{"id":16203,"date":"2014-10-15T14:48:10","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T18:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/?p=16203"},"modified":"2016-09-08T11:48:20","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T15:48:20","slug":"40-years-later-a-return-to-audubons-hog-island-in-maine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/40-years-later-a-return-to-audubons-hog-island-in-maine\/","title":{"rendered":"40 Years Later, a Return to Audubon's Hog Island in Maine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/HogIsland.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/HogIsland-720x499.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/HogIsland-768x533.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/HogIsland-480x333.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/HogIsland.jpg 799w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Although Hog Island is only a short boat ride from the Maine coast, it feels like a different world. People from around the country attend camps there and immerse themselves in nature. Mel White\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>Although Hog Island is only a short boat ride from the Maine coast, it feels like a different\nworld. People from around the country attend camps there and immerse themselves in nature. <em>Photo by Cliff Beittel<\/em>.<\/figcaption>\n              <\/figure><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright sidebar-space order-bottom\"><div class=\"article-list list-style alignright\"><h2 class=\"article-list-header\">More From Living Bird<\/h2><ul><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-living-bird-toc\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/LB-TOC-OBFalcon1B.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/LB-TOC-OBFalcon1B-720x329.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/LB-TOC-OBFalcon1B-768x351.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/LB-TOC-OBFalcon1B-480x219.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/LB-TOC-OBFalcon1B.jpg 918w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Orange-breasted Falcon by Robert B. Berry\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Autumn 2014\u2014Table of Contents<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/li><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-living-bird-toc\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest-240x180.png 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-latest-480x360.png 480w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Living Bird-latest issue\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Magazine\u2014Latest Issue<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/li><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-article\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive-240x180.png 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive-480x360.png 480w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Living Bird archives\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Magazine Archives<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright sidebar-space order-bottom\"><!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n<span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\">\r\n    <span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" id=\"hs-cta-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\">\r\n        <!--[if lte IE 8]><div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div><![endif]-->\r\n        <a href=\"http:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/95627\/096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" ><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/95627\/096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da.png\"  alt=\"subscribe to Living Bird magazine\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\r\n    <\/span>\r\n    <script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\"><\/script>\r\n    <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n        hbspt.cta.load(95627, '096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da', {});\r\n    <\/script>\r\n<\/span>\r\n<!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n\n<p>It\u2019s just a short walk to the place I\u2019m looking for: across the lawn beside the old white dining hall, past the cabins, and into the woods along the shore, on a path cushioned by conifer needles.<\/p>\n<p>I sit on a lichen-covered rock beside the sea, where the breeze carries a bittersweet blend of tide-exposed mud and spruce forest. I remember these smells well\u2014as does everyone who\u2019s spent time on the Maine coast.<\/p>\n<p>Multicolored lobster buoys cover the bay below, amid islands scattered along the horizon. The sky is busy with the comings and goings of gulls; an Osprey passes overhead, carrying a fish; Common Eiders loaf just above the wrack line. And here comes a Black Guillemot, seemingly using all the muscle power it possesses to stay airborne. It plops onto the water with less than utter grace, and in an instant looks completely at home.<\/p>\n<p>Forty years ago I sat on this same rock and saw my first Black Guillemot, not to mention my first lobster buoys. I had just arrived at Hog Island, about 50 miles north of Portland, Maine, on Muscongus Bay, to attend a National Audubon Society ecology camp. I didn\u2019t know that the next two weeks would change my life.<\/p>\n<p>Never before had I spent so much time immersed in nature, from dawn bird walks to morning botanizing to afternoon exploration of the intertidal zone. I met people from around the country who shared a love of outdoorsy things and the excitement of discovery. I recall seeing my first Laughing Gull and Olive-sided Flycatcher, and the exotic (to me) milieu of barnacles, limpets, and whelks. Though only a short boat ride from the mainland, Hog Island felt like a different world\u2014as close to paradise as I could imagine.