Hackman, C. Douglas, 1964-1965, 1967

Hackman, C. Douglas
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Smithsonian Institution Archives
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Ornithology Ornithologists Entomology Ichthyology Squids Marine animals

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Hackman, C.D. 1964 October 13 Catalog Baker Island, Pacific Ocean 20. Pluvialis dominica ♀ Ovary 5x4mm 60.8 grms. Bill black, feet black, legs grey. Bird was exhausted and emaciated. It was unable to fly and was easily caught by hand. Stomach saved [40470] 21. Squid sp. regurgitated by Sula dactylatra at 1500. October 18 McKean Island, Pacific Ocean 22. Small fish (halfbeak sp.) from netted Gygis alba at 1500. 23. Squid sp. regurgitated by Gygis alba resting at 1300. October 19 24 Two squid sp. from netted Gygis alba at 1500. October 20 25. Sterna lunata ♀ Ovary 12mm. 1 ovum 3mm 103.1gm. Iris brown, bill black, feet and legs black. Stomach saved. [40501] 26 Numerius tabitiensis. Found dead - badly decomposed. Skeletonized [40496] 27. Two fish from netted Gygis alba at 1530. 28 Gygis alba ♂ Testes 5x2mm. 92.0 grms. Iris dark brown, bill black with blue base, legs and feet blue. [40515] Stomach saved.
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Catalog Hackman, C.D. 1964 October 23 Gardner Island, Pacific Ocean 29. Pluvialis dominica ♀ Ovary 9mm. ova minute 119.2 gms. Iris brown, bill brownish-black, feet and legs grey. Stomach saved. [40552] 30. Pluvialis dominica ♀ Ovary 6mm. ova minute 122.0 gms. Iris brown, bill brownish-black, feet and legs grey. Stomach saved. [40551] 31. Anous stolidus ♂ Testes L. 7 x 3 mm R 5 x 2 mm. 155.5 gms. November 6 Phoenix Island, Pacific Ocean 32 Small fish taken from a netted Gygis alba at 1430. November 7 33 Sula dactylatra - Alcoholic - 1699.5 gms Iris yellow, bill yellow, legs + feet greenish-yellow, gular skin black [40603] November 8 Birnie Island, Pacific Ocean 34. Heteroscelus incanum ♂ Testes 2 x 1 mm 87.3 gms. Iris brown, bill dark olive, feet and legs yellow. Stomach saved [40623] November 9 35 Two squid taken from a netted Gygis alba at 0800. November 11 Enderbury Island, Pacific Ocean 36. Fregata minor ♂ Testes R 12 x 10 mm L 15 x 9 mm 906.3 gms Iris dark brown, bill dark olive (well worn), legs and feet brown; gular skin red orange. Taken from nest. Stomach saved. [40638]
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Hacheman, C.P. 1964 Catalog Nov. 21 Motu Upua, Christmas Island 37. Pterodroma alba ♂ Testes L 5x2 R 4x2 244.0gm. Iris brown, bill black, feet + legs flesh colored down to first joint of foot, then black to tip. [40672] Skeleton. Stomach saved. Nov. 22. Cook Island, Christmas Island 38. Procelsterna cerulea ♀ 1. ovum 15mm. 55.6gm. Iris brown, bill black, feet and legs dark grey with flesh-colored webbing. Stomach saved. [40681] 39. Procelsterna cerulea ♀ Ovary 8mm, 1. ovum 2 mm. 45.6gm. Iris brown, bill black, feet and legs dark grey with pink webbing. Stomach saved. [40685] November 23 40. Heteroscelus incunum ♀ ovary 7mm. 139.7 gm. bill dark olive, legs and feet dull yellow. Stomach saved. [40675]
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Page 4 Hackman, C.D 1964 Insect Catalog October 5 1900Z Wilder Shoal I-280 Ectoparasites from underwing coverts and breast feathers of Pluvialis dominica captured at sea. 6 specimens. October 7 I-281 Ectoparasite from Arenaria interpes captured at sea near Wilder Shoal. 1 specimen from upper wing coverts. October 14 Baker Island I-282 Ectoparasites from nesting Anous stolidus. Nestling was taken from a small islet in the lagoon. October 15 I-283 Ticks with eggs. Found under a small piece of coral rubble at a roosting spot of Anous stolidus near the lagoon nesting colony. October 14 I-284 Berlizi sample of rubble from under old logs and boards. I-285 Same as I-284 I-286 " " " I-287 " " Oct. 15 I-288 Berlizi sample dirt + coral rubble from roost of Anous stolidus I-289 " " " McKenna I-290 " " " Oct. 21 I-291 Ticks from border in a colony of Sterna fuscata
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Hickman, C.D. 1964 Insect Catalog October 22 Gardner Island, Pacific Ocean I-292 Grasshopper sp. from coral rubble in village - 3 specimens. very abundant. I-293 Spider sp. from building in village I-294 Ant sp. from coral rubble in village I-295 Insect sp. - sweep netting over Boerhaavia and Sandburr grass. 20+ specimens. I-296 Ant sp. - from coral rubble in village. - 1 specimen. I-297 Mealy bug sp. - from Boerhaavia - 9 specimens. I-298 Insect sp. - 2 specimens - one on ground and one from the back of a hand where it was biting. I-299 Spider sp. - from Boerhaavia - 1 specimen I-300 Mite sp. - from ground near Boerhaavia - 2 specimens I-301 Moth sp. - from Boerhaavia - 2 specimens. I-302 Insect sp. - from Boerhaavia - 2 specimens I-303 Aphid sp. (and ant sp. attendants) from Scaevola. I-304 Scale sp. (and ant sp. attendants) from I-305 Red mites from Sida fallax. I-306 Ant sp. - from coral rubble on lagoon side of island. I-307 Insect sp. - from Sida fallax with sweepnet. 2 spec. I-308 Ant sp. - from Sida fallax with sweep net. I-309 Caterpillar - from Sida fallax - 1 specimen I-310 Insect sp. - from Sida fallax - 1 specimen I-311 Plant louse (bright red and black) from Sida fallax - 3 specimens I-312 Ladybird beetle (?) from Scaevola - # specimens I-313 Fly sp. - from Scaevola - 1 specimen. I-314 Insect sp. - from Sida fallax - 2 specimens I-315 Ectoparasites from breast and head of Erolia acuminata.
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Hacker, C.D. 1964 October 28 Insect Catalog Gardner Island, Pacific Ocean I-316 Insect sp. - collected at night - attracted to the bright navigation lights. 3 specimens. I-317 Fly sp. - attracted to navigation lights at night - about 15 specimens. I-318 Dermestid sp. (?) - from coral rubble on floor of abandoned hut. I-319 Cricket sp. - from coral rubble at night. 2 specimens. I-320 Spider sp. - from coral rubble in abandoned hut. 1 spec. I-321 Lacewing Fly (?) from Scaevola and Sida - 3 specimens. I-322 Cricket sp. - from coral rubble and rubbish - 1 specimen I-323 Roach sp. - at night on Messerschmidtia. I-324 cricket sp. - 2 specimens from Scaevola at night. light green when collected - fading to yellow in alcohol I-325 Silverfish sp. - 4 specimens collected at night under coral rubble and rubbish. I-326 Roach sp. - at night from Scaevola. - 1 spec. I-327 Ant sp. - 4 specimens from ground under Boerhavia. I-328 Spider sp. - From Coconut trunks at night. Larger of the two specimens had the egg sack. I-329 Roach spp. - 2 specimens from Scaevola at night. I-330 Scorpion sp. - 1 specimen at night under rubbish. I-331 Scorpion sp. - 1 specimen at night under coconut palm debris. October 23 I-332 Beetle sp. - 1 specimen from Messerschmidtia. I-333 Roach sp. - 1 specimen from coral rubble and leaf debris. I-334 Roach sp. - 2 specimens from beneath rubbish I-335 Spider sp. - 1 specimen from Scaevola. I-336 Bee sp. - 2 specimens from Scaevola blossoms. I-337 leaf miner sp. - 2 specimens dug out of the underside of Scaevola leaves.
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Haskin, C. D. 1964 Insect Catalog October 23 Gardner Island, Pacific Ocean I-338 Caterpillar sp - 1 specimen from Sida fallax. I-339 Insect sp - 1 specimen from Spider web. I-340 Wasp sp. - 1 specimen from Scaevola I-341 Ectoparasites from Arenaria inbrepes from breast and from primaries. October 18 McKean Island, Pacific Ocean I-342 Hippoboscid sp. - from Fregata ariel. October 21 I-343 Berlese sample from nest of Sula sula I-344 Berlese sample from nest of Sula sula I-345 Berlese sample from nest of Fregata minor I-346 Berlese sample from nest of Fregata minor I-347 Berlese sample from nest of Anous stolidus I-348 Berlese sample from nest of Anous stolidus October 23 Gardner Island, Pacific Ocean I-349 Butterfly species - 2 specimens from Sida fallax. I-350 Butterfly species - 1 specimen - sweep net. I-351 Moth sp. - 1 specimen from Scaevola.
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Hackman, C.D. 1964 October 22 Insect Catalog "McKean Island, Pacific Ocean" I-352 Berlese sample I-353 Berlese sample I-354 Berlese sample October 24 Sydney Island, Pacific Ocean I-355 Wasp sp. - from eaves of hut - 3 specimens Abundant I-356 Scorpion sp. - 1 specimen from coral rubble on the floor of abandoned hut - common I-357 Ant. sp. - from Scaevola leaves and stems. Abundant I-358 Wasp sp. - from Scaevola blossoms - 2 specimens - uncommon I-359 Bee sp. - from Scaevola blossoms - uncommon I-360 Fly sp. - from mudhole on edge of lagoon. This species customarily walks on water surface - common - 2 specimens I-361 Fly sp. (Gnat) - on Sesuvium on edge of lagoon - 1 specimen - fairly common. I-362 Isopod sp. - under coconut husks on damp ground around mudhole on edge of lagoon - 4 specimens - common. I-363 Insect sp. - (black + minute) from coconut husks - uncommon I-364 Sand flea sp. - from under coconut husks on damp ground around edge of lagoon - 2 specimens I-365 Beetle sp. - (small, black) from under coconut husks on damp ground on lagoon, edge. - 2 specimens - common. I-366 Annelid sp. - from damp ground under coconut husks - 1 specimen. I-367 Isopod sp. - from under coconut husks on dry ground - small and fuzzy - 7 specimens - common I-368 Spider sp. - from coconut husk on dry ground - 1 specimen I-369 Insect sp. (small mite-sized, whitish) on coconut husk on dry ground. - 1 specimen - uncommon
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Hackeman, C.D. 1964 Insect Catalog October 24 Sydney Island, Pacific Ocean I-370 Mite sp. - (Red) - from coconut husk on dry ground - 1 specimen, uncommon I-371 Insect sp. - on inside of coconut husk on dry ground - 1 specimen - uncommon I-372 Insect sp. - on coconut husk on dry ground - 3 specimens uncommon I-373 Spider sp. - from coconut husk on dry ground - 1 specimen I-374 Termite sp. - from small stump - 6 specimens, uncommon I-375 Roach sp. - from small stump - 1 specimen I-376 ladybird Beetle - 2 specimens from Scaevola. Fairly common I-377 Scale sp. - (with ant attendants) from upside of Scaevola leaves. - Abundant I-378 Insect sp. - 2 specimens from sweep netting of Boerhaavia. #Uncommon. I-379 Aphid sp. - (purplish) from Tribulus blossom - 10+ specimens found only on Tribulus which isn't blooming on a wide scale at present. I-380 Exoskeleton of insect sp. - from sweep netting of Boerhaavia I-382 Insect sp. - 2 specimens from sweep netting Boerhaavia Uncommon I-383 Insect sp. - 3 specimens from sweepnetting of Boerhaavia Fairly common. I-384 Fly sp. - 1 specimen with sweep net. Fairly common I-385 Grasshopper sp. - 1 specimen from ground in sparse vegetation fairly common. I-386 Grasshopper sp. - 1 specimen with sweep net. I-387 Cricket sp. - 1 specimen from Scaevola - common at night. I-388 Aphid sp. - (with ant attendants) (light green) from axils of leaves and blossoms of Sida.
