Lehner, Philip N., 1964-1965

Lehner, Philip N., 1940-

Unknown

Smithsonian Institution Archives

Original Source

Source Material:
Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Contributed by Smithsonian Institution Archives. | www.biodiversitylibrary.org

Ornithology Ornithologists Sea birds Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program

Document Pages

136 Pages

Lehner Philip N. 1964 Journal July 10 Awoke to a hot day in Washington after a hot night at a Pacific Project party. Arose at 7:00 A.M. and had finished packing by 7:40. Checked out of the Vivian Hotel with a goodbye snear from madame "blondie" who gives the place the air of a brothel. Took a taxi to the S.I. where everybody was gloriously happy to see that I was finally leaving. Left S.I. about 10:00 A.M., took a taxi to K Street Station, weighed in all my excess baggage, took the bus to Friendship Airport; found a seat on the great metal bird, and prepared to be moved about across the map. Above details: left the S.I. at 10:20 A.M. and took a taxi to Airline Dispatch (12+K); had 22 lbs. overweight luggage; caught the bus and arrived at Friendship at 11:25; departed at 12:00 by United DC-8 for Chicago (Red Carpet Service - good bourbon). Arrived at O'Hare at 12:30 without incident; flight 111 to L.A. was canceled - had to take flight 107 at 4:15 (spent layover in cocktail lounge - kept receipts); left O'Hare at 4:15 by DC-8 for L.A. - flew at 35-39,000 ft, 30% cloud cover throughout the flight; had a beautiful view all the way including the Grand Canyon - took 3 or 4 pictures; stewardess's very friendly, but not going on to Honolulu - they must work seven years with the airlines before they got that hop; departed L.A. by DC-8 at 6:20 - nothing but clouds all the way to Hawaii - (over)

Lehner P. 1968 July 14 - continued flown at 35-39,000 ft.; economy flight - nothing to eat or drink and the stewardesses look like they each had 17 years of service in; Rep. Gill of Hawaii was aboard with some loudmouthed compatriots; arrived at Honolulu International Airport at 8:23 P.M.; met by Dr. Ely, Janet and David; went to Hickam AFB to sign MATS reservations but found SNAFU; must return tomorrow morning and straighten it out; Dr. Ely drove me to the hotel and plans to pick me up tomorrow at 9 A.M.; heard several female voices - and so out on the town!

Lehner, P. 1967 3 July 17 Arose at 5:00 A.M. ; met Dr. Ely while having breakfast in Hotel Coffee Shop; 9:05 A.M. called Pier 39 about MATS reservations - they had no previous reservations for Wirtz or myself ; ~ 9:15 went to Pier 39 with Dr. Ely - saw Mrs. Katherin Pryor - made reservations for July 20 (standby until then) - got Wirtz's reservations for 21 to Midway; directly proceeded to Hickam AFB (on the way saw a couple Brazilian Cardinals Paroaria cristata ; Indian Mynas Acridotheres tristis and Barred Doves Geopelia striata ) got an AEC Security Badge then proceeded to Pearl Harbor - got a temporary gate pass; proceeded to liaison office 14th fleet gymex and met Mr. Brayman ; returned to Hawaiian King Hotel a short time after 12:00 noon (watch is broken - drowned); out to get another watch and lunch - Wirtz arriving at 2:30; I went over to Kalakaua St. and caught a taxi to Ala Moana Shopping Center - bought a watch at Sears (previously called United Air Lines - Wirtz not on 2:30 passenger list); decided to by a pair of "rubber thongs" to help guard my pavement heated dogs; returned to Hawaiian King about 7:00 - found Wirtz already here (I had

Lehner, P. 1964 4 July 17 expected him on the 7:15 United flight) he came in by Pan Am. Left about 7:30 for supper and a few night spots; spent most of the evening sucking up Mai-Tai's and listening to Martin Denny. July 18 uneventful - sightseeing and parties (see page 5) July 19 sightseeing - saw zoo, Honolulu - Hotel St. - watched Mrs. Lee Blears canoe club team (Hui Nalu) get badly beaten in a series of races at Heli Lagoon.- watched submarine races from Ko'ola Head at night - another party across the way. July 20 still waiting for flight to Johnston ran errands at Ala Moana Shopping Center - fascinating lunch at Down Under Bar (conversation was great) - had to make our own party- Chicago girls will never make the grade July 21 still waiting for flight - took Wintz to plane and returned car - talked to Dr. Ely on phone about 10:00 A.M. -

