Great Duck Island

Great Duck Island Founded in 1998 Information, images, birds and botany at the Alice Eno Field Station of College of the Atlantic. We miss her.

Dedicated to educate and entertain through the wonder of birds, plants, and marine life. The Alice Eno Field Station is named after long-time College of the Atlantic trustee and benefactress, Alice Eno, who was a dedicated conservationist and a passionate believer in the importance of the out-of-doors and hands-on experience in education. Alice loved puffins and eagles and boats and students and i

slands. Her enthusiasm, erergy, and above all her kindness serve as an inspiration to everyone who knew her, and it is only fitting that the College of the Atlantic's seabird station is dedicated in her memory. Great Duck is a unique island that the College of the Atlantic shares with the Nature Conservancy, the state of Maine, and a privately owned residence. GDI is quite diverse in plant life, and is typical of many small Maine islands in the Gulf of Maine with its spruce forests and rocky granite shores. The College of the Atlantic uses the island for education and research purposes, with a current focus on nesting seabirds (although possibilities for studies could also focus on its diverse ecology, aesthetic beauty, or archaeological history to name a few). COA's goal is one of conservation, including a passion for wildlife and the natural world. GDI's summer crews are typically smaller groups of (mostly) COA students who are able to work on undergraduate and graduate studies at the Alice Eno Field Research Station. The Station itself consists of approximately 12 of the island's 220 acres, centered around the old Light Station, which the college acquired in 1998 as part of the Maine Lights program. At the time of our acquisition many of the station's buildings were in a serious state of direpair, and the island's boat-ramp had been completely destroyed by storms. Since then, thanks to the incredible generosity of Alice Eno and other donors and the hard work of a team of builders, lead by alums Scott Swann and Matt Drennan, many of the buildings have been restored to liveability. Island care and maintenance is however an on-going effort. Nesting seabirds on the island include Common Eider Ducks, Herring Gulls, Great Black-Backed Gulls, Black Guillemots, and a pair or two of Atlantic Puffins. A unique species, the Leach's Storm Petrel is also found within the forests of GDI in large numbers. The island IS closed to the public from April through October in order to protect breeding populations of seabirds and raptors. The Great Duck Island page is a constant work in progress depicting the work and play of student researchers at the field station on the Magical Isle, and depictions of the lives loves and deaths of the island's avian residents. :)

Ducklings At Waterbirds!
10/02/2025

Ducklings At Waterbirds!

Posters! at waterbirds! We are so proud of our ducklings who presented their posters at the 2025 waterbirds internationa...
10/01/2025

Posters! at waterbirds! We are so proud of our ducklings who presented their posters at the 2025 waterbirds international conference!

In the end I doubt that they will remember much of all those lectures in dusty classrooms, their tired old professors, t...
07/25/2025

In the end I doubt that they will remember much of all those lectures in dusty classrooms, their tired old professors, the texts that failed to inspire, the hours hunched over screens writing papers that only one person might read, the equations that spread across endless chalkboards. But they will have the chuckle of petrels half heard through dreams, the long sound of waves on the shore, laughter around the dining room table, home-made music in the dark, the taste of salt, the feel of feathers, the confidence that comes from catching a boat on a bad swell, the comradeship of companions on a strange journey, and the call of gulls, exploding into flight.

The last ring and fling. Count how many chix are in the group photo! The team banded 101 yesterday.
07/23/2025

The last ring and fling. Count how many chix are in the group photo! The team banded 101 yesterday.

"Island goodbye, island goodbye. We've been too long together my island and I. Cobwebs and dust, Cobwebs and dust. I ha...
07/23/2025

"Island goodbye, island goodbye. We've been too long together my island and I. Cobwebs and dust, Cobwebs and dust. I hate to leave you, but leave you I must..."

Frannie’s favorite tree
07/22/2025

Frannie’s favorite tree

07/22/2025
07/22/2025
07/22/2025
Our little home away from home
07/22/2025

Our little home away from home

Address

Frenchboro, ME
04635

Telephone

+12074790049

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