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Hackman, C. B. 1964 Insect catalog October 24 Sydney Island, Pacific Ocean I - 389 Insect sp - (small, whitish) from leaf of Murinda - uncommon. I - 390 Moth sp - 1 specimen from Boerhavia - sweep netting - uncommon I-391 Insect sp. - 3 specimens from Boerhavia - sweep netting - uncommon I-392 Scorpion sp. - 2 specimens from abandoned huts - common. I-393 Spider sp - 1 specimen from abandoned hut - common I-394 Caterpillar - 1 specimen from Messerschmidtia - uncommon. I-395 Roach sp. - 1 specimen from Scaevola - at night - common I-396 Roach sp - 1 specimen from Scaevola - at night - common I-397 Roach sp - 4 specimens from Scaevola from SE end of Island - at night - common I-398 Isopod sp. - 1 specimen from under rock - uncommon I-399 Fly sp. - 2 specimens attracted to navigation lights at night - fairly common I-400 Spider sp - 1 specimen (maroon) under rock on sandy beach. October 25 Sydney Island, Pacific Ocean I-401 Cricket sp. - 1 specimen from rubbish on floor of abandoned hut. I-402 Ladybird Beetle - 1 specimen from Scaevola I-403 ladybird beetle - 1 specimen from Scaevola I-404 Wasp sp. - 1 specimen from Scaevola. Uncommon
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Hackman, C.D. 1964 Insect Catalog October 25 Sydney Island, Pacific Ocean I-405 Fly sp. - 1 specimen from Sesuvium - common I-406 Silverfish sp. - 1 specimen from under rubbish - common I-407 Dragonfly sp. - 1 specimen from around small potholes on edge of lagoon, fairly common. October 23 Gardner Island, Pacific Ocean I-408 Berlese sample - leaf debris from base of tree with lesser Frigate colony I-409 Berlese sample - leaf debris from base of tree with lesser Frigate colony I-410 Berlese sample - leaf debris from base of tree with lesser Frigate colony October 25 Sydney Island, Pacific Ocean I-411 Berlese sample - from island in lagoon - from nest of Acanus stolidus I-412 Berlese sample - from island in lagoon - from nest of Acanus stolidus I-413 Berlese sample - from island in lagoon - from nest of Acanus stolidus October 29 Tutuila Island, American Samoa I-414 Ectoparasites from Fruit bat I-415 Ectoparasites from Fruit bat I-416 Ectoparasites from Fruit bat I-417 Ectoparasites from Fruit bat October 31 I-418 Ectoparasites from Fruit bat I-419 Ectoparasites from Fruit bat I-420 Ectoparasites from Fruit bat I-421 Ectoparasites from Fruit bat
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Hackman, C.D. 1964 November 2 Insect Catalog At Sea, U.S.S. Lipan I-422 Pelagic water strider sp.- 1 specimen picked up from starboard side of ship at 1430. Ship had been taking some water over the sides and thru the scuppers. Insect was observed hopping around on the dry deck by a crewman and brought to our attention. It was a light, fluorescent blue before immersion in alcohol. November 4 Phoenix Island, Pacific Ocean I-423 Berlese sample from nest of Puffinus nativitatus. I-424 Berlese sample from nest of Fregata minor. I-425 Berlese sample from nest of Sula sula November 6 Phoenix Island, Pacific Ocean I-426 Berlese sample from roosting area of Sterna fuscata. I-427 Berlese sample from nest of Fregata ariel. I-428 Mallophaga species from Sterna fuscata - breast and throat I-429 Mallophaga species from Sterna lunata - breast and throat I-430 Tich species from Sterna fuscata. I-431 Hippoboscid species from Anous stolidus. I-432 Ectoparasite from throat feathers of Puffinus nativitatus November 8 Birnie Island, Pacific Ocean I-433 Ectoparasite species from Anous minutus I-434 Hippoboscid species from Anous stolidus.
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Hachman, C.D. Insect catalog November 10 Enderbury Island I-435 Mite sp.(Red) from nesting Sulá sula Attached to skin on back of bird. I-436 Berlese sample - nest of Sula dactylatra I-437 Berlese sample -nest of Fregata minor I-438 Berlese sample-nest of Sula leucogaster November 19 Jarvis Island I-439 Berlese sample - nest of Fregata ariel. I-440 Berlese sample -of Lepturus and debris from nesting colony of Fregata ariel I-441 Berlese sample - of debris from nest of Fregata ariel November 16 Jarvis Island I-442 Berlese sample-nest of Sula sula. I-443 Berlese sample-nest of Phaeethon rubricanda. I-444 Berlese sample-nest of Fregata ariel. November 27 Palmyra Island I-445 Ectoparasite from Mareca sp. This mallophaga came off of one of three widgeons that were collected together (2-Mareca americana +1 Mareca penelope). All were carried together in a mussette bag.
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Itinerary - ATF #7 Jan 10 - left hotel 0750 for airport Jan 10 - take off from Dulles - 1020 E.S.T. Jan 10 - arrive Honolulu 4:30 pm H.S.T. Jan 25 - Depart Pearl Harbor - 0900 Feb. 1 - Arrive Howland Is. - 0930 Feb. 3 - Depart Howland Is. - 0720 Feb. 3 - Arrive Baker - 1200 Feb. 5 - Depart Baker - 0800 Feb. 6 - Arrive McKean - 0900 Feb. 8 - Depart McKean - 0800 Feb. 9 - Arrive Hull - 0700 Feb. 9 Depart Hull - 1800 March 7 Arrive Jarvis - 1700 March 11 Depart Jarvis - 1030 March 12 Arrive Christmas - 0800 March 15 Depart Christmas - 0945 March 16 Arrive Palmyra - 1400 March [illegible] Depart Palmyra 0830 March 22 Arrive Pearl Harbor 1400 Feb. 10 Arrive Birnie - 0800 Feb. 12 Depart Birnie - 0700 Feb. 12 Arrive Enderbury - 1100 Feb. 17 Depart Enderbury - 0800 Feb. 17 Arrive Canton - 1000 Feb. 18 Depart Canton - 0800 Feb. 21 Arrive Pago Pago - 0900 Feb. 25 Depart Pago Pago - 0900 Feb. 26 Arrive Fakaofu - 0830 Feb. 28 Depart Fakaofu - 0900 Feb. 28 Arrive Nukunonu - 1130 March 2 Depart Nukunonu - 2330 March 3 Arrive Atafu - 1030 March 4 Depart Atafu - 1330 McBee Hackman
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Hachman, C.D. 1965 Journal 1 Jan. 10 D.C - Honolulu Left hotel at 0750 and took taxi to airline bus terminal. Left terminal at 0845 and arrived at Dulles around 0940 - a little late because of the snow storm. Plane took off at 1020. Arrived in L.A. at 12 noon pacific time and departed there at 1:30 p.m on Pan Am flight 819. This plane took an unusually long take-off run, using up all but the last 1000 feet of runway before getting off the ground. On the way into the Honolulu airport the plane came dangerously close to undershooting the runway by about 400 yards. When about 200 feet off the ground it was still quite a distance from the end of the runway and dropping fast. The pilot applied full power and landed on the very edge of the runway with the engines screaming. The plane was going so fast when it hit the runway it took almost the entire strip to get stopped. Max + I sort of talked (kussed) it onto the runway when we realized he was going to be short. We skated the last couple of hundred feet before he finally touched down safely. We immediately rented a car, a '65 Falcon with only 2070 miles on the speedometer, and headed for the hotel. Called Jan Ely from the hotel and then headed out to say hi and coordinate things. At 11 p.m. I went out to the airport and met Norman Heyford. Finally sacked out at 12:45 am (7:30 am EST on Jan. 1). A long day!
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802 80-2 165. 140 80-5 240 m. V.M. 40/272 189-14
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Jackson, C.P. 1965 Journal 2 January 11 Honolulu Max & I ate a casual breakfast and then headed for Pearl Harbor for gate passes and then a visit to the Hitchiti. I goofed terribly in that I forgot my Pearl Harbor pass + SI ID card. so we had to return to the hotel and then drive back out to Pearl Harbor. Finally got the passes and entered the base at 10 am. Spent about 1 hour dining around showing Max where everything was. We then drove out to Pearl City to check on the arrival of the various shipments. Everything shipped to date was on hand. We rosted around for about 1 hour and then left to eat lunch. At 1 p.m. we went on board the U.S.S. Hatchiti to introduce ourselves and look around a bit. The ship looks good. She aftahold has storage room to spare - more than the ships on our last three trips combined. After spending about 1 hour looking around and talking with the XO we headed back toward the hotel. Stopped at Ala Moana Shopping Cntrs. for some field clothing + other items and then returned to the hotel via the Hazel Bishop Museum. At 11 p.m. Max woke me up and we headed out to the airport to pick Simon up. His plane arrived 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled time of 11:25 but we caught him before he left in a taxi. Socked out at 12:30 again.
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Hickam C.D. 1965 January 3 January 12 Honolulu Up at 7a.m. and had breakfast with the guys. Took Binion and Norman out to Hickam AFB so they could complete arrangements for their flight to Sand Island tomorrow morning. This took until 10:30. We then drove to the Pan Am airline freight terminal to mail a truck of bird skins back to D.C. which took another hour. Returned to the hotel for lunch and then headed out to Klyrie to try and locate about 15,000 #3 barbs. Binion wanted to take to Sand Island but couldn't find all of them. Returned to the hotel and picked Max up and then headed for the Ala Moana shopping center to pick up some more items for Binion and for the ATF. Returned to the hotel around 3:15 and called it a day. Yesterday on the way back to the hotel from the shopping center the car's trailer brakes started acting funny with the pedal going all the way to the floor. I took the car over to National and they said I'd have to swap cars because the brake line had broken. So I got another '65 Falcon, this one with 29,26 miles on the speedometer. January 13 Honolulu Binion and Norman left the hotel at 5am for their flight up to Sand Island. No more distractions or chores to do for others for a few days so we can devote all our efforts toward ATF preparations. Went out to the ship this morning to check
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Hachman, C.D. 1965 Journal 4 January 13 Honolulu on a few trips with the XO. No one was on the ship so we turned around and drove back to town, to do some shopping. Spent the rest of the day comparing prices on things like hot plates, travel irons and fluorescent lights. Finally bought a television at the G.E.M. store. January 14 Honolulu Called up the ship to check and see if the XO would be on board. Then drove out and picked up the outboard motors and took them to the ship. We were both surprised to find that the Captain was on board and had been for several weeks because we had been told he was on leave on the west coast. He seemed kind of peeved that we had gone to the XO instead of him until we told him that we had been told he was away on leave. In our discussion we made arrangements about the delivery of gasoline, loading of gear, rubber rafts, etc. We found they want a work order to install the refrigerator in the afterhold. In Pearl Harbor work orders are required for every- things except taking a leak on company time and I expect they'll change that too. After spending the morning on the ship we drove back into town and did some more casual shopping before heading back to the hotel to finish out the day working on packing lists.
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Hockerman, C.D. 1965 General 5 Jan. 14 Honolulu Yesterday, during a brief stopover at the Bishop Museum, Max was told by one of the people there that 3 people from the museum's entomology department were going with us on the coming trip. It seems Preventive Medicine Unit #6 has been busily pulling strings behind the scenes again. A little late in the day Max called the museum and found that only one person, a fellow he knows, is scheduled to go. I was under the impression that this sort of thing had been straightened out and we wouldn't be saddled with these people anymore. If they had tried to foist three people off that would have done it. One I can put up with - three of them would have been entirely too much to stand. One person doesn't add a great deal of extra gear. Three people would have necessitated at least 1 ½ extra boat load on and off of each island not to mention extra food problems. At any rate, I don't intend to spend one penny of project funds for gear for these people (or that person, whichever it turns out to be) unless ordered to do so. As I understand it the people from the Bishop Museum who went on the Marshall's trip still have not paid their expenses for food. They are so tight they squeak and are quick to take advantage of anything they can as long as it doesn't cost them anything. So far as I'm concerned, any gear they don't bring along and find they need they'll just have to do without.
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Hickerson, C.D. 1965 Journal Jan. 15 Honolulu 6 This morning Max and I headed for Pearl City bright and early. We spent the entire morning and part of the afternoon rooting around in the warehouse packing for the ATF and attempting to sort out other gear. We pulled out 8 sleeping bags that were getting mildewed, a max-min thermometer, a sling psychrometer, 8 headlights and a very expensive altimeter, and took them out to the Ely's where they can be stored safely. Such gear shouldn't be left at Pearl City where it can't be stored either properly or safely. By 2 p.m. we had done as much damage as we could do for one day - having gone through all of the Marshall's gear and then packed 5 trunks for the ATF trips. We are now in a position to complete the packing in a day or so and then start hauling gear onto the ship. As soon as Merrill gets here and we can rent a pickup truck we'll start hauling gear into the portable flat which is now on the ship. The weather here is still uninspiring. It has rained everyday since our arrival. Since very little can be done on weekends we now have two days in which to rest up and plan our activities for next week. The fact that Dr. Ely won't return until Wednesday afternoon distresses me a little. Here
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Hachman, C.D 1965 Journal. Jan. 15 Honslulu are certain things I can't do very well without his assistance. He didn't leave any word about having the rubber raft checked out. Since we are taking two new ones there isn't much point in having them checked other than a perfunctory one by the ship's crew. As far as Jim concerned, the previous "checks" by the Pearl Harbor Boat Yard have been little more than a waste of good money. January 16 Honslulu Jan Ely called this morning after Max had left to go to the Bishop Museum to check on the entomologist who is supposed to go with us. She wanted us to pick up a freezer chest from Pan Am. Max returned around noon. Around 1 p.m. I took the car and went out to the airport to get the freeze. It just barely fit into the car. I took the lid off and then shuffed and pulled until it finally popped through the door. Since the freeze was so large I took it directly out to the Ely's where I again had quite a struggle getting it out of the car. It went in much easier than it came out. Not much to do the rest of the afternoon except make out dieta and do some planning. At In the evening we went to see Anne Bancroft paint her way through the movie "The Pumpkin Eater." I got a headache by
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Hachman C.D. 1965 General 8 Honolulu Jan. 16 Sitting there all tense up waiting for the pumpkin to appear - it never did which was a terrible disappointment from us both. A truly crummy fish in spite of all the rave it's received. Honolulu Jan. 17 Sacked out until 10 this morning just for kicks even though I woke up (one of many times) at 6. Nothing to do today. We wandered down to the zoo and killed a couple of hours and then went down to the beach. Nothing exciting there either. Returned to the hotel and did laundry the rest of the afternoon. Picked Merrill up at 11:15 p.m. Honolulu Jan. 18 Got up at 7:30 am. Took Merrill to the airport where he rented a 1-1/2 ton truck with a hydraulic lift. We then went to Pearl City and loaded on 3 raptors and the freezer which Merrill and Max took to the Hutch. I drove on into town to pick up 50 lbs of dry ice for the kind shipment that has to be made soon. Was met in town by the truck and we all went out to Cly's to park the shipment. We returned to town + picked up the car and followed Merrill to the airport. After shipping the frozen specimens we drove out to the Hutch to confer with the XO for
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Honolulu, H.I. 1965 Journal a Jan. 18 Honolulu a few minutes in order to quiet his fears and curb his ever increasing panic When out to Clyro Feb was frantically calling Pearl Harbor trying to find out when the 39 was coming in. She was getting two sets of answers. The unofficial word was that the 39 would be in late in the evening. At the same time, the official word straight from the ship control center, was that it wouldn't be in until the 20th. Finally, at 5 she called us and said she had finally learned that the ship would be in to West Pearl City pier VICTOR-2 at 7:15. This pier was a good 19 miles from the hotel (right beside our warehouse 698). The ship finally tied up at 8:35 but no one could get off of it until 9:15 or so because someone neglected to provide a gangplank. We just sat around and tumbled on thinks while they improvised a gang plank out of 3 old boards and a net. Stunning naval efficiency. We finally got back to the hotel at 10:30 p.m. Since we started out at 6:20 p.m. we did much better than we had expected. Normally, when you get there at a time like 7:15 the ship won't dock until 11:15 or so.