Lehner, P. 1964 5 page 4} July 18. First awoken by drunks trying to get their buddy -who had passed out- out of the hall; back to bed; up at 8:45; out for breakfast at 9:30; July 22 called Pier 39 - still no chance for earlier flight July 23 ~9:30A.M. went to Dr. Ely's to stuff birds - went first to chemical plant to get CCl4 and rotenone - no rotenone - finished eight birds for the four of us (Ken Amerman, Cameron Heyler, Paul Woodward, and myself); met Ron Walker the returned to the Hawaiian Inn; u nventful evening?

Lehner, P. 1964 6 July 24 Woodward came in and woke me about 8 A.M. - raining again as it has for last two days - went to Dr. Ely's to stuff birds but decided it was too wet to work on birds - decided to try some offshore banding - looked for George Alawahimi to get a boat to take us - no luck; we had no choice but to use the rubber raft and so decided to try Black Island off southern coast; went to Ala Moana Shopping Center for lunch and a few odds & ends - then to hotel for field clothes; went to Dr. Ely's for raft and equipment about 2:00 P.M. - got raft pumped at a "filling station" and finally reached launching site (in front of Sea Life Park) about 3 P.M.; the 4 of us (Ken Amerman, Cameron Hepler, Paul Woodward and myself) set out for Black Island in heavy surf about 3:15 - we took on a helluva lot of water in getting out of the surf and then it was paddling against the current almost all the way - it took about H/S min to cover the 3/4 mile distance - we anchored about 50 yards offshore in an area that looked (at the time) to be the best spot to get in - with mask and snorkel Cam surveyed the route in - he told us there were

Lehner, P. 1904 7 July 24 - continued a lot of beautiful fish, a shelf of sharp rock, strong currents, and poisonous sea urchins; with this Paul leaped in and made it to shore without incident - Cam then swam in - Ken and I fooled around the raft a few minutes - Paul found a couple wedgetents so we decided to take the drum ashore which contained our equipment and field clothes; Ken and I set out; he with mask, snorkel and equipment drum, me with his glasses and a mouth full of sea water; by the time we hit the cove a large set of waves had started coming in - Ken released the drum in order to keep from drowning and I foolishly tried to push it on in - I made the mistake of trying to push the drum against the current coming out, the surf going to my left and myself going down; when the surf had finally pushed over near the rocks I said the hell with the equipment drum and tried to save my life; Cam hollered for us to swim against the surf and straight on into the cove - I had lost sight of Ken and decided to

Lehner, P. 1964 8 July 24 - continued take my chances with the rocks where I was headed - after being tossed in and sucked under a couple times, I washed up onto the rocks, grapped hold and scrambled further up before I was sucked out again or hit by another incoming wave - while scrambling up the rocks I stumbled and cut my knee and a finger (the only injuries I suffered in the landing) turning around I saw that Ken had been forced in behind me and except for being tossed around by the surf he was climbing through the rocks in good shape - we unloaded the gear and began banding - we found Wedge-tail Shearwaters in all kinds of habitat - underground burrows, under rocks, under vines and out in the open. found two Bolwer's Petrel chicks, a skink, several individual land crabs, and several Bolwer's Petrel carcasses; we banded about 150 wedge-tails - collated one which I accidentally injured while banding - we returned to the raft without incident, did some skin diving and then headed back - the return was much easier with the help of the current-

Lehner, P. 1949 July 24 - continued We returned in about half the time; on nearing shore we decided to try for a small beach (even though it meant heavy surf) rather than attempt to find the channel among the rocks through which we came out - the surf was up - we managed to ride the surf to the beach area in the surf but had trouble after we abandoned ship at about 35 yards out; the surf threw us in and the undertow dragged us out - with some efforts we managed to make it to shore only to have to explain our unusual maneuvers to three onlookers - it was almost dark when we arrived, so we left none too soon; returned to Dr. Ely's with our bedraggled selves, left the one widgetail, and two paddles, then returned to the hotel - a hasty meal, a bit of scribbling, a couple cool lemons, and so to bed.

