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ANNOUNCING TWO FREE
HUMMINGBIRD TRIPS TO COSTA RICA

As a benefit of supporting
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History,
everyone who becomes a 2010 member now through
26 October at the $50 level or higher will be entered in a
drawing for one of TWO Operation RubyThroat scholarships
for our upcoming midwinter hummingbird expedition to
Costa Rica (26 Jan-9 Feb 2011).

Scholarships are $1,799 each and cover all land costs (food, lodging, in-country travel, and instructional activities). Scholarship recipients are responsible for air travel to and from Costa Rica (Liberia), airport departure tax, gratuities, personal amenities, and any taxes resulting from the award. Recipients will be announced on 27 Oct 2010. (If someone already enrolled in the Costa Rica 2011 expedition receives a scholarship, a refund will be issued.) Scholarships are made possible by a generous gift from an anonymous Operation RubyThroat expedition alumnus and in cooperation with Holbrook Travel.

Membership donations of $50--or more!--may be made via Paypal by clicking the logo below or by sending a check to: Hummingbird Scholarship, c/o Hilton Pond Center, 1432 DeVinney Road, York SC 29745. (Scholarship-eligible memberships must arrive at the Center by 26 Oct.) Membership fees and all donations to the Hilton Pond Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, are tax-deductible as allowed by law and are non-refundable.

For details or if you have questions, see the link above or contact Debbie Sturdivant at Holbrook Travel toll-free at (866)748-6146 or via e-mail


Operation RubyThroat's
2011 Tropical Hummingbird Expeditions to Central America

(Updated 26 August 2010)

Nutrisystem

All text & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Each winter since 2004, Bill Hilton Jr.--executive director of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History--has offered excursions for teachers and citizen scientists to Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica to observe Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (RTHU) on their wintering grounds. An internationally recognized hummingbird expert and educator-naturalist, Hilton is the only scientist conducting long-term systematic studies of RTHU in the tropics, with more than 600 banded in Costa Rica, 50-plus in both Guatemala and Belize, and two in El Salvador. All trips are under the auspices of Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project and logistics are handled by Holbrook Travel.

NOTE: Alumni of any Holbrook Professional Development Expedition--including past Operation RubyThroat trips to Costa Rica & Belize--are eligible for a $150 discount for any and all of the 2011 Operation RubyThroat excursions.

JOIN OPERATION RUBYTHROAT FOR 2011
HUMMINGBIRD EXPEDITIONS TO THE NEOTROPICS

Multi-trip discounts available as we move northward in Central America, following Ruby-throated Hummingbirds as they head
out on spring migration in 2011.

"Weeks" are actually nine days long,
including a travel day on either end.

Click on the links below for details about each expedition.

Week 1: COSTA RICA (29 Jan-6 Feb)
Week 2: NICARAGUA (9-17 Feb)
Week 3: GUATEMALA (20-28 Feb)
Week 4: BELIZE (3-11 March)

For complete reports on all our successful Neotropical hummingbird banding expeditions, please visit
"This Week at Hilton Pond" at the following links:

PLUS

See a write-up about the 2006 trip in the
May/June 2006 Costa Rica Outdoors magazine

All text & photos © Hilton Pond Center


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Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is a non-profit research & education organization in York, South Carolina USA; phone (803) 684-5852. Directed by Bill Hilton Jr., aka The Piedmont Naturalist, it is the parent organization for Operation RubyThroat. Contents of this Web site--including articles and photos--may NOT be duplicated, modified, or used in any way except with the express written permission of Hilton Pond Center. All rights reserved worldwide. To obtain permission for use or for further assistance on accessing this Web site, contact the Webmaster.

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