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Transcription
85.
22 Dec. Again gale predicted until after dark. So,
have some time to look about. The weather is still
bad, although the winds have subsided to about 40 mp h.
Rain in small squalls all day, temp low again. In
the afternoon Jim and I climb 2 Casuarina trees looking
into Hawaiian Noddy nests. One nest contained 1 egg,
another nest is empty. It seems as though nesting is
getting underway. Reports of chiks blown out in the
storm, but none seen by me. It is remarkable that
very little damaged hit the Noddies, as they nest
fairly high up in the trees. I saw no destroyed Noddy
nests in the storm, although there were probably a few.
23 Dec. Success! I feel that Kure is home, and it is
sure good to be back. A pleasant relief after Honolulu.
The plane left Midway at 1100, and we arrived convenient
for lunch. Dennis and I checked Laysans after lunch, as
well as Blackfeet. There are 14 of the original
Black-foot nests remaining - the storm really wiped
out the island and these birds - I wouldn't be surprised
at 50 per-cent mortality for their nests. The Scaevola
has been extremely hard hit, and looks as though
burned off. South point is no more. A third plane
for the day landed with our blood equipment, and so
we packed that into shelves and readied it for use.
13 Black-foot eggs were collected for blowing and shipping
back as specimens - they line the beach.
After chow a check on the Blue-faced Boobies. I
still have much transcribing to do. There seems to
be more sexual activity. Sky-pointing was observed
for the first time. Also Bl was in the colony - the
new bird to the island. After dark Dennis and I
painted Red-footed Boobies, banding 11 new ones and
recovering an additional 11 birds.
We collected 25 rats for the month - the are most
numerous, particularly around the building, and easy
to catch.
24 Dec. Activity Study took all day. It is very
windy, and a rain coming out of the east hit us in the
face all day. Very little activity on the roost.
No painted birds seen. GULLS GULLS GULLS. We collected
1 Glaucus-winged Gull, saw another, saw 3 Black-legged