Hog Island Audubon Camp

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Bremen, ME
Hog Island Audubon Camp

Since 1936, Hog Island Audubon Camp has been offering educational programs on the Maine coast.

09/07/2026

Can you guess why these campers are working together to pull up a muddy wet rope? If your guess has anything to do with lobster- you're right!

Campers during Educator's Week got to experience pulling up a lobster trap from a boat in Muscongus Bay. We then check the trap for any resident lobsters and learn about the lobster industry in Maine. Sometimes, we also see large crabs like this jonah crab held by boat captain Sarah Thorpe. Because lobster traps are constructed with "escape vent" for lobsters that are below the legal harvesting size limit, many smaller lobsters and crabs come and go from the trap as they please- gaining a free meal on their way.

09/05/2026

What are these campers so excited about seeing? Swipe to find out!

During our final evening of Educator's Week, we were blessed with a short rainstorm followed by a breathtaking rainbow view. Fading in and out of sight, these rainbows stayed around for a full 30 minutes to give campers, volunteers, and staff alike a truly memorable experience of nature's beauty. If you look close in this photograph, you can even see the faint double rainbow (over top of the bright one)!

09/03/2026

As many of our summer seabird visitors begin their migration elsewhere for the winter, we reminisce on the beauty of these birds nesting here each summer. Common terns, like those in these photographs, nest on outer seabird islands such as Eastern Egg Rock and make daily foraging trips in the inner bay around Hog Island. These birds are looking for small forage fish that are often sheltering in schools in intertidal areas under the cover of rockweed. Terns are plunge divers; if you're lucky, you'll watch a tern plunge into the water like this and come away with a fish! They then fly back to their nest on the outer islands to feed their chicks.

09/01/2026

We are so lucky each week to welcome a different assistant instructor to help with camp. These early career professionals can gain experience leading bird hikes, managing groups, planning activities, and more.

Serena DeSteno served as our assistant instructor for Spring Migration and Monhegan earlier this season. After the week, she reflected, "Spring Migration and Monhegan was an incredible week full of beautiful hikes, exciting lifers, fascinating lectures, and community building and connecting with each other. From exploring the trails of Hog Island and adventuring on the shores of Monhegan Island, to a boat ride full of puffins and whales and hearty meals shared together on the lawn, it was an unforgettable program and we truly loved getting to know each and every one of you and share this journey together."

Thank you, Serena and to all our assistant instructors, for bringing your expertise to the camp and helping build such a great experience for everyone!

08/20/2026

Camp spots are still available for early September! Let's Go Birding Together is a camp session about building a more inclusive, welcoming outdoor experience. Join us for a week of birding during peak fall migration surrounded by a supportive community of fellow q***r birders. This session will leave you feeling re-energized, inspired, and empowered to create safe birding spaces in your own community. You can learn more on our website:

https://www.audubon.org/hog-island/camps/lets-go-birding-together

We are offering a large discount for Maine residents! Reach out to Rosy Tucker ([email protected]) to learn more about the Maine resident discount for this session.

08/13/2026

This summer, we added an exciting new field trip spot to our repertoire - Reid State Park! Teen campers from both Coastal Maine Bird Studies sessions visited this beautiful state park to learn about and observe unique species that aren't found around Hog Island. Campers got to watch least terns foraging along the waters edge, piping plovers nesting (and with chicks!) on the sand dunes, a close diving Thick-billed Murre, and listen for Saltmarsh and Nelson's Sparrows in the nearby marsh. We were also lucky enough to meet Kevin Mullan from Maine Audubon to hear more about beach nesting birds and their conservation measures.

08/11/2026

As fall bird migration nears on Hog Island, we can't help but remember some of our favorite bird sightings from earlier this spring. This stunning blackburnian warbler was captured using a mist net for a bird banding demonstration and after release, it quickly resumed its foraging for insects in the nearby trees. Northern parulas, like this one that came in for our banding demonstration, are a common sight on the island and often use the lichen on spruces to build their hanging nests.

A pair of red breasted nuthatches chose to raise their young in a cavity nest right near the Queen Mary building- they were absolutely adorable! Campers and staff were lucky enough to watch them fledge and follow their parents for food around camp as they learn and grow as fledglings.

All birds handled with proper reasons and permits.

08/10/2026

What is this green stringy stuff hanging off the branches of this tree? If you've been a camper at Hog Island Audubon Camp, you may know that this is a type of lichen, affectionately named old man's beard, which is a species in the genus Usnea. Lichens are a symbiotic organism created when fungi, algae, and sometimes cyanobacteria, live together. This lichen does not hurt the tree, it simply hangs off of it. In fact, during times of drought, it can condense fog onto the body of the lichen and drip down to the ground below, thus watering the roots of the tree.

Seeing lichen around Hog Island is a great sign- lichens are very sensitive to air pollution. Because of this, the presence of lichens indicate healthy air quality. We also appreciate having lichen around camp because it provides nesting habitat to Northern Parulas, who create a hanging cup nest within the stringy lichen in the spring.

08/07/2026

During our teen and adult camp sessions Arts & Nature, campers can participate in a fun "postcard exchange" tradition. Each camper is given a blank postcard and they can decorate it throughout the week with any art they choose. At the end of the week, postcards are displayed outside the Fish House for all to admire. After viewing, the postcards are placed inside a box and everyone reaches in to pull out a postcard (from someone else in the group) that is theirs to take home.

08/05/2026

What do you think these campers are looking at in the intertidal zone? Could it be a yellow sponge? Or a bright red chain tunicate? Or maybe a tiny sea slug! On Hog Island, we love finding marine invertebrates in the intertidal zone and learning about their unique adaptations to life between the tides. Here is a chain tunicate found near Porthole cove. This snot-like substance grows on rocks and seaweed and lives by filtering and eating plankton out of the water column.

Address

12 Audubon Road
Bremen, ME
04551

Telephone

+12073607733

Website

http://hogisland.audubon.org/

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