Lehmer, P. 1964 10 July 25. took Cam, Ken and Paul to the Univ. of Hawaii at 7:00 to meet friends and go to Coconut Island skindiving; I decided to take some pictures; took pictures along Kalaniamole Highway, up the Pali Hwy. and back to Waikiki Beach; ran into Sandy + Marilyn again in the evening - no sleep - another party in Waikiki International Competition). July 26 met taxi at Hawaiian King at 5:00 A.M.; arrived at Hickam at 5:20 ; upon reaching the counter after a long dreary wait-in-line, I was courteously told that I was not booked for the flight - I flew to ATCO upstairs, woke up the fink on duty and explained the situation; after he had yawned, rubbed his eyes and scratched his chest (which was down around his belt) he proceeded without direction to paw through the papers in front of him (I think he was looking for a cigarette); just then D. Thomas walked in (the "professional filler" who had discussed the reservation situation with Dr. Ely on the 14th and had been perfectly described to me by Dr. Ely); my name rang a bell with him and he dug into the file drawer removing the card that could not be found on the 18th - I had been booked for the 22nd

Lehner, P. 1964 11 July 20 - continued but no one knew it; the flight was filled, but I was put on standby behind one other fellow - 6:15 word comes that two seats are available; however, in attempting to finally process the reservation it was discovered that it lacked the final clearance stamp that must be issued by a Mr. Robinson (Lt.?); a few phone calls and it was cleared (6:30 A.M.; boarded plane at 7:10; left Hickam AFB at 7:30; arr. at Johnston at 10:20 A.M.; got the security briefing and called Dave Bratley - Dave told me there was a boat leaving at 11:30 A.M. if I could get all my gear to the pier; an MP kindly consented to give me a ride; while waiting for the 11:30 departure, Dave, Dick Herrill and Terry - (of the Coast Guard) arrived in a Coast Guard boat and gave me a ride to Sand; first impressions of Sand, Johnston, North and East Islands were that they were being highly developed - it looked like there was a race to first fill in the Ocean with sand and then to construct a building or piece of high powered electronic machinery on it; arrived on Sand about 11:30 A.M. met several of the personnel including C.O Lt. JG Thorman; had another breakfast and then Dave and

Lehner, P. 1947 12 July 26 - continued Dick gave me a tour of the island, Sooty Terns are present in thousands (Dave estimated 23,000 this evening); Common Noddies in hundreds; several Brown, Red Footed and Blue Faced Boobies; a few Hawaiian Noddies; several Frigates; a few Fairy Terns; one Tropic Bird; a few Bulwer's Petrels; and several Wedgetail Shearwaters; still nesting were: Sooties, Noddies, Wedgetails, Bulwers, and Tropic birds. - the island abounds in birds, especially in the evening; saw a large ray 150 yards from shore - slowly flapping near the surface in a lethargic effort to move forward; after supper we collected ticks but were able to find only 600; tired as hell (9:25 P.M.) - to the rack.

Lehner, P. 1964 13 July 27 Awoke to make breakfast - then back for a couple of Z's; did paperwork till noon; after lunch began collecting ticks again; we collected 1000, but still needed 400 more; Dave checked Noddy nesting plots and Wedgetail burrows; after dinner we collected another 600 ticks to more than fill the quota of 2000; we banded Sooties from before dark until about 11:30 - great sport - barf down the left pant leg, feces down the right; collected one young Sooty Tern in the process; I managed to get about 100 banded - slowly getting these production methods down; laundry and then the sack July 28 Today Dick leaves and I move into the other cubicle; up at eight o'clock; worked on more paperwork and prepared for trip to Johnston; ate early and left for Johnston at 11:15 A.M.; saw Dick off and began checking Tropicbird nests - found about 25 nests, banded eight adults; banded two Fairy Terns (must get my camera over to Johnston and get some pictures); found another Red T. Tropicbird nest near old NCO club thanks to one of the Navy personnel who informed us about it;

