The Delaware Valley Ornithological Club will hold its annual banquet on November 15, 2012. Please join us. You do not need to be a member to attend. For details visit our website: http://www.dvoc.org/Banquet/Banquet.htm.
We have a very exciting speaker, Dr. Stephen W. Kress - Director of National Audubon Society's Project Puffin - http://www.projectpuffin.org/
RESTORING ENDANGERED SEABIRDS: LESSONS FROM PUFFINS AND TERNS
Check out this video from our speaker - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX8xy9YZw-Y
Humans have devastated seabird colonies in many parts of the world by excessive hunting for food and feathers and by introducing mammals such as cats and rats to otherwise secure nesting islands.
Worldwide, 29% of all seabird species are now globally threatened as marine pollution, coastal development and effects of global warming are growing concerns. Although seabird nesting islands seem safe due to their remoteness, they are intimately connected to human activities. For example, Maine seabird nesting islands are affected by large populations of Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls that benefit from garbage and fisheries waste practices hundreds of miles from nesting islands. As scavenging large gulls increase, they deter smaller, migratory seabirds, such as puffins and terns from nesting on many of their historic nesting islands. And ironically, other wildlife restoration success stories such as the recovery of Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcons now threaten rare Maine seabirds such as Great Cormorants and Roseate Terns.
Dr. Stephen Kress, Director of National Audubon Society's Seabird Restoration Program, will review how techniques developed on Maine islands have led to the restoration of puffins and terns to historic nesting islands in the Gulf of Maine. Dr. Kress will also discuss how techniques developed in Maine are helping seabirds worldwide. His lecture includes reviews of several case studies in seabird restoration including restoration of Common Murres in California to relocation of Short-tailed Albatross off of an active volcano in Japan and efforts to save the endangered Bermuda Petrel from rising oceans and increased frequency of hurricanes.
Regards,
Phil
--
|