A Week on Hog Island
By Claire VanTol
Through the generosity of Boulder Audubon Society’s camp scholarship, I had the awesome opportunity the week of June 19-24, to visit Audubon’s Hog Island located near Bremen, Maine. I am incredibly grateful for this experience and I am excited to share my adventures. During the fall of 2019, I applied for Boulder County Audubon’s scholarship for teens to travel to the National Audubon Society’s Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens Program at Hog Island, Maine, for a week-long immersive experience in the early summer of 2020. Because of COVID, my trip was delayed in 2021. In early spring 2022, I was delighted to learn that I would be heading to Hog Island. As the school year rounded out, my excitement grew. I packed and readied myself for a week off the coast of Maine.
As I stepped off the boat onto Hog Island, I relished in the sound of gulls and the lapping of waves as Black Guillemots floated off the rocky shore. I had arrived! Despite my anticipation for this adventure, I was unprepared for how this experience would change my life.
Atlantic Puffin carrying fish back to nest. Photo by Claire VanTol
Over the course of the week, daytime activities included exploring the ornithology lab on the island, hiking around parts of the island, an owl walk, banding birds with Scott Weidensaul, intertidal marine biology exploration on the island shores, studying bird anatomy and feather structure, exploring mainland forests and swamps, and a mini bio blitz, all the while learning from world-renowned ornithologists. Special surprises during the week included a Mystery of the Day bird puzzle, where we used the information available to us in the ornithology lab on the island, along with teamwork from other campers to solve puzzles, eventually leading us to find the bird that answered the puzzle.
At night, all the campers gathered to listen to talks and presentations from world-renowned birders, which were so inspiring. On the fourth night of my time on Hog Island, I was lucky enough to observe the magic of bioluminescent algae in the water off the dock, which I had studied throughout my junior year of high school in a marine biology course. Accompanied by several other teens, I laid on the docks for a solid half hour with my hands in the chilly Atlantic Ocean, enraptured by the twinkling organisms around my fingertips. I was transfixed with the colors and tiny whirling lights created by these phenomenal tiny creatures.
Atlantic Puffin at Eastern Egg Island. Photo by Claire VanTol.
Bird banding with Scott Weidensaul was truly special. We were able to band a Song Sparrow, Northern Parula, and Black-throated Green Warbler. The wealth of information Scott shared with us while banding was fascinating. I had the opportunity to scribe for the banders for one bird, which was an amazing experience. Further on in the day, the campers all headed down to the rocky shore of Hog Island for an intertidal exploration, which was really
incredible. I had just studied marine biology in a course during the school year and being able to apply the information I had learned while wading through the chilly Maine waters and listening to a marine biologist talk was super fun.
The true highlight of the week was a day trip by boat to a small island, managed by the National Audubon Society, called Eastern Egg Rock – home of the first restored Atlantic Puffin colony in the world. Eastern Egg Rock is home to an amazing conservation effort, Audubon’s Project Puffin. It is called home by a variety of other bird species besides Atlantic Puffins, including Roseate Terns, Arctic Terns, and Common Terns, along with King Eiders, Black Guillemots, Laughing Gulls, and Leach’s Storm Petrels.
Common Tern adult and chick. Photo by Claire VanTol.
As I climbed out of the boat with the other teen campers, I trod carefully to avoid stepping on Roseate, Arctic, and Common Tern nests, which peppered the rocky area surrounding the grassy middle of the island. Tiny tern hatchlings watched us with beady eyes as we stepped around the nests. The angry parents dive bombed us from above, anxious about their young ones (none were hurt in the process). The cacophony of these birds as they wheeled and dove above my head was amazing to listen to. We followed the researchers around the small island, and after learning about the history of Eastern Egg Rock and the different types of birds located there, and watching puffins and other seabirds from the bird blinds located on the island, we enjoyed a hearty lunch on the roof of the “Hilton” (the small research building on the island).
Being surrounded with like-minded, incredibly talented, and knowledgeable people throughout my time on Hog Island was like a dream come true, and a once in a lifetime opportunity. Experiencing the wonder of diverse wildlife and ecosystems on Hog Island, Eastern Egg Rock, and the beautiful coastline of Maine was absolutely incredible. Hog Island is home to incredibly lush ecosystems on the island, teeming with wildlife and plants. It is a beautiful sanctuary for birds and countless other organisms.
My time on Hog Island gave me renewed hope for the future. My experiences have inspired my senior thesis project for high school; researching and writing a 25-page research paper discussing and analyzing human impacts on bird populations and the effects of climate change on birds. I hope to perhaps someday join the efforts of research on Eastern Egg Rock as an intern. I am excited to study birds and wildlife further in college and beyond. My experiences on Hog Island and the people I met have motivated me to pursue work and research in the field of biology and work to spread my passion about conserving the world and our feathered friends.
Common Tern chick. You can see the leg band applied to the chick’s right leg by researchers on the island to track the bird throughout its life. Photo by Claire VanTol.
Learning from the wealth of experience, knowledge of research, and information shared by the camp counselors, guest speakers, and adults was wonderful, and the memories of my time on Hog Island will stick with me for a lifetime. I am deeply thankful for the opportunity presented to me and other Colorado teens by Boulder’s Audubon Society. I would like to thank everyone who makes this incredible opportunity possible for teens like me. Hog Island Audubon Camp was a life-changing experience for me, and I hope others will enjoy their time on the island as much as I did.
Boulder County Audubon offers teen nature enthusiasts and birder from across Colorado a scholarship to attend the National Audubon Society’s Coastal Maine Bird Studies for Teens Program. You can read more about this program, hear from other past campers, and learn how to apply on the Bird Camp Scholarships page. This scholarship program is funded in large part through the Interludes for Nature field trips.