A. Newman 1964 Sand. Johnston Feb 9 Took a day off to recuperate. Feb 10 Sooties present around island in numbers for first time in daytime. About 2007 were wheeling around the gun island during the morning (7-10 AM). About 50 landed on the island several times for various periods. They also passed over the antenna field several times. Before this, all the birds left the island by 7-7:30 AM. Many would be seen quite far off all around the island all during the day, in flocks of 20-50 and scattered individuals and groups of 2-6. They have been returning about 3 PM, hovering offshore, gathering into large flocks. About 6 PM they begin to move in closer and some begin to cross the causeway from both sides; most remain fairly far out until just before dusk. The number of nodulios present on the gun island also suddenly jumped to 150+ (at 9 AM). They sit in two groups, one on the deck