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Honolulu, C.I.D. 1965 Journal Jan. 19 Honolulu Up at 8 am to eat breakfast and loaf around until 9:30 when Dr. Ely came in for a conference to see how far we had progressed in our preparations for the trip. Mox and I conferred with him for about 3 hours during which we discussed a number of present and future plans. Made two trips out to Ala Moana Shopping Center. One an emergency trip to get some gun shaving and other gear as Dale Hustad could fix up the old double-barrelled 16 gauge. Jan. 20 Honolulu Spent the better part of the morning out at Pearl City grubbing around with more packing and arranging. Found some more geo that should be kept out at Ely's so we took it there and then spent the better part of the afternoon discussing ATF matters. Jan. 21 Honolulu Out to Pearl City bright and early. Then to Pearl Harbor to see the Hitchite. Then to Pier 39 to see Dr. Ely - couldn't find him so returned to the Hitchite to load gear on board. Spent the better part of the day on this task. Stopped at Waipio for dry ice on the way home.
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Hawaii, C.P. 1965 Journal 12 Jan. 25 - 31 At Sea - U.S.S. Hatchite. Cleared the lost channel long at the mouth of Pearl Harbor around 1030. Steamed steadily SW for the 6 day period. Seas relatively calm throughout the trip south. No notable occurrences. Each day just like the one preceding it - dull and boring. Spent part of each day on bird watching, part on preliminary paperwork and planning and part on instructing the various personnel in the packing of their assigned boxes of gear. The officers and crew of this ship seem very congenial and are interested in the work. Unlike all previous ships no one seems disturbed by the fact that he is making a two month "bird cruise". No - doubt this view will show him somewhat altered before the trip is over.
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"Hudsons, B.D. 1965 February 1 Journal Howard Island In the air over the colony, at the present time, are between 8-12,000 immature and adult Lesser Frigatebirds. The big surprise this trip is the Sooty Tern population. On the southeastern shore, in the general vicinity of colonies on previous visits, is a two stage stage colony. On the northern edge of this colony are several scattered groups with nearly fledged young; these are the remnants of the colony that was present during the October 1964 visit. Along the edge of the nearly fledged groups is a new colony with birds on eggs. A new Sooty Tern colony is located along the beach crest on the seaward (west) shore running from Stove Town to a point 200 feet south of the Amelia Earhart Light house. The colony extends from from the edge of the Leptanias on the beach inland for about 250 yards. A few Gray-backed Tern nests were found along the edges of this colony in the sparsely vegetated portions of the beach. This is the first time this species has nested at this location in our experience. Approximately 10,000 Sooty Terns and 60 Gray-backed Terns are in the lighthouse colony. Brown Booby nests were, as usual, found almost exclusively on the beach crest on the southwest end of the island. The two exceptions were nests found on the beach crest on the southeast shore. Brown Booby nest totals: 17 nests with eggs, 16 nests with young (6 of which were long enough to band). This strikes me as being quite an increase for this species on previous trips.
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Hachemen, C.D. 1965 Journal 16 February 1 Harvard Island Five immature Red-feet sitting around in the colony. Two, still a little hesitant about leaving the vicinity of their nests, were easily captured and banded. Four incubating adults were also captured and their band numbers recorded. Late in the evening the Sooty Tern colony near the Amelia Earhart light house began to spread inland as more and more birds came into the island. These birds are getting in small, circular clearings in the Tridulus. A few eggs are already being laid in this section of the colony which at present looks like this [diagram] Beach: Max, Dick + I began blood sampling of Sooty Terns at dusk. The vacutainers did not work very well on the Sooty Terns but provided excellent results from the large birds such as Blue-faced boobies and Frigate. A total of 90 Sooty Tern were sampled. The final 20 samples came
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Hawkins, C.D. 1965 Journal 17 February 1 Horned Island from Blue-faced Boobies and Great Frigate. Larry + Ralph banded Sooty Terns and Paul worked on Blue-faced Boobies while we flood sampled. I joined them around 10 p.m. and helped them finish up their strings. At 12 midnight Larry went with the terns and took a swing around the shoals for some shorebird banding. Nesting figures for Red-footed Booby: 7 birds on 1 egg 2 nests with fresh vegetation will probably have eggs within a few days 5 large nestlings (2 banded) - start here Nesting figures for Great Frigatebird: 63 birds on 1 egg 2 birds with small chicks 2 birds with large nestlings
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Hardaway, C.D 1965 January 18 February 2 Howard Island Paul Woodward made an early morning circuit of the island for a shorebird count. Shorebird count: Golden Plover 76 Ruddy Turnstone 79 Wandering Tattler 16 Bristle-Thighed Curlew - 10 Merill left at 0800 to centrifuge the blood samples taken last night. Again the ship or even made a very poor landing. Around 0900, on the ebbing tide, Max and Terry assembled their gear and went out to look for Zoanthids. Ralph and I put plastic strainers for about 1 hour and then went down to the Great Frigatebird colony to try them out. The birds did not hold very well and we were only able to capture head and wing tag 10 birds in the course of 1 1/2 hours. Not wanting to keep the birds off of their eggs too long (with the driest sunlight) we decided enough was enough and returned to camp. The color combination for this island was decided upon as Blue-Blue. This color doesn't show up well on birds in flight. Around 2 p.m. Merrill came back in with 5 men from the ship who planned to change the batteries in the navigation lights and then practice landing through the surf. They sure could use the practice because they got creamed on each of six landing attempts in only moderate surf. The moto
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Hudson C.D. 1965 February 2 Journal Howland Island 20 The vegetation on Howland is healthy looking at present--fairly lush and green which would seem to indicate recent rainfall has been more than adequate. The Tribulus is in full bloom as is the Boehmeria. All other plant species appears to be doing well. This afternoon we caught 50 Sooty Terns and checked them for wing marks. All birds were netted at the lighthouse tern colony. Late in the afternoon Max sat on top of the lighthouse to watch for incoming Blue-faced Boobies. So few came into the island and found such small chicks we decided to devote the total party effort to Sooty Tern birding. Each person did about 1500 birds. That is, each person with the exception of "Tiger" Huber. When I walked back into camp around 1245 a.m. Huber was still thrashing in the lighthouse colony. As I retired for the night he was heading for the windward shore colony with an enormous pail full of birds. His evening total -- 3,500. The overall total for the entire crew was 8,800 Sooty Terns. In addition to this were 38 [illegible] returns on birds that were banded in July 1964. The first return of the evening, however, was an old Biological Survey Band that Huber found on one of his Sooty Terns: 38-312056. A red spray paint was used on this island.
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Hackensack, C.D. 1965 February 2 Journal Harder Island 19 Tool joints pounding during this numerous landing and takeoff attempts. 12 pieces were broken. Fortunately, neither of the two pieces were critical parts. In going out to the ship around 4 p.m., they picked the wrong time and hit the largest wave in the surf cycle and really got swamped. The boat took in so much water, they were unable to paddle it through the last of the breakers. In disgust, they returned to shore, dumped the water out of the raft and dried the motor which had gotten dunked. After more fiddling around, they finally managed to go out through the surf without incident. On the first day here one fellow was knocked out of the boat when it broached in the surf and landed on a sea urchin getting spines in his hand and foot. Fortunately, he doesn't have any after-effects so yet. The Hitchiki comes in close to the reef further than any ship in our experience. This afternoon it hung on the edge of the surfline with the bow no more than 300 feet from the first breaker. At this point it is in so close it is possible to recognize people on the deck. This afternoon the boat ran through the surf and then ran around the stern of the Hitchiki and was moved to the ship in about 3 minutes flat.
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Hachinson, C.D. 1965 February 1+2 Howland Island Summary Blue-faced Booby - Small numbers present - 800 to 1000. Only 3 or 4 small clubs observed along the windward shore. No clubs formed in the interior. Breeding status - inactive. Red-footed Booby - Present in very small numbers. Normal daytime population only 14 pair. Roosting population 40-50. 7 nests with eggs. Brown Booby - 33 nests. Roosting population - 60 Red-tailed Tropicbird - Uncommon at present. Only 2 nests with small young. Greater Frigate - 80 pair in Cordia grove - the majority (63) on fresh eggs. Lesser Frigate - 1500 nestlings still on ground but almost fledged. - remnants of the last breeding cycle. Between 8-10,000 adults and immatures utilizing the island at present. Sooty Tern - 2 colonies actively nesting. The older colony, on the windward side contains about 3000 nearly fledged young and about 25,000+ birds on heavily incubated eggs. The newer colony, being expanded by new layings, at present, consists of 10-15,000. Total population - 75,000+ Gray-backed Tern - 60+ nests along leeward shore on the beach rim. Common Noddy - one 3/4 grown nestling, 6 adults. Bristle-th. Curlew - 10 Wandering Tattler - 16 Ruddy Turnstone - 79 Golden Plover - 76
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Hockman, C.D. 1965 February 1+2 Howland Island Summary 8 Sooty Terns and 1 Blue-faced Booby were collected as the result of blood sampling. A total of 11259 birds of 10 species, were banded. 236 returns of 5 species. 4 recoveries of birds from 4 species (1 a foreign return). Cyclostomes Collected were collected along the west and south shores by Thompson and Huber. Two Flounders were collected along the south shore by Huber, Thompson Blood sampling: 20 Sooty Tern, 10 Blue-f. Booby, 10 Short-tailed Finches No other collections were made. Bandings: Adult Sub. Nest. Imm. Return Recovery Blue-F. Booby Brown Booby (Red) Booby Sooty Tern Albatross Tern Common Noddie Red-billed Tropic 2 Blue Finches Warbling Vireo Hudson's Pipit 11959 12055 36 1886 36 2 10 6 2 11 64 36 207 54
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Harkron, C.D. 1965 Feb 1 + 2 Journal Harland Island Station 23 Bandin Adult Subadult Nestling Imm. Und Return Recovery Blue-f. Birdy 49 13 54 40 7 179 2 Brown Body 1 6 1 Red-f. body 2 4 Sooty Tern 11866 43 1 Gage-b. Tern 36 Common Noddy 2 1 Great Frigate 10 9 1 Lesser Frigate 1 Wandering Tattls 6 Golden Plover 2 R-t. Tropicals 1 1/1973 13 2/65 41 7 236 4 Total 12096
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Hudson, C.D. 1965 Journal 24 February 3 Bakerland We departed from Holland with a minimum of difficulty, though 4-5 foot surf, at 0720 with the first boat load. The second boat load was delayed until 0815 because of trouble with the outboard motors. Arrived off Baker at 1115 am and made the first landing at 1200. We were somewhat amazed to find Baker's surf extremely rough. The boat coxswain admitted he was afraid to start in so we circled around on the edge of the surf line looking for a spot. Finally, he just charged in and got up on top of about 3-9 foot wave and rode it in as it broke. He got a shade ahead of the wave so that the front of the raft hung down about 2-3 feet lower than the stern which could have caused problems if we had hit a rock. Fortunately, they worked out perfectly and we really barrelled into the beach. It was the longest, fastest and wildest ride I've ever had through the surf. After unloading the raft we looked around for some sort of channel and could find no sign of one so we just sent the raft back out through the wild stuff. Just as they reached the first break on the surf line the motor stopped but they paddled wildly and got over the wave just as it broke passed them. The second load made it to the beach with some difficulty in easy landing after we had scouted around and found a channel of water that caused the surf, in that section, to break softly and slow in to shore.
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Jackson, C. D. 1965 Journal 25 February 3 Baker Island The boat crew disembarked onto the island to pick up some sections of aluminum pipe and to set the navigation lights up on the side of the island while we set up camp. When they returned at 2 pm the surf was really booming in and there were no regular, calm periods. The 10 of us then spent the next three hours trying to launch the raft. Everytime they'd just get started they'd run into an 8 or so foot wave just as it broke and would get swamped. Six attempts all ended the same way - with the raft full of water + powerless. Each time we'd drag the raft back to the beach, detach the motor + gas can and then dump the water out. An extremely strong undertow made the operation far more difficult. Finally, in desperation Merrill and I walked down to the south end to check surf conditions time and found them almost ideal. We then carried the raft, motor and gas about 800 yards across the island and made a successful launch at 6 p.m. Dinner - After 4 solid hours of being pounded around by the surf while struggling with the raft we were all feeling slightly euphoric with various assortment of bruises and aching muscles. The surf was so bad we decided to postpone blood sampling until tomorrow in order to eliminate 1 full series of boat runs. The extremely bad surf conditions are being cursed by a change in wind direction. Normally the wind is easterly throughout this area. At the present time, however, the wind is running out of the NW at about 15-20 mph. This means that, unless the
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"Hachiman, C.D. 1965 Journal 26 February 3 Baker Island Wind shifts all of our normal landing areas will be windswept and will have bad surf conditions. This could prove to be especially hazardous or McKean Island with our inexperienced coxswains because the landing is onto a rock shelf through an area littered with coral heads. The M-Kean landing is a nasty one even under ideal conditions and just thinking about trying it under bad surf conditions scares all of us. So far we have been very lucky and haven't had any serious problems or injuries due to landings. If surf conditions continue as they have been someone is going to get creamed. The motors have already taken a fearsome pounding. The one used today was under the water about 9 times during our many launching attempts. The shift assemblies and linkages here already been broken on both motors and some revision other cast parts have been broken off. In just two islands the motors have taken more of a beating than they received on the entire Oct-Nov trip. At the present rate, the motors won't survive the complete trip. The entire shoreline of Baker has changed drastically since our last visit. Normally, the water is deep right up to the shoreline and only 1 wave is encountered in landing. Now the shore has been swept back by the waves so that rock shelves have been exposed on the beach. There is no sign of a channel along the entire length of the west shore.
