European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 11, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Puffin preservation project rebuilding Birds Maine population by Victoria Brett the associated press Atlantic puffins casually Mill about Maine s Rocky Seal Island looking like clowns in tuxedos too Content to notice the dozens of tourists who be boated out to see them. But life has t always been easy for these Quirky Birds sometimes called sea parrots on the islands off the coast of Maine. Maine s puffins were nearly wiped out by Hunters a Century ago. But they re returning in record numbers thanks to an innovative restoration Effort by the National Audubon society. The message is that it is possible for people to actively encourage a species to establish a Colony. People can restore it As Well As decimate it said or. Steven Kress director of the society s Puffin project. Kress and his team of researchers launched the recolonization project in 1973, transplanting Puffin Chicks from Newfoundland where they Are plentiful to Man made Burrows on Eastern egg Rock a desolate Island in music onus Bay. I thought it might work if we moved some of them and got them to learn a new Home. They could take care of themselves after we finished rearing them Kress said. A total of 950 Chicks were transplanted to Maine s islands by 1989, including Seal Island a Stark 100-acre site once used for target practice by warplanes and warships during world War ii. In a further attempt to lure puffins to the islands the most Southern Colony for Atlantic puffins decoys were perched atop Granite rocks and mating Calls waft from solar powered cd players. We re testing the Power of social attraction Kress said. It appears to be working. This year the puffins which look like a Cross Between a Penguin and a Parrot came Back in record numbers. With 19 nesting pairs on Seal Island in outer Penobscot Bay 120 pairs on neighbouring Matinicus Rock and 15 on Eastern egg Rock there were More puffins in the Gulf of Maine this summer than any time this Century. The puffins Are not an endangered species in main but a rare and vulnerable species Kress said. Kress Model for restoring Bird colonies is being used to attract other types of Birds in California new York Nebraska Massachusetts and Hawaii As Well As Japan and the Galapagos islands. As the recolonization efforts attract puffins the puffins attract tourists. Throughout the summer boatloads of people come to see what has become one of Maine s unofficial symbols. In the past six years about 13,000 Bird watchers have paid about $35 to spend a Day on an Audubon society Puffin cruise in Hopes of catching a glimpse of the unusual seabird the puffins Are cute and colourful with human characteristics. Their popularity is like the Penguin thing said Rick Shuffler the Audubon society supervisor for Seal Island As he sat in a Blind watching Birds with binoculars. The Bird s dumpy body and stubby legs make them Clumsy on land but the puffins Are masters of the sea puffins which spend most of their time in water can hold up to 28 fish in their beaks. Where they live when they Are not nesting in the summer. The Pigeon sized Birds can dive at least 150 feet Down and hold up to 28 fish at one time in their colourful beaks. If a Puffin could Lay an egg that floats we d never see them Susan Jones a Volunteer with the Audubon society said on a recent cruise. But because the puffins nest for four months in the summer so does Shuffler. For the past four Summers the 35-year-old has been the bearded guardian of treeless Seal Island. He lives in a Small Shack and along with other Field researchers records crucial data on the puffins and Arctic terns. He rarely leaves relying on the Puffin cruises to bring him mail and supplies. / it is an Ideal life for Shuffler. Peacefully watching Birds most of the Day and taking Breaks to go fishing or haul lobsters. He often ends his Day with a Sunset dinner. to be into it and enjoy the opportunities fou have Here you can t miss the things you can t have he said. It s Good for someone like and Good for the puffins. Puffin facts Here Are some facts about puffins puffins live 25 to 30 years. It takes puffins five years to mature and begin Breeding. The female lays Only one egg a year. From the time puffins first leave the nest they May not touch land again for two or three years. Puffins can dive at least 15.0 feet deep. They can hold up to 28 fish in their beaks. The Birds Are about 10 inches tall. Puffins nest from april to August in colonies in Burrows or Rock cavities. Eastern egg Rock in Maine is the most Southern Atlantic Puffin Colony. The Pacific Puffin is found on the West coast As far South As California. The associated press Konza Prairie where the Buffalo and biologists roam a t to is -. X % s a v.