The Paskamansett Bird Club is sponsoring an illustrated talk about how puffins were brought back to the East Coast. Derrick Jackson, who wrote a book about this adventure, will speak at the Westport …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
Please log in to continue |
Register to post eventsIf you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here. Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content. |
Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.
The Paskamansett Bird Club is sponsoring an illustrated talk about how puffins were brought back to the East Coast. Derrick Jackson, who wrote a book about this adventure, will speak at the Westport Library on Thursday, Nov. 16, at 6 p.m. The talk is free and open to all.
Even people with little interest in birds love Puffins – cute, improbable-looking seabirds that live on steep cliffs in the inhospitable northern reaches of the Atlantic Ocean. These birds mostly live so far north that Americans rarely catch a glimpse of them.
In the 1970s, Steve Kress, a biologist from the National Audubon Society, spearheaded an effort to bring these birds back to the United States. In 1981, he succeeded in establishing a breeding colony with about 20 nesting pairs. Against all odds, the colony prospered, and there are now more than 150 breeding pairs of puffins.
Mr. Jackson, author (with Mr. Kress) of ‘Project Puffin: The Improbable Quest to Bring a Beloved Seabird Back to Egg Rock,’ will discuss this achievement and how it has evolved since its initial success, illustrating his talk with images of the birds and the process of reestablishing them.
The Cambridge, Mass., resident is a Pulitzer-nominated Boston Globe columnist, and a fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He is a photojournalist who has shot everything from Green Bay Packers games to Obama on the campaign trail.
This program is supported by grants from the Westport Cultural Council.