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"Harkman, C.D. 1965 Journal 27 February 3 Baker Island After launching the boat at 6pm we split into two parties and ran a quick island survey. There isn't very much on the island at present. After dark most of us packed out and tried to car audio and paring while only the ambitious went out to tackle the small blue- forced body club that is here getting 60 new birds and 52 returns. February 4 Baker Island Max got up early and made a shorebird count. Ralph began capturing and stuffing mice. I did some landing records + took some notes on marine aspects of the island and the rest partied around. Around 10 am Merrill walked around the island and mapped the climbs in the beach and made a general survey. Woodward and Hule ate an early lunch and left to find Common Nobby Terns on the far sides of the island. The surf is still very high and steady along the west shore of the island. There was also no south east shore. It might be worth noting that the Whitehite a rader has been in operation since the 3rd day out of Pearl Harbor. This makes it necessary to place the navigation lights about 1 mile apart. The ship's crew has been taking care of this much to our great relief. We spent most of the day wondering around looking but there just isn't much to see on this island at the present time.
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Hachman C.D 1964 Journal 28 February 4 Baker Island The vegetation on this island is in poor condition compared to that on Heriland. Only Portulaca and Boechavia are green and healthy in appearance. Both Digitaria and Lepitum [illegible] are mostly brown with only a few green leaves. Such species as Mimosa, Setaria, Bid Cynodon, the sedge and the ffs Sardine grass are almost completely burned back. Most of the Sida has dried back and only a few plants of this species are in bloom and healthy in appearance. Tribulus, which is located in patches in the center toward the east side of the island looks very lushly and is in full bloom. The two beach species: Trumfetta and Ipomea appear to be in fair condition. The Ipomea is blooming in some areas. Last night we had a new moon. Just this little slice cast enough light to make the shorebirds jumpy and impossible to capture. On each succeeding night the moon will become brighter, and will set 1 hour later, until, by the time we hit Edenburg, the Blue-faced Boobies will be as hard as the dickens to capture. Somehow we always manage to get a bright moon on the most populous Blue-faced Booby island. This evening the moon set at 8:45 and we all went out to blood sample Blue-faced Boobies and to do what little birding there is to do here. After birding & sampling we returned to camp and [illegible]
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Hackmer, C.D. 1965 Journal 29 February 4 Bake Island packed out - 11:30 20 Blue-faced Cookies were blood sampled, 13 landed and 42 were returns. The club contained about 150 birds, the majority of which had been landed and marked the night before. Most of these birds flushed quickly. February 5 Bake Island We got up at 6 am broke camp and began carrying the gear 4 mile across the island to the south shore where the surf was better. All gear was on the south beach by 7:15. The first boat load took off at 7:30 without much difficulty. The second boat got scared its coming in and we had to dump all of the water out before it could be loaded. In going out we missed a wave on our count and, it peaked up to about 9 feet and broke on us about 15 feet from shore. The raft reared up and came down on top of us upside down. Gear was floating all over the beach with people running around frantically grabbing it. I grabbed one ammunition box just as it sank but still didn't have time to move before the undertow pulled my feet out from under me just before another 9 foot wave broke on top of me. The box was so heavy I could hardly, now it seems I was hanging on to a water cooler, too. Each big wave that came in shoved me a few feet further up the beach until finally, after about five of them, I was far enough up so that I could climb the crate cooler high and dry and then was
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Hachman C.D. 1965 Journal 30 February 5 Bali Island both hands in the water filled up. Fortunately, no one was hurt in this episode - at least not seriously. I lost skin off of [illegible], garbled another and got a big bruise and cut on my right knee. Everyone picked up a bruise or two along with a few scratches here and there. The proto took the most beating of all because it lost its core and was half filled with sand. Needless to say it wouldn't float. We loaded the boat back up and then waited and watched the surf very carefully this time. We passed up several short calms but finally found one during which we were able to paddle out passed the surf line and out of danger. In the meantime the ship launched the other raft which came in and gave us a tour. Shortly after coming on board the ship began its initiation for the equator crossing. Max hadn't planned on going through but made the mistake of going down to take pictures - he went through first and got off easy. Ralph went through third or fourth. The ship gave a very easy initiation - nothing elaborate such as the Lakelma or the Ripan on the second cruise.
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Hickman, C.D. 1965 Journal 31 Feb 3 + 4 Baker Island Summary Blue-faced Booby - only 18 nests on the island (4 with 1 egg, 10 with 2 eggs). About 4 immatures (all banded) were observed on the island. Two small clubs formed on the south shore of the island late in the evening with 150 and 50 birds, respectively. 2 nestlings were banded in addition to 69 others. Returns totaled 94. Brown Booby - 8 birds roosting with the large Blue-faced Booby club. Sooty Tern - small flocks in vicinity of the island throughout the stay. None on the island. Gray-backed Tern - 2 nests found inside near old plane wrecks. 12 birds seen on the ground along the south shore were not checked for nesting activity. Common Noddy - 377 nests in lagoon (35 with nestlings, 342 with eggs) 35 nestlings were banded, 2 birds were recovered. Estimate 200+ adults. Great Frigatebird - 9 immatures and females in vicinity of the island throughout the stay. None seen roosting Bristle-thighed Guller - 2 seen on Feb 3 Wandering Tattler - 10 on Feb 4 Reddish Ternstone - 113 on Feb 4 Golden Plover - 7 on Feb 4
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Hochman, C.D. 1965 Journal 32 Feb. 3+4 Baker Island Summary Coelenterate collections were attempted along the south shore but were unsuccessful. The heavy surf around most of the island precluded searching anywhere but along the south shore but the water here was full of sand and visibility was poor. 3 Mice (mus musculus) were collected and put up as study skins. 30 blood samples were taken from Blue-footed Boobies. No other collections were made. Birding totals: Blue-f. Booby Adult Subadult Nestling? Return Recovery 52500 14 2 7 94 - Common Noddy 35 2 87 14 2 7 94 2
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Harlan, C.D. 1964 Journal 33 McKeen Island February 6 Sighted the island around 8:45 and moved in close to take a look. Much to our relief, the wind had shifted back to the east during the night and was blowing around 15-25 mph. The landing didn't look bad so we hoisted up the raft and changed in. As it turned out, the landing we were the most worried about was the easiest one we've had this trip. There was hardly a ripple as we came in. The island survey was completed by 1 p.m. Very few nesting Blue-faced Boobies on this island two. There are large numbers of Sooty Terns, Common Noddy Tern and Gray-backed Terns nesting at present. The Large Lasso Frigate colony is still fairly intact but most of the birds are now capable of short flights. Around 2 p.m. Max, Larry + Dick worked out on the reef with face masks and snorkels to take look for coelenterates. Ralph + I worked on 4 or 5 species of ectoparasites. Paul banded Common Noddy meathrips, Hubert worked Gray-backed Terns and Dick [illegible] and Max worked on Fairy Terns. Around 4:30 - 5:15 we had an extended rain shower that curtailed activities until after dark. After dark Max + Dick took blood sample while the rest banded. It was also going in the thick. Did not get the results were good. About 7,500 Sooty Terns were banded and 99 returns were
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Hachmen, C.D. 1965 Journal 34 February 6 McKean Island obtained. The Sooty Terns, Shear + Lesser Frigate, Fairy Terns, Red-footed Boobies and Blue-footed Boobies are all disgorging fresh squid during the middle part of the day when somewhat disturbed. These squid range in size from 1 1/2 inches to 6 inches. Sailed out at 2:45 a.m. February 7 McKean Island Up at 7:30 a.m. after a very restless night. Last night when I returned to the tent (around midnight) I discovered a horde of ticks crawling into the tent. The miserable things were trooping over the threshold at a rate of about 100 per minute. The floor of the tent was literally alive with them. I got busy with paint brush and jar and collected 3 jars full. By this time I was covered with ticks from head to toe and had that horrible creepy-crawly feeling. We swept the ticks out of the tent, sprayed the entrance with OFF and then sailed out. About every 10 or 15 minutes another tick would thunder across my arm or leg and would require a smack or two so I didn't sleep too well - none of us did, for that matter. I spent the early part of the morning doing binding records while Larry + Paul (dressed in their finest pair of jockey shorts) made a shoebird count. Merrill went out to the ship to work the blood samples. Max went out and banded Fairy Terns and Ralph collected Booby chicks
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Hachman C.D. 1965 Journal 36 February 7 McKean Island evening that Ralph and Max packed up their cots and went down to the high water line on the beach— both stating they that they didn't give a damn if waves washed over them all night long just as long as there weren't any ticks. Since I had to write up all of the binding records I decided to stay in the tent after making a few preparations. First I carefully brushed the floor & walls of the tent, then my cot was gone over thoroughly. With a can of insecticide I sprayed all around the cot and then, for good measure, sprayed the legs of the cot extra well. Clowns are it will all wear off around 5 a.m. and I'll be extra alive. Just months of the many wonders and joys of ATF life—couldn't live without them. Finally packed out at 3 a.m. February 8 McKean Island It will be a relief to get off of this island for a change. The ticks have just about driven us all crazy. We're all sporting numerous tick bites on arms, legs, narhs, necks + all othr points (both significant + otherwise). The surf is picking up a little this morning but nothing serious because there is a long calm periodically. (We got creamed on the way out!) Ralph fell out of the raft and I had to hang on to him and finally managed to swim him in after much struggling. We got smeared by six large waves before getting out into open water. Departed at 0856.
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Kochran, 9.70 1965 Journal 37 Feb. 6 + 7 McKean Island Summary Spring print color - green. Invertebrate collections were made on the reef by Thompson, Hula + Merrill. Same species encountered as that from Haland. 100 blood samples taken as follows: 30 Blue-F. Body, 20 Sooty Tern, 20 Great Frigate, 20 Common Noddy, 10 Audubon's Shearwater. 50 Sooty Terns were captured and checked for wing moults. Ceto parasites were collected from Gray-b. Tern nesting, Great Frigate, Hawaiian Noddy Tern and Audubon's Shearwater. Fairy Tern were checked but yielded no parasites. 21 Great Frigatebirds were wing tagged with a white streamer on each wing. This pattern shows up conspicuously on birds in flight. Berline samples taken from H. Frigate nest, Common Noddy nest, Hawaiian Noddy roost, Audubon's Shearwater nest, Brown Body nest, Wedge-tailed Shearwater nest. 4 Common Noddy Terns were collected. A Shorkid count was made: Brite-th. Cula 42, Solder Plae, 48, Ruddy Turnsta, 36 W. Tattle 9.
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Hackman, C.P. 1965 February 6+7 Journal McKeen Island Summary 38 Red-tailed Tropicbird - a few birds sitting in previously used nest sites. Total of 7 active nests - 7 with nestlings. Population - 16 adults, 3 nestlings. 12 banded Wedge-tailed Shearwater - [illegible] - 500 in nesting colony. Some small nestlings. Banded [illegible], 29 returns. Andaman's Shearwater - 2,000. Some nests with eggs + small chicks. 305 adults + 1 nestling banded. 45 returns. Bulwer's Petrel - [illegible] , 30 +/- . Inactive breeding status. B adults banded, 1 large nestling banded. Wh-thr. Storm Petrel - estimated 500 on island at night. [illegible], 1 nest with egg found. Counting. [illegible] 166 banded, 2 returns Blue-faced Booby - 3 large clbs and several small concentrations - 1000+ birds. Banded 183, 159 returns, / 2 records. 35 nests found with nestlings or immatures. see Bird Book Brown Booby - 4 nesting pair (3 with 2 eggs, 1 with 1 egg) 20 roosting at night. Banded 5, 2 returns. see band book Red-footed Booby - relatively inactive and scarce at present - 3 nests with eggs, 2 nests with small young. 2 nests with large young, 8 nests with fledged birds. No roost club observed on Feb. 6. Small roost club of 30-35 birds on Feb. 7. Banded 6, 7 returns + 2 records. Total population - 50.