-i&hvvkrfiffis1 vhf Buffalo Graze on the rolling grasslands of the Konza Prairie research area. At right a baby Buffalo seeks the safety of its Mother. By Amy Lignitz the associated press Hen Jim Reichman Learned there would be a Buffalo Roundup on the Konza Prairie he expected to mount a horse and Herd the shaggy behemoths across the rolling grasslands. Was he surprised. How they do it is to put food in the Back of a pickup truck and honk the Horn says Reichman one year into his Job As director of the Konza Prairie research natural area. I thought that s not very romantic " the 8,616-acre Konza Prairie in t just a place for sentimental reveries about courageous settlers and Indian Buffalo Hunts. Never mind the towering Bluestem Fields of waving Prairie Flowers and vistas of the Green Flat topped Flint Hills. The Konza is a Laboratory. When a pregnant Buffalo died near a Grove of hardwoods in october 1992, coyotes weren t the Only ones to pick Over the Bones. An assortment of academics also pored Over the site of the Bison s demise. One researcher discovered How certain insect larvae made Marks in the Bones Marks that archaeologists had been interpreting As signs that such Bones had been used for tools. The Konza lies in Riley and Geary counties in Northeast Kansas. It is dominated by Prairie lands which once extended from Illinois North and West to the Dakota s and South to Texas. Most of the Prairie was converted to Farmland but most of the Flint Hills remained unframed because of their Steep slopes and Rocky soil. The nature conservancy a nonprofit private group owns the land which is managed by Kansas state University s division of biology. Its annual operating budget of about $.180,000 comes from the agricultural Experiment station the state and user fees. About $6 million in Grants support current research. The Prairie teems with life. About half of All flowering plants in the Flint Hills Region about 525 species Are present on the Konza As Are 100 species of no flowering plants. There Are also 19 species of fish nine species of amphibians 25 species of reptiles 209 species of Birds and 34 species of mammals. The Konza has become a tourist attraction As Well. Reichman says thousands come to the Prairie yearly to take one self guided hikes ranging from about three los Angeles times Miles to a six Miles and to get a Good look at the Buffalo. But the primary purpose is research not tourism. We Don t have the facilities Riehman lamented As he stood on a Breezy Hilltop overlooking a Herd of grazing Bison. Right now we re simply swamped with people coming out Here. We re becoming victims of our own Success the nature conservancy s ownership of such a research facility is rare says Alan Pollom the groups state director. We Are interested in preservation As our primary purpose Pollom says. At the same Lime we have an Ever increasing respect for the value of this Basic research that allows us to understand How the living world around us because the nature conservancy could never acquire enough Good examples of ecosystems to preserve them on a Large scale it values research that will help those who do own land to take better care of it Pollom says. He Calls the Konza the pre eminent Prairie ecology research Center in the in addition several Federal agencies including the Interior and Energy departments use the Prairie for research. Much of it relates to the effects of fires and to the 215 Bison that roam 2,500 acres set aside for them. One student for example is studying How Buffalo scatter the Plant seeds they pick up in their Bear Els. But others also use the land for research. The . Geological Survey uses water in King s Creek which originates on the Konza As a Benchmark for water purity. The National aeronautics e. Administration picked the Kunza As a site for an Experiment involving satellites. Biologists study the effects of underground pocket gophers on vegetation above ground.-. Across the Prairie devices measure flows. Plywood blinds let researchers spy on mating Prairie chickens instruments measure rainfall. The Konza is in the midst of . Phase development. The first phase creating a master plan is nearly clone. The National science foundation paid for the. Plan and is contributing about $500,000 for the second phase which involves renovating a historic Limestone House and barn buying new fire equipment and revamping the Bison handling facility. The third phase deals with Public a c Ess As Well As research. More than $2.4 million will be. Needed to upgrade the nature Trail and build an environmental education Park As Well As build a new living quarters for visiting researchers who come from around the world to study the Prairie. Puffins Perch on Matinicus Rock one of the islands being used to re establish the Birds population in Maine. The project has drawn the interest of scientists and tourists. 16 the stars and stripes tuesday october 11, 1994 the stars and stripes 17