<\/p>\n<p>Audubon opened its first Hog Island camp in 1936; Roger Tory Peterson was the bird instructor. From the beginning the program emphasized teaching teachers, and over time an illustrious group of instructors passed on their knowledge to hundreds of campers.<\/p>\n<p>Attendance at the Maine camp began to decline in the 1990s, in line with Americans\u2019 changing travel habits. After continuing financial problems, the Hog Island camp closed in 2009, and its buildings were boarded up.<\/p>\n<p>Enter Stephen Kress, who was the camp bird instructor when I met him in 1974. Back then, he was a young ornithologist with the ambitious idea of reintroducing Atlantic Puffins to Maine, where they had been extirpated in the late 19th century. Today, Steve is a National Audubon vice president and director of Audubon\u2019s Seabird Restoration Program. Decades of work by his Puffin Project have resulted in around 1,000 pairs nesting on Maine islands.<\/p>\n<p>In 2010 Steve arranged to operate the Hog Island camp through the Seabird Restoration Program. \u201cWe could use Puffin Project people as staff, and it would be more efficient,\u201d he says. A revitalized Friends of Hog Island group raised considerable money as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a great success now, both financially and program-wise,\u201d Steve said.<\/p>\n<p>The camp offers a series of one-week sessions on themes such as seabird biology, raptors, and fall migration. There\u2019s a session especially for families and another for educators. And there\u2019s one called \u201cJoy of Birding,\u201d which I was anticipating on my return to Muscongus Bay, arriving on a sunny Sunday in early June. From the hill on Audubon Road I looked across to 330-acre Hog Island and the buildings clustered on its northern tip: the Queen Mary, a combination dock, laboratory, and dorm; the Bridge, containing the dining hall and offices; and the Fish House, the camp meeting hall.<\/p>\n<p>After settling in, campers and staff formed a circle in the Fish House that night, 60 or so people taking a few moments to introduce themselves and tell why they came. \u201cI\u2019m a beginner,\u201d we heard over and over. \u201cI love birds, and I want to know more about them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others had been drawn, at least in part, by the chance to see Steve Kress\u2019s special birds. \u201cI love puffins,\u201d several campers said, \u201cand I\u2019m hoping to see one.\u201d Quite plainly, the boat trip to the breeding island called Eastern Egg Rock was the most anticipated part of the week, but staff members cautioned that rough seas could disrupt plans.<\/p>\n<p>Field trips began the next day with a walk through Hog Island\u2019s spruce forest. It became apparent that the species composition had changed since my first visit. The songs of Black-throated Green Warblers and Northern Parulas were ever-present, but Magnolia and Blackburnian warblers, both common before, were nowhere to be found. Though Redbreasted Nuthatches occasionally beeped and Golden-crowned Kinglets seeped, land birds in general seemed scarce. I wondered if the maturing conifers might have crowded out hardwood trees and open areas, lessening overall island diversity.<\/p>\n<p>Later that day there were two \u201cshakedown cruises\u201d circumnavigating Hog\u00a0Island, with half the campers fitting on the boat for each trip. Harbor seals surfaced to watch us pass, and, for the beginners, the trip leaders pointed out differences among cormorants, loons, and ducks, including Common Eiders and Surf Scoters. As a bonus, we spotted a pair of Red-necked Grebes, which should already have departed for their nesting grounds.<\/p>\n<p>We also traveled to the mainland for a bird walk. During the first Audubon camp in 1936, Roger Tory Peterson and Allan Cruickshank, the renowned photographer and writer, devised a route through the village of Medomak. Ever since, Hog Island campers have taken the same stroll through woodland, fields, and marsh.<\/p>\n<p>For birders, this might be somewhat akin to a book-lover\u2019s following Hemingway\u2019s walk along the rue Mouffetard in the Latin Quarter, though instead of market stalls we found Gray Catbirds and Chestnut-sided Warblers, Eastern Bluebirds and Wood Ducks. And, most meaningful for me, a Bobolink perched in the same field where I saw my first one 40 years earlier. For those to whom Bobolinks are common neighbors it might seem odd, but that sighting fulfilled a dream I\u2019d had since I first read Peterson\u2019s description of this bird with \u201ca dress suit on backwards\u201d and lingered over Louis Agassiz Fuertes\u2019s illustration of \u201cBubbling Bob\u201d in <em>The Burgess Bird Book for Children<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Sea conditions allowed half the campers to depart for Eastern Egg Rock the next day, while the rest of us again visited sites on the mainland. In the afternoon the boat group returned, bundled up and red-faced from the chilly ride but full of excitement about their trip. They\u2019d seen lots of puffins. We listened to their stories, hopeful about our own prospects.<\/p>\n<p>The weather the next day couldn\u2019t have been better, with blue sky and gentle waves for our cruise. We passed rocky islands, home to nesting cormorants and gulls; with the engine dead slow, we scanned a big flock of Black Scoters dusted with White-winged Scoters around the edges, like powdered sugar on a pan of brownies. Soon enough, Eastern Egg Rock rose on the horizon\u2014seven acres of boulders and scrubby vegetation. Almost before our anticipation had a chance to build, puffins began appearing in the water nearby: one to port, another to starboard, and then groups of two or three all around. The mood on the boat was as sunny as the weather, as bright as the puffins\u2019 multicolored bills.