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Hawkwood, C.P. 1965 Journal 39 Feb. 6 + 7 McKean Island Summary Common Noddy - 5,000 - actively nesting. Large concentration of +/- to 3/4 grown young along west, north and east shores in stone walls and in extensive areas of coarse rubble. Banded 44 adults, 356 nestlings, 5 returns. Greater Frigate - 107 nests, with 1 egg, 1 with 2 eggs, 7 with small chicks, 46 immature. still on nests from last breeding cycle. About 500 adults + immatures. Banded 20 adults, 6 returns, 2 recoveries. Lesser Frigate - approx 10,000 fledged early, fledged nestlings still on ground in colony along east shore. Very small mortality resulted from heavy banding of these nestlings in October. Most of the last 49 recovered birds were taken from birds whose tarsus was badly swollen and infected. About half of the adults immature, checked still showed signs of swollen tarsus but the swelling appears to be subsiding. The majority appear healthy and should leave their nests within the next several weeks. Total Population - 39,000 Bristle-th. Curlen - 42, 15 banded Wading Tattler - 9, 8 banded Ruddy Turnstone 266, 4 banded Golden Plover 48, 3 banded
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Hawaii 1965 Feb. 6 + 7 Journal McKean Island Summary 40 Sooty Tern - total population - 250,000+ colonies located mostly on west shore - the largest is in the Sida thicket at the site of the old guano camp. Eggs and young in all stages throughout the island. 7095 banded, 192 return, 2 recoveries Gray-backed Tern - 2,000 mostly with fledged or nearly fledged young along north and south shores of the lagoon in extensive patches of coral rubble. 100 adult, 23 nestlings banded, 1 return Fairy Tern - down in abundance with no more than 500 utilizing island at present. Most of these are on eggs. A few small chicks. 97 banded, 10 return Blue-gray Noddy Tern - a few nests found. 2500 ft., 17 banded, 2 return Hawaiian Noddy Tern - down in abundance, not actively nesting at present. Two weeks fledged young. About 150 birds including solitary roosters. 50 banded (nesting), 2 return.
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Hochman, C.D 1965 Feb. 6 & 7 Journal Mckin Island Summary 41 Birds Species Adults Sub. Imm. Nestl. Unh. Return Recovery Specim Wedge-tailed Shearwat 77 29 Anderson's Shearw. 305 1 45 Wh-thn. Storm Petrel 166 2 Bulmer's Petrel 8 1 Red-t. Trojcanbird 9 3 2 Blue-f. Budy 53 1 22 31 11 159 2 Brown Budy 5 2 Red-f. Budy 4 2 3 Sooty Tern 7195 192 2 Grey 8. Tern 100 22 1 Common Noddy 44 356 5 Harrisian Noddy 58 1 2 Blackwing Noddy 17 2 Fairy Tern 99 1 10 Sleuth, Frigate 20 6 2 Less, Frigate 49 Brustle-th. Gullen 14 1 Wardenig Totlle 7 Hulda Plase. 3 Ruddly Turnstone 4 Fregata sp. 7 Total . 8184 1 26 418 11 467 65 new landing 8640
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Journal 42 February 9 Hull Island We arrived off Hull at 0700 and started loading the boats for a landing. At 0810 we pushed off in two boat loads and headed for the channel. The surf didn't look bad until we got close in to the island then it looked really bad. Waves were breaking across the channel - 8 to 10 footers - making it impossible. Big surf was crashing in along the entire length of the island. Around 9 a.m., after watching us more in and out hesitantly, the ship flew the recall flag and we had to return. We unloaded the rafts, hauled them aboard and [illegible] cruised around the island to the village. At 11 a.m. we threw a few items of gear into the raft and went into the village to make a survey of the area. Max and Paul went to the lagoon to look for coelenterates. Dick Merrill took the shotgun and went down the island to collect a few birds and I rounded around looking for insects to add to the collections already taken from here. We were entertaining the idea of hauling a raft and some gear to the lagoon and motoring down to the [illegible] colony on the far end of the island. Shortly after arriving however, there was a loud explosion as the entire side of the raft blew up. This effectively cancelled any plans we might have made. So we spent several hours on looking around looking for Coelenterates, insects and birds. Found more worth mentioning so left the island around 2 p.m.
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Hockwim C.D 1965 February 9 Journal Hull Island Four of the sailors paddled what was left of the deflated raft out through the surf. They caught about 12 big waves, several almost dumped them, hope they got passed the surf line. The ship lay off Hull until 1800 and then departed for Brinie Island. February 10 Brinie Island Arrived off the island at 0800 and made the two landings through 1 foot surf- ideal surf conditions. Left setting up camp. Max, Larry + Dick checked the reef for Coelenterates and found one variety to be abundant. The rest of us worked around camp collecting nets, doing landing records, etc. Around 3 p.m. we discovered that one of the navigation lights had lost all of its battery charge so we shut off a flow and contacted the ship. Within 30 minutes a new battery was brought ashore and the lights were then set up on the north and south ends of the island. The rest of the day was spent on an island survey. During the survey a dead turtle was found on the east beach crest. A wedge-tailed shearwater was seen flying over the southern portion of the island during the survey. Since the moon was so bright we stayed out until 2:00 am before attempting to do any landing. We Mitchell camp at tented next dawn.
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Hachman, C.D. 1965 Journal 45 February 11 Binnie Island We returned to camp at dawn after getting up at 2 a.m. Ralph + I blood sampled blue-f. Boobies while the rest hauled. After dawn broke we collected some nests for Ralph. After breakfast Dick went out to the ship, Mor + Larry dove for coelenterates on the edge of the reef, Ralph worked on his nets and I did a shorebird count. There has been a tremendous crash in the rat population on Binnie. The species here (Rattus sordana) was as numerous on the previous visit (Nov. 64) it was devastating the island's vegetation cover. In November, at night, rats were encountered every 5 or 6 feet on the entire island. They were so abundant that one person, with a minimum of effort, could capture 35 or 40 per hour by hand. Last night rats were encountered every 50 - 90 feet and it took three people over 35 minutes to capture 17. As the direct result of this decline in the rat population the vegetation is much improved. Previously, the rats had eaten all flowering parts and new growth off of the Portulaca and Boerhavia. Presently both have quite a lot of new growth showing and both are flowering. We were surprised to find a fairly large concentration of Gray-backed Terns nesting on the island in several colonies. This success is or can also, probably, be attributed to the low rat population.
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Hachmann, C. D. 1965 Journal 46 February 11 Brinnie Island The surf has been ideal since our arrival at this island. Hopefully, we won't encounter any more bad surf conditions on the remainder of this trip. We've already had more rough landings than on the three previous trips combined. I know I've had more than enough pounding around and being slammed. It has been extremely hot on the last several islands. During the day there is hardly a breath of air stirring and the air just hangs. The sun is really hot - Terry + Max both have badly sunburned lips that have cracked and bleeding a great deal of the time. Max is also peeling and blistering constantly - he's now down to the 2nd layer in some places. There have been about 10 or 15 rays working off of the edge of the surf for the past day or so. Can't tell exactly what they're doing but there is a lot of splashing going on. February 12 Erderlung Island We departed from Brinnie at 0900 and had no difficulty with the surf. (the first island this trip at which there wasn't at least one complete impact during a landing or departure) Sighted Erderlung at 11 a.m. and landed the two shore parties at 1 p.m. Camp was quickly established and a survey of the south end started. Ended up the survey by landing Red-footed Booby's.
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Hochman, C.D. 1965 Feb. 10+11 Journal Binnie Island Summary 49 Wandering Tattlers - 5 on an island circuit; 3 landed. Ruddy Turnstones - 24 counted on an island circuit, 8 landed. Golden Plovers - 6 counted on an island circuit, 1 landed.
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Hachorn, C.P. 1965 Feb 10+11 Journal Barding - Brinnie Island 50 Adult Imm. Nestling Vakam Sub Return Recordy Specimen Wedge-tail Shearwater 5 Aucklandis Shearwater 2 1 1 Red-t. Tropiuland 13 3 Blue-f.-Booby 75 14 18 5 1 299 5 Brown Booby 20 5 3 18 Red-f.-Booby - - - - - - - Sooty Tern - - - - - - - Grey n.b. Tern 85 Fairy Tern 32 2 7 Blue Grey Noddy 1 Hawaiian Noddy 62 1 Common Noddy 782 6 Crested Tern Jones Frigateline Greats Frigateline Bristle-th. Cuckoo Wandering Tattler 3 Ruddy Turnstone 8 Golden Plover 1 609 19 21 5 1 335 5 2 Total 655
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Hochster, C.P. 1965 Feb. 12 General Erdelburg Island nestlings and adults in the cordia grove. At 6 p.m we all went down to the south end of the island for a small Sooty Tern colony and blood sampled 100 birds in order to obtain 50 samples. Two people netted the birds and three people sampled. During the first portion of the island survey two dead lincks were found on which the breasts had been eaten off. No other parts of these two birds had been touched. This looks suspiciously like the work of a cat. While herding the Red-foots we saw an adult return to the nest almost immediately after being disturbed, and kill its chick. The bird landed on the nest stabbed the chick several times, rapidly, and then threw it out of the nest. This is the first time I've witnessed this type of behavior even though we customarily find in this colony on each trip. The chick that was killed seems more than three or four days old. There has been a noticeable drop in the numbers of Blue-faced Petrels encountered through this trip. The chicks are much smaller than usual and very few birds are nesting. The Fairy Tern population on McKean Island was also lower than normal. At dusk we watched for shearwaters but none were seen. Sailed out at 9:30 planning to get up when the moon goes down to complete the blood sampling. Tonight we'll only have about 1 hour of darkness before sunrise. Tomorrow night, there won't be any. Landing large numbers of birds on this island will be not too impossible
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Hachita, C.D. 1965 Journal 52 February 12 Corderoy Island because of this full moon. Tropicsbirds are apparently just beginning a new cycle. We have encountered them in very small numbers throughout the trip. Very few nestings have been found to date. Last night on Birnie Island Jerry banded an Anderton's Shearwater, caught one that was banded and brought one in to be collected. Late in the night he encountered a club of 11 Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and succeeded in capturing 6 which he brought back to camp. Five of these birds were banded and one was collected. We have decided we could most profitably spend the extra day, acquired because we were unable to land & operate successfully on Hall Island, here on Corderoy. This is especially true with the moon rapidly approaching the full stage. We probably won't be able to accomplish anymore in the five nights ahead than we could in two completely dark sea ones. The full moon makes life very difficult for one and all. February 13 Corderoy Island We got up at 4:30 just as the moon set and worked in three teams in order to blood sample 25 Afric's Frigates and 25 Blue-faced Boobies. The sampling took us until dawn because the birds were both jumpy and well dispersed. Hitting them immediately after the moon sets doesn't help matters much because the birds don't have any time to settle down. Tonight will be almost impossible because
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Hawaii, O.I. 1965 Journal 53 February 13 Cordelia Island The moon will be with us until dawn. Come, we'll give the boobies a try tonight. Spent the early part of the morning cutting wing tags for albatross Frigatebirds. This afternoon or early tonight we'll attempt to put on a few of them. At 05:00 Merrill went out to the ship to run blood samples. Hurka had already been gone for about 30 minutes on a seabird count. Around 08:30 Paul went down to the lagoon to look for seabirds and to check nesting conditions there. Paul returned around 9:15, picked up a string of # 5 birds and went down the west shore looking for Red-tailed Tropicbirds. The rest of us walked to the frigate colony on the north end and then on to the guano pile. The Great Frigatebirds are on fresh eggs in the main colonies and in the smaller colonies that are located in the interior along the south end of the lagoon. There are few nesting frigatebirds on the island. Red-footed boobies are on eggs at present, but a large number also have small to medium sized nestlings. Between the guano pile and the north end of the island we found two large Sooty Tern colonies. The colonies extend all the way to the north shore of the island. The middle of the three colonies is on large nestlings while the other two have eggs and a few small chicks. A few Hawaiian Noddy Terns were nesting in the far (north) part of Cordelia. One 1/2 grown nestling and 12 eggs were found.
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Hachman, C.D. 1965 February 13 Journal Endelbury Island 54 At 5 p.m. we picked up some gear and headed towards the Scoty Tern colonies on the north end of the island. By using nets we were able to band 600 adults before dark. After dark we tried picking birds up off of thin nests but the moon was far too bright so we returned to our nets and did an additional 200 birds. It wasn't long before we realized that only one small part of the colony mean the guano heap was actually on eggs. Most of the birds were on freshly hatched chicks which rapidly fell prey to the very abundant Hemit Cocker. Once this was discovered we quickly put out the loose birds and moved out of the colony completely. After finishing up the birds we went to the Cordia grove because the guano heap and blood sampled 25 Red-footed Boobies. Paul Woodward and Ralph Pinder did most of the sampling. We took the blood samples only to familiarize these two people with the procedure involved as well as to give them the feel of the instruments used. Four birds were killed by the sampling. Normally we can take 8 cc from Red-foots without losing a bird. At dusk tonight the Hawaiian Noddy's came in off of the ocean in large, low-flying flocks numbering between 50 and 500 birds. A flock was still coming in long after the last light of the sun had faded. Attempts to band the flocks miserably. With the moon so bright it was
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Harbor, C.P. 1967 February 13 Erdeby Island impossible to approach the roost without flushing one and all. We succeeded only in capturing one bird. Perhaps, if we had waited for several hours, until the birds had had an opportunity to settle down we would have captured more of them. Just our presence in the vicinity, while landing the Sixty Tens, was enough to drive most of them away from the roost. If we are successful in visiting this island when there is no moon we'll be able to find large numbers of this species - otherwise it is virtually impossible to capture more than a few. February 14 Erdeby Island Max went out to the ship to centrifuge the blood at 0800. I rented the crew out and put Larry on skinning out bird specimens. The rest of us began putting colored plastic stickers on sheets Finjetelink - slow work at boat. At noon we quit to eat lunch and rest up a bit before going back out. The ship's shore party came in at 1330 and we knocked off work and joined them. The after- noons are entirely too hot for handling birds sitting on egg or small chicks. Max informed me, upon his return, that the captain had told him the ship was on alert because of the present situation in Viet Nam and might be ordered to return to Pearl Harbor in the very near future. I hope this doesn't happen before we reach Pago Pago because our mail will be then waiting for me.