Lehmer, P. 1964 14 July 28 - continued returned to Sand at 4:30; after dinner we checked Noddy nesting, set a Sherman trap to catch Pond's mouse that has been chewing his pet flowers outside the Signal building, and after dark began banding; we got 500 Sooties banded by ~11:45 P.M.; Pond's mouse has still not been caught - shower and to bed. July 29 checked mouse traps in the A.M. ; only one dead - no unmarked catches; weighed and measured Noddy TERN chicks in the afternoon and evening; all but five could be found; banded those large enough or those with worn leg bands with red anodized USFWS bands; checked Wedgetails on Islet (no change); also checked Wedgetails on Sand Island (no change); checked Bilwer's Petrels along causeway in late evening; found about 11 including 3 chicks - 2 new adults were banded; set mouse traps.

Lehner, P. 1964 15 July 30 check mouse traps in A.M.; made jesses; afternoon checked Wedgetail nesting on islet (#4 destroyed) - Brown Baby in bunker really lived up to his name trying to get out; about 30 Noddy eggs + 6 unbanded chicks on islet; check Noddy plots - one newly hatched chick on NEce); Sooties are getting noticeably fewer in number each day; banded 100 Noddy chicks before dark - many are getting quite old and are hard to catch even with a hand net; after dark we banded 400 Sooties - then checked Wedgetail plots and banded those on eggs which had not been previously banded; we painted all those on eggs with red paint on the throat, top of head and tail; there seem to be a few nesting which aren't included in our plot.

Lehner, P. 1964 7/31 July 31 - P.M. checked Islet Wedgetails on Islet - no change; Noddy census on Islet revealed about 80 young + 30 eggs; Noddy census on main Island; 5/6 eggs hatched - no new eggs & marked Bulwer's nests along causeway with red numerals - I'll still have to call them in order to locate the nests precisely - marked 15 nest sites - 3 young + 1 egg; ran census of Sooties ( ); after dark ran Sooties, Boobies and Frigate census; checked Wedgetail burrows; set mouse traps. - parties from late afternoon to early morning; drinks and drunken arguments all over - no fisticuffs - some beligerent - some philosophical - the only reminder of civilization

Lehner, P. 1964 17 Aug. 1 PX run today at 11 P.M.; to the island beforehand, then to PX to by supplies? played a few hands at poker - stayed over - (heck plots yet!; did some paper work in preparation for progress report - Dave ran the plots today - I concentrated on public relations. - did the laundry during the crap game - finally to the rack!

Lehner, P. 1964 18 Aug. 2 - this A.M. was mostly recovery; Got up and had breakfast about 9 A.M. - did some book work - too much noise to concentrate; early P.M. checked the Wedgetail and Noddy plots - Dave set the mouse traps - took my 700mm telephoto along and got some good shots (I hope); not much change in Noddies or Wedgetails - Sooties still diminishing rapidly in number; softball game and cookout this afternoon - free beer - everybody got plowed - good poker game - stakes were too high for a GS7; the only way to stay cool is the San Miguel way (called Magoo out here); got more pictures after cookout - had a great party at night - got some great shots of Dave and Sutcliffe - had to load the camera while half in the bag - hope they turn out - lost Bulwer's chick from nest #1

Lehner, P. 1964 19 Aug. 3 - looks like the whole Russian Army marched through our cube last night - my mouth tastes like they went on down my throat; both Dave and myself still feeling the effects; PR getting better; checked mouse traps in A.M. - nothing unusual - Brately had trouble cutting off mouse toes - still a little shaky; P.M. ran the route; first Wedgetail chick on Islet hatched (10x - fluffy white-gray color); collected 27 Sooty heads; Noddies still hatching away - Sooty population still showing decrease - Golden Plover population increasing - noisy as hell in the barracks - rock and roll records blaring; Dave's struggling with progress report - Coast Guard Day Tomorrow - they have all day off - expect some wild drinking and strewn bodies tomorrow.

Lehner, P. 1984 20 Aug, 4 - checked mouse traps and played softball in the A.M.; four of the Coast Guard shooting targets (I hope) at other end in early P.M. & cookout at 2 P.M. and then back to work; Dave's writing Progress Report; got to the other end at late afternoon; collected heads; checked Noddy eggs and set mouse traps; found one Common Noddy still alive which had been shot near the base of the tail (collected head); another round of Magoo and B.S. in our cubicle till late hours - Dave's sleep overtakes him just when the B.S. gets deepest.

