offered its first session in 1936. Now, 75 years later, Project Puffin announces the beginning of registration for the Camp’s anniversary year.

The 2011 Hog Island season will begin with a service learning program in which participants will help census a Maine seabird colony and end with another service program in which participants will create habitat for terns on Eastern Egg Rock.

Hog Island service programs are co-sponsored by Road Scholar (formerly Elderhostel). Participants in these programs learn about seabirds while helping Project Puffin to manage these Maine Important Bird Areas.

In addition to the service sessions, the 2011 Hog Island program will include the very popular birding programs ‘Joy of Birding’, ‘Field Ornithology’ and ‘Coastal Maine Birding for Teens.’ Two of Hog Islands most popular programs will also return this year with special sessions designed for teachers and Audubon Chapter leaders. Visiting the puffins at Eastern Egg Rock is a highlight of all sessions.

Accommodations at Hog Island are in authentic early-20th-century buildings at the edge of the sea. Our renowned chef, Janii Laberge, will again serve extraordinary meals in our historic farmhouse looking out onto Muscongus Bay.

“If your life is steeped in birds, then you owe it to yourself to visit the Source. If you have just discovered birds, there is an island where you can get a crash course in field birding that will link you to birding’s past and vault your skills into the future.”

Hog Island’s first instructors were birding greats Roger Tory Peterson and Allan Cruickshank. The 2011 instructors continue this tradition by including some of the country’s best known birders, such as Pete Dunne, Kenn Kaufman and Scott Wiedensaul.

A week on Hog Island is famous for top instruction, great food and an inspiring setting where people have fun learning together. Program Director Steve Kress predicts that like 2010, most of the sessions will quickly sell out with wait lists.

As instructor Pete Dunne wrote recently in Birder’s World, “If your life is steeped in birds, then you owe it to yourself to visit the Source. If you have just discovered birds, there is an island where you can get a crash course in field birding that will link you to birding’s past and vault your skills into the future.”

‘Word of mouth’ has always been the best way to engage new Audubon Campers,  so please forward this e-mail to any lists you have — including Facebook friends — to help spread the word that registrations are now open for our big anniversary year.

Reserve a place for yourself now for this milestone summer of 2011. Visit the Hog Island Ornithology site for more details:

• Registration/Pricing, Cancellation, and Contact Information
• Selected Field Trips (field trip descriptions)
• Daily Schedule Sample
• Hog Island Bird Checklist (PDF)
• Lodging and Buildings
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• Hog Island Legacy and History