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Hackman, C.D. 1965 Journal 56 February 14 Endeavor Island From what Max said the order to return to Pearl Harbor may come at any moment - we hope not! For the second day in a row the ship let a sixty member come to shore for a beach party. Twenty of them arrived around noon armed with bags for sea- shells, fish rods and 5 cases of beer and 1 case of root beer. By 4:15 when they departed, they were well pickled and lorisitons. Fortunately there is no surf to speak of - if there had been they would have been creamed. In the evening, after it started to cool down again, Max and I went to the small Sooty Tern colony on the south end and banded 99 chicks. Fifty of these were checked for wing mould. On the way back we stopped and checked a Brown Booby nest in which there were two small nestlings. The smallest of the two nestlings had been pushed out of the nest. But since none of us had ever seen how the smaller of the two chicks was removed we decided to mess around a little. The small chick was replaced in the nest and this drew an immediate reaction from the other. By shoving, grabbing a flap of skin and flapping and by dragging, which method seemed to provide the best results, the larger chick promptly ejected the smaller one. It took little more than a minute for the small bird to be completely ejected from the nest. The small chick was too weak to walk still or scramble back into the nest so its fate is simply to sit outside of the nest until it dies of exposure and or
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Hachson, C.D. 1965 February 14 Endaburg Island 57 Journal Starvation or both. Our curiosity now fully aroused (for a change) we took the large bird out of the nest and replaced it with the small, weak one. The large chick immediately began protesting by clucking loudly and persistently but it made no attempt to move. When the parent returned to the nest it settled down on the small chick and completely ignored the large, more healthy one a outside of the nest. When the large chick saw the parent settle down on the nest it began dragging ad flapping itself forward [illegible] until, finally, it succeeded in getting back into the nest and under the parent. But we learned the small bird again returned to the nest. After dark we split into two groups this land Red-fostered Boolbies and Sooty Terns - one group gone up to the gum trees pile on the north end and the still out to the clumps of Cordia in the south central portion of the island. The moon is completely full tonight so hunting should be lots of fun and full of laughter. Happy Valentine's Day! Sacked out at midnight.
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Harbor, C.B. 1965 February 15 Journal Erubing Island 58 Got up at 0700 and walked up to the large frigate colony in Messerschmidt at the north end of the island. In the next two and one half hours we banded our 200 Asth Frigates and put plastic streamers on each wing. The color pattern for the island is: Right wing - Blue, left wing - White. On the way back Larry and I walked through the lagoon looking for Common Noddy and Gray-backed Tern nests. We didn't find any Gray-backed Tern nests on the islets in the lagoon but there were a few Common Noddys eggs and nestlings. It was really hot blustering hot this afternoon so we didn't do anything between 1 and 4 pm. The ship's third duty section came in for its first beach party at 1 p.m. and stayed until 4:30 p.m. At 5 pm we walked down to like two small Sooty Tern colonies and managed to net 300 birds before dark. This colony has extremely small young and a number of eggs that are pippled. Tonight we'll attempt to work the Blue-faced Boobies but don't expect to have very much success. Last night we caught a few but had no luck at all when we tried to work groups containing more than two adults or three birds. This evening we looked at the nest from which we had evicted the large Brown Booby chick last night. Both chicks were being brooded by the parent sow to our surprise.
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Heuveling, C.D. 1968 February 15 Journal Evolving Island 59 While landing and working Great Frigates we have come across a number of young male sexually mature birds. These birds which could probably be considered as subadults still show some of the immature plumage on the throat and breast. The gular pouch is developed but not to the full extent of the adult males. This pouch is also a pale red, not like that of the adult bird. At least 15 of these young males were observed on nests with eggs. Normal pattern for adults on southern islands. Galar pouch white black Great Frigate (subadult male) After dark we went out in the full moonlight and attempted to work the Blue-footed Boobies. We got 5 birds out of the first club and 3 out of the second. It was fruitless from the start. After 2 hours of thrashing around we had managed to capture and band less than 20 birds. We finally ended up with a total of 68 returns for the evening.
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Hochman, O.D. 1965 February 14 Journal Erub Island Up at 8 a.m. with not a great deal to do since we've already searched through the nesting colonies of all species present several times. A fine day but it is entirely too bright from island when there is a full moon. You just can't accomplish a great dea except repeat the birds. Birding is almost impossible and thoroughly frustrating. If we had hit this island when it was in full darkness we could easily have landed 30,000 birds. As it is we have expended enough effort to have done so but have only landed about 3,000. The lagoon is still only about 1/2 full of water. In most places the water depth is only about 6 inches. The island's vegetation is in fair shape. Flowering species include: Portulaca, Sesuvium, Sida and Triumfetta. The Crocosmia, Lepistuma and Digitaria, apparently suffering from recent dryness, are just now starting to send up some new leaves. Several patches of Talinum that were found looked healthy but were not blooming. The Epomies in the rock piles is in full bloom as is the Cordia in the grove in the interior of the island. The large clump of Mesoschmidtia on the east shore of the island is in excellent condition and blooming. Boehmeria is also in full bloom. Tonight we'll have about 1 hour between the sunset and the moonrise but this won't be sufficient time for me to accomplish much of anything. Throughout our entire stay we've had moonlight for the whole night. Tomorrow we'll leave here to spend one day on Canton Island before heading for Pago Pago.
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Hackerman, C.P. 1965 Journal 61 February 16 Edelney Island Before the moon came up we decked around and mirrored to band 15 Blue-footed boobies and captured 101 terns. This was accomplished in about 35-40 minutes. As soon as the moon came up the birds became impossible to capture. While banding Red-footed Boobies in the Cordia grove near the guano heap we found a few chicks. There did not appear to be a large population. Amazingly enough, we have found no chicks in either of the two small Sooty Tern colonies on the south end of the island nor here we found any chicks on the birds that were handled on the north end of the island. It would be interesting to see if the chick population in the Cordia grove (which is right beside one of the tern colonies) suddenly increases in number as more and more chicks are hatched in the tern colony.
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Hachima, C.D. 1965 Journal 63 February 12 - 16 Endabury Island Summary Audubon's Shearwater - 4 birds seen (1 collected, 2 banded) on guano pile on north end of island. Wedge-tailed Shearwater - 1 seen offshore at dusk on February 16. Red-tailed Tropicbird - 7 nests (6 with eggs). 23 banded 1 return. Estimated - 50+ birds. Counting and inspecting nest sites. Blue-faced Booby - 6 nests with eggs, 12 nests with young. 59 total banded, 279 returns, 1 recovery. 800 estimated population. Brown Booby - [illegible] banded, 34 returns. 32 nests with eggs, 9 nests with young. Estimated 150+. Red-footed Booby - 185 nests with eggs, 150 nests with nestlings. 369 banded, 248 returns. Estimated 1200. Sooty Tern - estimated 85,000 in 5 colonies all with freshly hatched chicks and eggs. 2 collected. 4351 banded, 10 returns Arny-backed Tern - 500 along east shore of lagoon. a few on eggs. Common Noddy - 200 birds roosting and nesting on islets in the lagoon. 26 nests with eggs, 11 with small chicks, 7 with large nestlings. Hawaiian Noddy Tern - estimated 4,000 roosting in Cordia near guano heap. 15 nests with eggs, 1 small nesting + 14 adults banded.
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Hudson C.P. 1965 Journal 64 Feb. 12 - 16 Crabbing Island Summary Blue-faced Mody Tern - 2 for seen roosting on Seamen. Estimated -- 15-20. Fairy Tern - 5 seen at one time near Lardin grove in the interior of the island. Greater Frigatebird - 1310 nests with eggs, 21 nests with small nestlings. Many eggs popped. Estimated 6,000 adults and immatures. 293 banded and marked with plastic streamers on each wing (Blue on right wing and white on left) 2 bird returns also marked with streamers) Lesser Frigatebird - Not nesting at present. Estimated 500 adults and immatures being isled at present. Ruddy Turnstone - 553 counted on an island circuit Wandering Tattler - 61 counted on an island circuit Bristle-th, Curlew - 44 counted on an island circuit Shore Plover - 78 counted on an island circuit Sandpiper - 6 counted on an island circuit. Banding Adult Subadult Nestling Terns Und. Return Recovery Specimen Blue-faced Booby 235 2 191 14 5 279 1, Brown Booby 20 1 3 2 1 '34 Red-footed Booby 225 4 20 248 4 Greater Frigatebird 293 2 Red-tailed Tropicbird 22 1 1 Sooty Tern 1552 2799 10 Hawaiian Mody 14 1 Anderson's Shearwater 2 1 Total 2211 2 2895 36 1 574 1+4 [small 5144]
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Hacksman, C.D. 1965 Journal 65 February 21-25 Pago Pago, Amer. Samoa Arrived at 0900 on Sunday, February 21 which was one day before we were expected by the people in officialdom - even though they had received and acknowledged several messages from the ship giving the 21st as the date. The first part of the stay was devoted to trip records and reports. The last two days were given over to correspondence, reading and lots of ice cream. As usual, nothing of an exciting nature occurred during our stay. Departed for Fakaofu Island in the Tokelan Group at 0900 on February 25.... back to work! Observations Reef Heron - 15 reported roosting on the small island named Chinaman's Hat. I collected. Blue Gray Nody Tern - Common Noddy Tern - Present in small numbers on small islands along coast line. Greater Frigatebird - 3 over Pago Pago Harbor - Feb. 24. Fairy Tern - present - no estimate White-t. Tropiebird - present - no estimate. Wadget. Shearwater - 15 seen offshore on Feb. 21 Red-f. Booby - 45 offshore Feb. 21.
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Anderson's Steamster - I seen off shore on Feb. 21. about 1 mile off shore of Tutuila...
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Kochran, C.D. 1965 March 7 Journal Enroute to Jamaica Our originally scheduled time of arrival has been set back 3-4 hours because of repeated engine failures. Certain critical engine parts are apparently in bad shape and there are few spare parts available. The engines have been changed over 4 or 5 times today already because of the constant breakdowns. We have also been going straight into the wind and the sea which has caused some lost time. Arrival time is now somewhat uncertain but hopefully it will be early enough for me to get on the island today. Chalk up another stunning triumph for the super-expensive but clumsily thorough and efficient Pearl Harbor shipyard crews. After the last trip I had requested that the door on the lab be removed. Work orders were sent in and a crew worked on the door - judging from past experiences it was probably a full 12 man crew and the job only took three days. Apparently, they tightened up the screws and creaked nuts - pretty here and there and called it another job well done. As the result the door fell off! The idiots didn't do a thing to the section that needed the attention. Tightened screws just don't hold a thing when the metal all around them is completely broken off - as this was. The ship's crew obligingly drilled 2 holes in the lab and riding the door in about 20 minutes - without a work order, without charge - and most important - properly!
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"Hachiman" 1965 March 7 Journal Janus Island Finally sighted the island at 3:45 pm about 4 hours later than originally scheduled. This delay was due partly to the engine troubles, partly to the wind and waves and partly to a strong current. We ate dinner off at 4:30 and then quickly loaded the boats and headed in for shore. The twin channels looked fairly rough but not too bad from the ship. When we got in close they looked bad. Luckily for us, there was a long interval between waves as well as a calm period that lasted from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 minutes. The biggest shock was the shoreline. On our two previous visits here the twin channels and the beach have been solid sand. This time a high rock shelf was exposed on the shoreline of both channels. There has apparently been a great deal of rough surf along the east shore of this island during the past three months. The landing, once an easy one, is now definitely dangerous because of the exposed rocks on the shore. Since it was late in the evening and the surf was running up to 10-12 feet in the channels we sent both boat crews out in one boat. This was also done because one of the boats is missing two of its cross panels which makes it unstable and definitely unsafe in rough surf. We waited until there was a calm period and sent them on their way and they had no trouble getting out of the channel even though the motor failed to start.
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Hickson, C.D. 1965 March 7 Journal Jervis Island Since the surf is so bad we have decided to eliminate as many boat runs as possible. Fortunately, the navigation lights aren't needed as boat runs aren't mandatory. We'll probably blood sample on the last night and hope that the surf has abated by the time we are ready to leave. We're all very happy that this will be the last surf island on this trip - we've all been seasick enough already to make this quite a memorable trip. Again, as on all the other islands, the Blue- faced Booby population is [illegible] well below that of previous visits. Only five clus[?] with about 200 birds each, were nesting on this island this evening. None of these clus held too well even after the new moon had set and it was pitch dark. To our great disappointment there is no active Sooty Tern colony at present although there are thousands in the air over the island. Max found an abandoned tern colony in the interior near the guano diggings that was full of rotten eggs. Since we arrived so late it was impossible to check the previous tern colony site for indications of breeding success or failure. Only a few rats were seen during the first evening's landing but these were extremely wary and impossible to approach. Two skittles were located in a den in the guano diggings and both were dispatched. No other cats were killed although an effort was made.
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March 7 Journal Jervis Island The vegetation on the island is still in a sorry state. The only green visible is that of the Salsolaceae that is located in the interior. Every- thing else, with the exception of scattered clumps of Tribulus and Baccharis, is burned off and brown. The Tribulus spines, thoroughly dried out and very light in weight, are maddening. One can't walk more than five feet in some areas without getting several down the back of each shoe which can be somewhat painful at times. Everywhere one looks are large numbers of dead Dermestid beetles. This island had a large thriving Dermestid population on our previous visits here. These large numbers were made possible by the large numbers of birds killed by the cats. Now with the cats nearly killed off and the terrible carrage reduced there is nothing to support such an enormous population so, apparently, they are now dying in large numbers. We found several very large soft-bodied ticks crawling about on the floor of the house this evening. These ticks are if true the same of the ones encountered on McKean Island. One and all, we're thankful that they aren't as plentiful as they were on McKean. An effort will be made to make a live collection during our four nights here. This is the first time we have observed ticks on this island- (I think.) Sacked out at .0315.
