Don Hudson Chris Ayers photo

AUBURN — The Stanton Bird Club is set to host the fifth in its 2022-23 lecture series, The Alpine plants of Katahdin and Beyond, featuring naturalist Don Hudson of Arrowsic.

The talk will be held from 4-6 p.m. Monday, April 3, at the Auburn Public Library, 49 Spring St.

Hudson, who holds a doctorate, developed an interest in mountain plants and ecology in the early 1970s while leading expeditions for Chewonki Foundation in Maine and Quebec. He later became its head naturalist and retired as emeritus president in 2010.

He has advocated for environmental education and ecosystem restoration for 50 years. Mountains are never far from his mind, and Hudson enjoys exploring the ancient geologic connection around the North Atlantic with a project he helped launch — the International Appalachian Trail, according to a news release from Jeri Maurer of the Lewiston-based bird club.

Mountain cranberry Don Hudson photo

Mountains are the haunts of rare plants and plant communities, where small size and tenacity are hallmarks. Hudson will explore his love of alpine and Arctic plants in Maine, especially on Katahdin. Alpine vegetation is perhaps the rarest community of plants in Maine.

The public is welcome. The lecture series is free. Participants are encouraged to wear masks.

The Stanton Bird Club manages the Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary as well as the Woodbury Nature Sanctuary in Monmouth and Litchfield. For more information about other club activities, visit stantonbirdclub.org and its Facebook page.

For more information about this event, email Maurer at jerigary@fairpoint.net.

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