<\/p>\n<p>Then, somewhat unexpectedly, one of the leaders spotted two Razorbills standing upright on the shore of the island, and soon others were seen swimming close to our boat. Razorbills aren\u2019t known to nest on Eastern Egg Rock, but they do breed on a few other Maine islands.<\/p>\n<p>It was easy to identify these penguinesque birds, but sorting out the island\u2019s nesting terns was another matter. Most of the gracefully whirling and swooping birds were Common Terns, but the trip leaders took pains to point out the other two species present: Arctic Tern and Roseate Tern.<\/p>\n<p>This was a fine day, to be sure, continuing with lunch on Harbor Island. We had constant views of seabirds, seals, and Bald Eagles as we navigated around some of the dozens of islands in Muscongus Bay. Though we had one more day on Hog Island, the trip to Eastern Egg Rock was the highlight for just about every camper. Inevitably, my experience at the camp wasn\u2019t as emotionally powerful as that trip 40 years ago. Since then I\u2019d spent lots of time on seacoasts and islands. A return couldn\u2019t possibly be as transformative as my initiation to these habitats, awash in the hopeful enthusiasm of youth.<\/p>\n<p>But the Maine coast is a lovely landscape no matter how many times you\u2019ve seen it. I knew that I\u2019d see Ospreys soaring, see Bobolinks in song flight, and hear the twitterings of Winter Wrens at the Hog Island camp, and if they weren\u2019t new this time they were reminders of what we love about nature\u2019s wonders.<\/p>\n<p>How is it that I\u2019ve spent the better part of my adult life traveling to the world\u2019s odd places, writing about natural history? The answers to questions like that are always complex, but much of the inspiration, I\u2019m certain, came from those two weeks in Maine 40 years ago. For that, Hog Island and all its scents and sights will always be a memory as evocative as salt air and the laughter of a loon.<br \/>\n<!--http:\/\/digital.livingbird.org\/livingbird\/autumn_2014\/?pg=16--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s just a short walk to the place I\u2019m looking for: across the lawn beside the old white dining hall, past the cabins, and into the woods along the shore,<a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/40-years-later-a-return-to-audubons-hog-island-in-maine\/\" title=\"Read40 Years Later, a Return to Audubon&#8217;s Hog Island in Maine\">&#8230; Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":24803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc":0,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc_title":"","_birdpress_featured_image":false,"_birdpress_hero_toggle":false,"_birdpress_hero_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_image_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_style":"default","_birdpress_hero_ratio":"","_birdpress_hero_h1":"","_birdpress_hero_media_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_media_array_id":[],"_birdpress_hero_media_array":[],"_birdpress_hero_media":0,"_birdpress_hero_video_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_video":0,"_birdpress_hero_youtube":"","_birdpress_hero_content":true,"_birdpress_hero_byline":"","_birdpress_hero_byline_bottom":"","_birdpress_hero_button_link":"","_birdpress_hero_button_text":"","_birdpress_hero_button_color":"","_birdpress_hero_date":false,"original_guid":"","_birdpress_hide_search":false,"_birdpress_page_width":"","_birdpress_global_cta":false,"_birdpress_widget_sidebar":"","_birdpress_next_article":0,"_birdpress_next_article_title":"","_birdpress_prev_article":0,"_birdpress_prev_article_title":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_sub_navigation":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_title":false,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation":"","_birdpress_postType":"both","_birdpress_categoryID":0,"_birdpress_tagID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostTitle":"","_birdpress_menuID":0,"_birdpress_menuName":"","_birdpress_listHeader":"","_birdpress_listLayout":"card-display","_birdpress_listColumns":"","_birdpress_maxItems":12,"_birdpress_listPaginate":true,"_birdpress_displaySort":true,"_birdpress_sortOrder":"DESC","_birdpress_sortBy":"date","_birdpress_listID":"","_birdpress_listClass":"","_birdpress_displayImages":true,"_birdpress_displayCaptions":false,"_birdpress_displayExcerpts":false,"_birdpress_attTop":"","_birdpress_attBottom":"","_birdpress_showLogos":false,"_birdpress_post_logo":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_topic":0,"wds_primary_content-format":0,"wds_primary_cornell-lab-project":0,"wds_primary_host-project":0,"wds_primary_read-more-tag":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[998,1045],"content-format":[1055],"cornell-lab-project":[1069],"host-project":[1137],"read-more-tag":[],"class_list":["post-16203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-news-and-features","topic-travel-news-and-features","content-format-article","cornell-lab-project-living-bird-magazine","host-project-living-bird"],"metadata":{"associated-posts":[""],"wpa_off":[null],"_edit_lock":["1727120537:4"],"_edit_last":["4"],"wdsi_message_id":[""],"wdsi_do_not_show":[""],"custom-byline":["<h5>By Mel White<\/h5>\r\n<h6>From the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/page.aspx?pid=2705\">Autumn 2014 issue<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/join.birds.cornell.edu\/ea-action\/action?ea.client.id=1806&ea.campaign.id=24577\">Living Bird<\/a> 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