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"Harborom, C.P. 1965 March 8 Journal Jervis Island 93 Back up at 0650 for a radio check with the ship during which I requested that we boat run be attempted because of surf conditions. Since the captain wasn't up yet the ships wouldn't commit itself on the matter so I had to stand by on the radio until 0710. At that time they request another radio check for 1200 Hanna for a final report on the surf. My one toe felt miserable in my regular tennis shoes so I borrowed a pair of Jo Paul Woodwards which are 3 ½ sizes larger. Since the entire side was out of those creases walking was something less than a delight because of the swelling and one Trilobite again that little the ground. My other cut outs and injection are showing signs of healing but this pusser in optional slow. Both Max and I we attempting to keep these cuts open and draining so that they will heal completely rather than ulcerate deeply as our other cuts did. The ulcerated cuts, can be and are extremely painful and sensitive at times. Hopefully, another week will see the last of the worst ones we have. Operating under the rain assumption that all growing boys need at least 6 hours of sleep, I sacked back out at 0718 - finally getting up at 10:30am. We hung around camp doing odds and ends until the 1200 radio check and then went out to make a nesting survey of the island. I didn't get too far because of my aching toe so I puttered around with stick insects and Red-tailed Trogloclides along the leeward side to the north end and to the quays diggings in the interior.
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Hockers, U.D. 1965 March 8 Journal Jennie Island 94 Further comments on vegetation: Abutilon spp is almost completely gone and is represented only by one scrappy plant that is in bloom near the Lighthouse. Gleipostema species, found on the February 1964 visit, is still not in evidence anywhere in the interior. Aside from the Sesamum in th interior the only plants that are in good condition are those along the beach crest. These species, which are all in bloom, include; Boerhavia (large variety), both species of Portulaca, Tribulus and Sida. Only in a few places has any healthy looking Eriogonum been found. Tribulus is thriving in the old quarry chippings where it is in thick green mats covering sections up to 100 square feet. Tropicbirds and all other species, except the th. (Mcpt+Brown Booby, are quite inactive. Only three Tropicbird nests (1 egg, 2 large nestlings) were found although about 50 birds are engaged in aerial counting near the lighthouse. Red-f. Boobies and Blue-faced Boobies are at a low point in their breeding cycles. Last night was rather strange or irrefrag as club behavior was concerned. All of the Blue-faced Booby clubs bolted rapidly even though we didn't disturb tem until an hour after the new moon had set. It was quite dark but still they bolted. Four different people worked the five clubs all with the same result. Paradoxically, the two Red-footed Booby clubs (that were roiled well) Manfully, Normally, Red- footie perine and despises at the
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"Jackson, C.D. 1965 Journal 95 March 8 Jarvis Island Slightest disturbance even on the darkest of nights. We have no explanation for the complete reversal in club habits of these two species. It is predictable, however, that, since the Blue-footed Boobies were so grumpy on the first encounter, they will be equally injudicious to do anything wild by the fourth night here. This coupled with the small population that is present doesn't speak too well for our chances of finding large number of Blue-footed Boobies during this visit. The enormous cloud of Sooty Terns that has been hanging on the island - often at extreme heights - shows some signs of coming down to the ground. On several occasions today part of the flock came as noisily down and hovered a few feet from the ground. Just at dusk a large number of birds settled on the ground momentarily before taking flight again. This is typical pre-nesting behavior an [illegible] on these dry islands. While on the subject of Sooty Terns, the nesting colony that was just starting during our Navajo visit (in the exterior, on the windward half) as well as a more recent colony up near the gummy diggups failed. Large numbers of broken and rotted eggs litter the ground in both areas. Signs of extremely heavy surf in the recent past are abundant along the entire length of the leeward shore. The beach drift line extends up onto the beach crest. Many of the rocks previously used by Red-tailed Tropicbirds for nesting sites are now almost completely buried by sand. Along the beach near the two channels a
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Haddon C.P. 1965 March 8 Journal Janic Island solid shelf of rock that extends for 40 feet above the low water mark has been completely exposed which makes landings a little hazardous. Near the lighthouse was a pile of about 100 coconuts and there were [illegible] signs of beach erosion. Some signs that water had run on the beach crest this At least two letters of Skittles have been killed, located and killed and 5 adults have been killed. In walking around the island last night I saw only two cats in 6 hours. There are still apparently still enough cats present to affect the destruction of Sooty Terns on this island. The surf abated today so we plan to blood sample tonight. Last night there was a wind shift back to the round easterly trades which has helped smooth the seas, and thus the surf, out quite a bit. If the wind and seas hold we shouldn't have any serious problems with the surf. After dark I rosted around in rubbish piles and in messy vegetation for concentrations of Ticks. About 1-2 hours of searching, some of which was spent at the Loves Frigate colony, failed to turn up anything. Two live ticks were found inside the lab building later on. We all cooked out until 10:30 p.m. and then got up to do some blood sampling. Getting 100 samples (25 Red-foot, 20 Skittles, 25 Loves Frigate and 30 Sho-f. bosky) took all of us until 1 a.m. Since it was threatening rain again (which had a hard but brief shower earlier in the evening)
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Hachiman, S.D. 1965 Journal 97 March 8 Jamie Deland We were tired to camp and sacked out. Because my toe hurts so bad in my shoe, I have borrowed a pair of Ralph's while as a size larger. Originally I was wearing a [illegible] of Paula which are 3/2 size larger. The net result shoulder a stiffening up of my ankle from walking differently so that now into a toes up as to which side worse - the toe or the ankle. Life gets quite unusable out here if you do anything to hurt your foot. Cuts quickly become painful, slow healing infections. The simple act of wearing shoes is insufficient irritation to keep most of the infections from healing. Once you get an infection you get carried in the vicious circle in which you spend half of your time treating your wounds and the other half in irritating them and making them worse. The bird situation here is bad. Only three clubs formed up tonight - amounting to about 700 birds (as compared to 5 clubs for 1200 birds last night.) The beach crest on the Leeward side is almost completely devoid of Blue-faced Boobies tonight. I'm beginning to wonder where they all are because we've seen very few Blue-faced at sea this trip. They must have all found an island somewhere else where they're safe from our midnight assaults.
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Harbor, C.D. March 1 Journal Janus Island Merrell went out on a blood run at 0800. The boat had no difficulty whatever because there is now a calm period lasting up to five minutes. When we blood sampled the Lesser Frigatebirds last night we found that most had very badly infected tarsus due to improper banding. On the last trip the Army photographers banded several Lesser Frigatebird on this island and apparently set the birds improperly on the tarsus. Most of these birds should be away from their nests and gone by now but all they do is sit around [illegible] and talk. Most of them are very light in weight and heavily soiled from their own droppings. I don't that more than half will survive. Apparently, Janus is on the upswing again since as rainfall is concerned. We have had frequent but brief showers throughout our stay. As the result the vegetation along the beach crest is beginning to show some signs of renewed vigor. Haber shot one cat last night - a lactating female. Last night Haber complained of headache and nausea. He said his tongue was swollen at the base and that the big lymph glands in his groin were swollen. On top of this he has an odd cough so at 1300 we sent him to the ship to be checked out by the medic. This may be due to the bad infection he has on his leg or may stem from something entirely different.
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Harlow, C.D. 1965 March 3 Journal Janus Island Max and I both still have a number of bad coral infections on our feet and legs. Some of the soreness is slowly going out of mine but they are beginning to heal from the bottom up. I have also been having some trouble with the lymph glands in my groin. This is nothing new, however, since on every Trip, once I acquired some coral infections, the same thing has happened. My infections this time have been more painful, extensive and slower healing than previous trips. I have just about reached the point from which I'll be awfully damned glad when this trip is over. I'm getting tired of sore feet, sore legs and sore groin because all combine to make life miserable. Aside from walking around observing and taking notes there isn't much else to keep me busy during the daylight hours. Especially since most of us have our delightful little aches and pains. There are no troopelands to speak of. The frigates are quite crossed and very spooky so we're not going to attempt to wing tag them. Almost no boobies are on the island during the day and small birds are nonexistent. The surf is far too rough to look for cootersmates on this island. So we will almost try to loaf away all day long. The boat brought Merrill back in at 1300 and went out with Hoke. Larry didn't look too red hot when they left. The boat had no trouble at all with the surf.
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Hachman, C.D. 1965 March 8 Jervis Island Paul made a shorebird count this morning (dressed as usual in sweaters + jockey shorts) and found only two species present: Golden Plover (25) and Wandering Tattler (3). This is an extremely low shorebird total for an island of this size. It is very interesting to note that there are no Ruddy Turnstones or Bristle-thighed Sandpipers present. On previous visits the shorebird totals have been quite respectable. Paul noted that a few of the Golden Plovers were nearly in full breeding plumage. (I wonder if high rates in the recent past account for the low total?) Cast hunting during the day produced only one more cast - another lactating female. Sacked out early in the evening and got up at 10:30 to go out birding. I hounded until 4 a.m. and managed to get 99 birds with my shoddy footwear and blazing speed. By 4am I had one solid cramp in my left foot so I hobbled back to the house and called it a night. The toe is feeling better with each passing day. Tonight I covered about 3 1/2 miles before the toe acted up too much. The lymph gland on my left side has lost all of its soreness and swelling. Now the one on my right side is the only one that is bothering me. She net result seems to be a general overall feeling of tiredness and total lack of energy. In spite of the fact that I had about 9 hours of sleep today I was worn out by 12am. If it doesn't improve tomorrow I'll go out to the ship and take the rest cure with Beat Fisher who has been restricted to the ship for two days by the medic.
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"Hachson, C. D. 1965 Journal 101 March 9 Janus Island Pete was running a temperature and had an infection in one of his lymph glands as the media grabbed him. Saw only one cut during my rounds tonight. As soon as my light hit it the cat turned and ran. This afternoon Al Damelson found and collected a few trinkets for me. These came from a clump of Lepturus. These trinkets seem to be most prevalent on Red footed Booby chicks and nests. Sacked out at 0500 just at false dawn. March 10 Janus Island Last night the Blue-faced Boobies weren't very common on the south end of the island. At 5 p.m. a Scrubjungle count turned up only 150 birds on the south end from a point even with the house to the southern beach crest. Only two clubs formed up late in the evening. Red-footed Boobies formed up in two very large clubs on the interior on the south end and again held pretty still. The Red-foot club held better than the Blue faced for some reason or other. The situation is contrary to all previous experiences with these two species. Solitary Blue-faced Boobies, although widely scattered, have been more profitable to work than the large clubs though for this point. With the [illegible] cats as wary as they are it isn't too likely that we'll be able to wipe out the remaining ones on this point. But maybe they run as soon as a light hits them even if they're to miles away from the light. These cats are almost impossible to catch up with because they are in such excellent condition.
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Nashua, N.H. 1965 March 10 Journal Jamaica Island We awoke this morning to the delightfully inspiring sound of enormous surf pounding upon the shore. We jumped out of bed, ran to the door and sure enough: there it was - enormous surf! The miserable wind has shifted back to the NE and is running about 25 mph. Even though the sea is calm on this side of the island there is a tremendous ground swell and this is really pounding on the shore. On the southwest end of the island there is at least a 25 foot wave breaking and leaving beautiful rosette tails as it races in. If the surf looks like this tomorrow we won't be going anywhere. The waves are breaking in the mouth of the channel and since there is no current whatsoever, the channel is literally one big mass of boiling water. This surf makes [illegible] make the rough stuff we hit on Bona look like a dead calm. Spent the better part of the day rooting around through Lepidurus for live tricho. By pulling up entire plants and then pounding them on a flat rock I managed to collect about 80 tricho in 3 hours of actual searching. Once placed in a jar and moistened the tricho become quite active. A short while ago several waves threw water up the beach to within 100 feet of the house. These waves are already coming up about 150 feet of the beach and it is still far from tide. The ships made the 1500 radio check and announced briefly that the boat would be in at 0700 to pick us up. Mom just laughed at them. We will wait until tomorrow morning
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"Hackman, G.D. 1965 Journal 103 March 10 Jarvis Island To see what the surf is like before deciding what to do. If it is still as rough as it is now we certainly don't intend to try going through it. The waves are breaking 10-15 feet high at the mouth of the channel 128 feet out from shore and since there is no long interval where tides will get wiped out for certain. We can either wait the surf out here on this island to the detriment of the schedule or we can land all of our gear clean across the island to a channel that is calm (but full of 7 foot gray sharks). This would mean carrying all of the gear about 1 3/4 miles but, all things considered, that would probably be better than waiting for the surf on this side to abate. The really odd thing about this surf is that on the leeward side, where it is the worst, the sea looks perfectly calm. There hasn't been a whitewash seen all day long. There must be a big storm somewhere to the north and west of here that is generating this end. It will be interesting to check the weather reports if and when we get back to the ship. (Checked later - no storms) Docked in until 12:30 am and then launched until dawn. March 11 Jarvis Island There were some big clubs of blue-foot boobies on the island when we started out boarding. About 1:30 am it started to blow real hard and then the rain came down pretty heavy. We thought this would be like all of the other brief showers that had occurred during our stay as we kept on boarding for a while. Yet, about 15
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Harbors, C.I.D 1965 Journal 104 March 11 Jarvis Island minutes of very heavy rain and strong winds we realized it wasn't going to stop for a while. By this time our headlamp cords were stretched and our lights were all sitting on the bridge of our rows and we were completely soaked and chilled. The rain lasted for about 45 minutes and must have amounted to 2 inches or so. We returned to camp, changed clothes, repaired our headlamps and went out again only to find that the blue-faced skua were extremely nervous and quick to take flight. Worse, we thrashed around in the skua until dusk dawn when everything became impossible to capture - due partly to another rain shower. In the first light of dawn Dick and I went to see a look at the "shank" channel on the east end of the island. It was loaded with black finned skua's and was almost completely calm except for some chop offshore it looked very good. When returned to camp at 9000 the surf was still piling into the west shore 10-15 feet high. Then, using a sled Dick had improvised, we hauled our raft and all of the gear on to the Southwest shore twice, loaded the raft up and then began pulling it along the south shore hunting for a channel. We couldn't find any channels that looked good. The entire bottom along the south shore was covered with algae and was sloping. Since there was no good footing, we were afraid we couldn't hold the raft in one of the channels in the face of the 8-10 foot waves that were pounding in. So we kept on going around to the east shore - about 2 miles - to the shank channel
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Hachman, C.D. 1965 Journal 105 March 11 Jervis Island that had been calm earlier in the morning. It took us until 9:30 am to reach the east shore. The ship sent the other boat in to meet us as soon as we cleared the channel. Since we had a makeshift rig we had all sorts of problems: 1) the raft with the two seat sections missing, 2) only 2 paddles (and 3 boards we picked up for that purpose) and 3) a partly deflated boat and 4) 1 broken strap on the motor mount which had been replaced by several pieces of mylar cord. So in spite of this we charged out into the channel started the motor and started moving. At the mouth of the channel the motor mount gave way (helped by the fact that the boat was partly deflated) and the motor was drowned out completely. Everyone started paddling frantically with boards and paddles until the other boat came in and threw us a line and started towing. Just as it looked like we were clear and had made a clean getaway a 10 or so foot wave roared in from nowhere and almost upset both boats. We Fortunately, the wave wasn't breaking or we would have had it. At this point we were about 250 yards off- shore directly opposite from some very high surf. If we had lost the motor or had been dumped at this point we would have had it. Eventually we got out to the ship and were taken aboard safely. At that we all shared a sigh of relief... The rubber raft we used was completely demolished by on this around the very edge of the reef. It had about 25 holes in its bottom - some as large as a man's head. After a morning like this we were all completely exhausted so it didn't take us very long to cash out.
