Joy of Birding
June 8 – June 13, 2025
Registration is open now for the 2025 Camp season! All campers must agree to the Camper Guidelines and Cancellation Policy. Please read this policy before registering.
The National Audubon Society is in the process of updating our health forms for the upcoming season. You will receive a notification from Camp Docs and Hog Island when health forms, required for attending Hog Island, open in February.
The deadline to pay your tuition in full and complete your registration forms is April 1, 2025.
REGISTER NOW
Find answers to frequently asked questions about lodging, transportation, schedules, packing lists, meals, and more here. For technical support with CampDoc, please visit their help page or contact support@campdoc.com.
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!
Pricing: $1725
The base registration fee includes meals, housing, instruction, and all field trips. This price is based on a standard shared room (with 2 twin beds) a shared bathroom. A limited number of upgraded accommodations are available for an additional cost. Two upgrade options are a single room for solo travelers or a room with a private bath for two people traveling together. There are no single rooms with private bathrooms available. Please see our lodging page for more information.
Participants must arrange their own transportation to and from the Audubon dock in Bremen at the start and end of the session. Please see our transportation page for more information.
There are several different scholarship opportunities available to help participants attend Hog Island sessions! Please see our scholarships page for more information about Hog Island Scholarships. You should also check with your local Audubon chapter or bird club for additional opportunities.
Requirements: There are no prerequisites for this program! Birders of all skill levels are welcome as are less experienced/enthusiastic partners, friends, or family.
"All mind-bogglingly wonderful! I had such a great time. I not only learned a lot, but it hit me for the first time, how much the birding leaders know: Weather, geology, geography, botany, entomology, predator-prey relationships........egad! I was frankly a little awed by being in the presence of such great leaders in the field. So impressive!" – Jan, occupational therapist, Connecticut
Director
Holly Merker has been in awe of birds and the wonders of the natural world since childhood. She shares her passion by connecting others to nature in her work as a professional birding guide and nature-based wellness specialist, award-winning author, and public speaker. Combining professional backgrounds in bird identification, art therapy, certification in nature and forest therapy and wellness counseling, and mindfulness practice, she works as a global advocate for Mindful Birding. With dedication to bird conservation, Holly has been the eBird state coordinator/data reviewer for Pennsylvania since 2005 and was a two-term voting member and Chairperson of the Pennsylvania Ornithological Records Committee. She considers herself a migration junkie and lives her life around the seasonal journeys of birds. Holly believes strongly that birding holds a key to wellbeing, co-authoring two books on this subject, and founding the Mindful Birding Network and co-hosting the Mindful Birding Podcast.
Instructors
Whitney LanFranco's passion for nature began in her childhood while growing up on a ranch in rural Central Texas, where she spent her time learning the names of wildflowers and observing bacteria under her microscope. While earning her degree in zoology from Texas A&M University, she discovered that her true passion was birds. She completed an ecological study abroad in South Africa before working as an aviculturist at the San Antonio Zoo.
Realizing that her greatest joy came from educating others and sharing her passion, she transitioned into bird guiding and ecotourism, beginning her new career as a guide at King Ranch in South Texas. This experience opened many doors and led to numerous adventures in exotic locations.
In 2020, she joined the optics industry and now wears two hats: she is a guide for Sabrewing Nature Tours and is the optics retailer at birding festivals around the country.
Drew Weber
NOTE: Audubon reserves the right to alter itineraries, instructors and particular arrangements, or to substitute similar itineraries or arrangements, at no penalty. If Audubon cancels a session, it will issue full refunds of all deposits or payments to the paid participants.
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