The Audubon Discovery Camp, a nature-oriented summer day camp for children in the Eastern Panhandle and nearby Maryland, is now registering campers for its 2012 season. The camp, which is entering its tenth year, is sponsored by the Potomac Valley Audubon Society (PVAS).

Registration opened to PVAS members on Feb. 1. The general public may register their children starting Feb. 15. Those who wish to register are encouraged to do so early-camp sessions usually fill up fast.

This year’s camp will span eight weeks from May 29 to July 20. The first two weeks will be devoted to sessions for preschool-age children. Sessions for children ages 6 through 13 begin on June 11.

Fees range from $50 to $300 per week.

Children age 13 and older can apply to serve as Junior Staff, positions which offer excellent opportunities to develop leadership skills.

Sessions this year will be held at Yankauer Nature Preserve in Berkeley County, the Peter Burr Farm in Jefferson County and a new site on the Blue Ridge near Shannondale in Jefferson County.

Sessions at Yankauer will include “Nature Detectives,” “Hop, Slither, Sneak!” and the always popular “Camp Survivor.” A special 4-day week over the July 4 holiday will be called “Mystery Week.” The Peter Burr Farm camp sessions will include “The Simple Life” and “Nature Detectives.” Sessions for middle school teens include “Wild Wings” at Yankauer, which will include an afternoon of caving, and “Life on the Frontier” at Peter Burr Farm, which will include a day trip to Old Bedford Village in Pa. Teen adventure sessions at Shannondale include “Into the Wild,” (hiking on the Appalachian Trail), “Adventure Challenge” (ropes and rock climbing), and “Camp Survivor, Part Deux.”

All of the camp sessions are aimed at helping children gain a better understanding and appreciation of the natural world. All of them offer hands-on experiential learning led and supervised by experienced instructors. Session sizes are kept very small to ensure an excellent instructor/child ratio of 1:10.

Full details about the camps can be found on the PVAS website at www.potomacaudubon.org, and easy online registration is also available there. A valid credit card is required for registration. For more information or questions, contact Ellen Murphy at 304-676-8739 or pvasprograms@comcast.net.

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society is a United Way of the Eastern Panhandle partner agency and a member of the Combined Federal Campaign.