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Hackerew, C.P. 1965 March 12 Journal Mota Uva, Christmas Island 106 Arrived off of London at 0800 and dropped the anchor shortly afterward. Max, Paul and Al Samuelson loaded their gear into the motor whaleboat and headed for the main landing. The rest of us loaded our gear into the rubber raft and headed for Mota Uva, arriving there at 11:30am. We ate lunch and then conducted an island survey. Very few Red-tailed Tropicbirds were present. Phoenix Island Petrels were flying over the island in large numbers in the middle part of the day - estimated 2000. Christmas Blakes not common in the interior of the island during the day - fairly common around the edges. At 1600 we began blood sampling, doing Phoenix Island and Christmas Blanks. Obtaining 30 samples for each again took until 1900 mainly because the Christmas blanks weren't very abundant. Stopped and turned to boarding at 1900. We plan to obtain additional samples on both Cook Island and Mota To'olm. Boarding went well but though some were still stiff and tired from yesterday's long boat trek around Jennie. On the way into the lagoon channel we encountered a group of approximately 400 of the small dolphin species. This same species was present here last March, but was not seen in June or in November. This dolphin is very small (4-5 feet), silvery in coloration and very acrobatic in behavior. They are always encountered in the shallows over the breakers between Cook Island and the London boat landing. They repeatedly leap out of the water and survive several times before falling back in. They also dive another out of the water entire that occurs with regularity. This is a rather stiff,
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Honolulu, C.T. 1965 General 107 March 12 Motu Upea, Christmas Island arch backed posture that is both illustrated then described. The dolphin raises up in the path so that 3/4 of its length is exposed. The belly is slightly bowed, the head is held high and the entire body is rigid. Once the momentum of the thrust has been lost the dolphin, still rigid, topples forward onto its belly. While coming through the channel we had then 15 to 20 deep in all sides of the rubble reef-forming close enough to the side to be touched with a short paddle. When undisturbed these dolphins spend a great deal of time in the shallows, floating with their dorsal fins exposed, apparently basking and relaxing in the sun. They can be observed jumping throughout the day. On Motu Upea, Drick Merrill found a Phoenix Island sea-egg that was paper thin and rubbery like one of a reptile. The egg had numerous dents and screeves so we broke it to inspect the contents. The egg was not incubated but was apparently fertile. Merrill finished his string and cached out at 11:45 because she had to make the flood run. Ralph quit around 12:30. Huba and I kept boarding until 3:15 am. Saw a big turtle here and there but could find no concentrations. March 13 Cook Island, Christmas Island Got up at 0600 and headed back to the main join to drop Merrill off and then headed for Cook. Had camp set up by 1000 and Huba and Ralph cached out. I wandered around the island looking shells and cols with a net until 12 and then returned to wake up the other two in order to send them after Merrill. Then at 1300 I cached out for an hour.
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"Jackson, C.D. 1965 March 13 Journal Cook Island Christmas Island There are Sooty Terns in the interior on the south end of Cook - we did them - but apparently they aren't nesting. Whether or not they are nesting doesn't much matter because of the moonlight. Since the moon will be up for all but about 1 hour tonight, the sooties will be virtually impossible to band. Later this evening we hope to be able to get enough for 2-50 blood samples and possibly a few more to band. Tonight we'll just fresh around all over the island checking anything we happen to run across. There are lots of odds and ends on this island that we've never had time (or bothered) to band so tonight we'll work them in as well as possible. We had intended to do some diving in the lagoon off of Cook Island for 3 months but won't due to the strong winds. A steady 20-30mph wind has created 1 foot waves and has churned the water too much for good visibility. The entire lagoon, on this side of the atoll, is very murky at the present time. At 3pm Ralph and I headed south to band Red-tailed Tropicbirds and any shearwaters and petrels we could capture while Huber went north. A total of 10 Tropicbirds were found. Hawaiian Noddy Terns are rebuilding their nest, a few already have eggs and 3-4 small chicks were found. A few recently fledged Common Noddys are scattered here and there on the island. About 200 Sooty Tern nestings were working about in the actual underbrush on the south end and of these projects were all injured and on the verge of destruction - the leftovers from the last breeding colony. There are about 14 extra Tern nestlings on the north beach.
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Hachman, C.P. 1965 Journal 110 March 14 Mota Lalo, Christmas Island Since it was low tide and there wasn't any need to hurry over to Mota Talo we all slept late this morning. Finally got up at 0900 and broke camp. The trip to Mota Talo was, as usual, a rough one directly into the wind and the waves. It took 1 1/2 hours to make the trip and we all got soaked because of two-foot waves being generated by the storm winds. The vegetation on all of these small islands has been lush and green with most species in full flower. Recent rainfall here, apparently, been good. The coconut palms, however, are brown and unhealthy in appearance suggesting that over a long period of time that the total rainfall hasn't been sufficient. Coconuts that we broke open contained very little milk for their size. Tonight we'll have a full moon for the entire night so aside from the observations and pictures, we'll just be able to bird a few sides and sides as we did on Cook Island. Phoenix Island Petrels are everywhere on this island. Martins are rare, just about every bird. With this population it shouldn't be too difficult to band over 100 tonight in spite of the nearly full moon. Christmas Islands are very scarce except on the east end of Mota Talo so we probably won't band more than 100 or so. Tonight we took out of number 4 banders [illegible] I tried the number 5 size on the Phoenix Islands and found that it slid off the foot with ease. The number 3 ring gave most of the Phoenix Islands very nicely if it was put on carefully. All the ones I tried spun freely on the turners and should not effect the bird.
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Journal 1965 March 14 Moth Tabu, Christmas Island in any way although they may wear faster than the number 4's that are normally used for this species. From the look of it at the number 3A band would fit the Phoenix Islands better than a number 4 band. It will be interesting on future trips to see if the number 3 bird does wear faster than the number 4 band. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters are quite abundant along the north and west shores and in the interior of the island in the Leptinus area. On Moth Upu'a there is very little Leptinus and the Wedge-Tail population is quite spotty. We ran out of #4's around 11 p.m. and switched to the number 3 bands just long enough to wrap up all of the incomplete straps on hand. Finished banding at midnight and racked out promptly because we have to break camp around 6 a.m. in order to get back to the dock by 8 a.m. March 15 Moth Tabu and Enroute to Palmyra Island Up at 0620 and quickly broke camp. In the boat heading for the dock at 0705. This morning was beautiful with very little wind and almost no waves in the lagoon - a condition we've seldom seen here. There was a large storm brewing to the east of us as we shoved off for the pier on the mainland but it didn't catch up with us. We rode the whaleboat out to the ship (pulling two rubber rafts). Underway for Palmyra by 0945. Did page-work and came aboard and into before sailing out at 1320.
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"Harden, C.D. 1965 Journal March 16 Palmyra Island Sighted Palmyra around midday and cast the whaleboat in with the crew around 1400. That night I went to see the ship's corpsman about my coal infections and he immediately placed me on restriction for the duration. So now in addition to a daily shot of penicillin I have to soak the infections on both legs in hot water both morning and evening. Each bath is followed by a slightly painful session during which the infection has to be scraped out of the wound by means of an Q-tip or through the use of some sort of abrasive object. This creates a bit because the central portions of the infections are extremely tender. Between treatments I am free to do as I wish as my stay on the ship will be devoted to landing records, final packing and complete final trip inventories. March 17 Palmyra Island Spent the entire day carrying gear from the lab down into the afterhold. Four hours were spent in rummaging through all trunks and containers in the afterhold in order to inventory and repair them. A complete bond inventory was made. A note from Mr. Ingersoll said that between 500,000 to 1,000,000 Sooty Terns were coming to roosting on Cayo Island from one end to the other. This I'd like very much to have seen. Couldn't sleep so got up and read a book until 4.2 a.m. March 18 Palmyra Island Unloaded all bulk of the gear from the lab, inventoried and then stacked it away in several trunks and a number
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Hickman, C.D. 1965 Journal 113 March 18 Palmyra Atoll. of ammunition boxes. Just a few items left to be packed away but can't do much more until all of the gear being used by the group ashore is brought back to the ship. Once it is aboard, the rest of the packing can be completed in about 1 hour. The coral infections are showing great improvement. Virtually all of the inflammation is now gone and some of the coralline ones have started to dry up and heal over. The larger and deeper ones are still quite tender but they are also coming along nicely. In another two or three days they should all be well on the way to complete healing. Sacked out at 12. March 19 Enroute to Pearl Harbor Headed for home at least another 3 days should see me there. This morning the whaleboat was sent in to pick up the crew at the first light of dawn. The ship then pulled up anchor and moved on to meet the whale boat as soon as it cleared the reef. Underway, with full power, by 0830. Well, it finally happened on one of these trips. Some of the crewmen were foolish enough to have eaten a fish, a Red Snapper, that was caught from the fantail of the ship. One fellow just started to take a taste and then spit it out because he didn't like the garlic and he was the only one who looked sick. One fellow ate one 2/3 piece and just got an upset stomach.
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"Hachem, C.D. 1965 Journal March 19 Palmyra Island This man ate a club snail within 12 hours he was nauseous. The fourth man went whole hog and ate about a pound of the fish and within 6 hours was in real agony. This morning she was in shock and in extremely bad shape. All of this needless suffering simply because many people just won't believe they are vulnerable to such things. The " it can't happen to me" attitude gets more people in trouble. Throughout this trip we have constantly made it a point to say something about the dangers of fish poisoning to the crewmen wherever they were feeling. Yesterday when the snapper that was eaten was caught someone remarked that they felt it would taste delicious and I stated I wouldn't eat that fish on a bet. Ironically, two of the men who are now below suffering from the very thing I was afraid of were standing there when I made that statement. I certainly hope this isn't a really serious or debilitating dose of the poisoning. This afternoon on the carpenter was giving the fish poisoning victim an injection, the victim had a fit and the needle was knocked off. They rushed him down to the Chief's quarters and operated on his arm to remove the needle. The fellow is now in Kirkpatrick's bed below Fred and me. A bit while ago one of the crewmen slipped on the wet deck & wounded his feet. All sorts of bad things are happening at present. It is certainly a sorry way to end what has otherwise been a very good cruise. Worked on a little packing and inventorying today. Not much to be done now since I packed 9/10 of the gear while the crew was on Palmyra. Ate my fourth diet of penicillin tonight. Sailed out at 0930.
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Holland C.D. 1965 March 20 Journal 115 Cruises to Pearl Harbor I took all morning to get my rough treatment as I didn't get a thing accomplished - not that there is a great deal to be done at this stage of the game. In the meantime Hamber + Woodward joined hands, Merrill puttered around packing navigation lights + Max puttered around with paper work. One fish prowning victim in up and around this morning. The fellow with the worst case is also greatly improved and is feeling pretty chipper this morning. Since the seas are running fairly smooth we have been making excellent time - around 14 knots good. We are already about two hours ahead of schedule. Arrival is set at 1100 on the 27th. More ship problems: one man fell and is believed to have slipped a disk and is now in traction. Another man dropped a bunch of metal trays on his foot and Edwin (illegible) to have broken his toe. The ship's corpsman is about ready to go out of his mind. March 21 Cruises to Pearl Harbor The ATF doldrums have now set in. I have absolutely no ambition and even less inspiration at the present time. All of the trips seem to end this way. As soon as you leave the last island and head for home you begin to relax and then the tired feeling settles in. Beautifully calm sea all day which has permitted me to maintain speed in excess of 13 knots so that we'll arrive at Pearl Harbor and be tied up by 1300 tomorrow.
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