Lehner, P. 1964 21 Aug. 5 - Up at 7 A.M., breakfast and up to other end; checked mouse traps and islet Wedgetails - tried to band our only chick to date but both #5 and #4 bands are too large; Sooties are concentrated around South Shore; Frigates, Red-footed Boobies and Blue-faced Boobies concentrated on N. West shore and wires; Brown Boobies concentrated on East Shore; began taking Noddy egg count and chick measurements in early P.M. - worked all afternoon and evening - had to band the large chicks and re-band those with worn numbers (the blue bands retain the numbers longer than the red); low tide at about 10:30 tonight - back to the islet to band the Wedgetail chick; saw one juvenile Sooty attempting to swim through the breakers away from shore off east side of island; he made in about 6 feet out and was then washed back; late P.M. checked Wedgetail burrows and set mouse traps.

Lehner, P. 1904 22 Aug. 6 - up for breakfast and tried to go back to bed for awhile; however, rock and rock music from Brigg's cubicle and jazz from Sutcliff's drove me out of the rack again; went to other end and checked mouse traps. (continued p.24) SOOTY TERN SPECIES ACCOUNT 8:38 A.M. saw adult Sooty Tern ( from a group of 3 adults and 1 juvenile) drop into the water within a small cove; it came in for a landing of its own accord; landed on belly with wings partially folded (not certain). loran "C" tower waves X s00ty N secondary waves d 50' wind 25 mph road way /// // appeared to be resting - his feet could be seen going slowly but he appeared to be working only when he was being washed toward Northeast bank - kept himself from shore - was observed drinking ( stuck bill in water then (over)

tipped head back and swallowed) 8:45 A.M. turned toward north shore and allowed himself to be washed up on gravelly beach; bird with feet still in water roadway stood on beach with feet in water; made a few guttural sounds - shoots wings- still in same spot with waves at his feet- appeared to fluff rump feathers - sun was partly behind clouds during all this time until 9:48 when it came out from behind clouds - he is still in the same spot and is in the sun. 9:51 still in same spot shaking head 9:55 I approached him - he tried to fly but could not - ran toward bank - I caught him - still partially wet - took him up bank and set him in roadway in wind - he got up and flew off to the north- hovered about a minute - flew back across roadway to East - joined three lover

Lehner, P. 1964 23 Aug. 6 - Sooty Tern Species Account continued other sooties (possibly same three) - hovered and swung about for a minute and then flew off together toward Sand in an North-easterly direction. Conclusions - 1. he apparently entered water of own accord. 2. he picked apparently chose the location 3. in order to get out he probably would have had to climb the north bank and get into the wind - the bank is rocky and not too steep - he could have gotten up without much difficulty. 4. he made no attempt to fly off the water; apparently realizing that he must reach shore and dry off first.

Lehner, P. 1964 24 Aug. 6 - continued 9:10 A.M. Checked Islet Wedgetail nesting - banded chick #10 with yellow color band #152; hope to get to Johnston early P.M.; went to Johnston about 1 P.M. with 700mm lens and camera; registered camera with Security Police who had their doubts about my ornithological intentions; one of the police suggested (in all seriousness, and it is a good idea) that we list the common bird species of Johnston with a description and picture and have people finding unusual species call us - be thought there would be a lot of interest in such an endeavor - Dave does not like the idea; Dave attempted to make reservations but left knowing little more than when he went in; Dave went to Post Office while I went to take pictures of Fairy Terns - I made the mistake of cocking the camera before having a picture ready, at one point; when I was ready I tried to cock it again, could not and decided I must have gone astray in loading it while under the influence - I rewound the roll leaving 26 unused slides - it was a rather fecal maneuver on my part;

Lehner P. 1964 25 Aug. 6 - continued we went to NCO club to get the fifth ½ to replace the one used at our last party - Dave wants his allotted five when he leaves (he got 40 oz. of Seagrams Gin for $1.20); went to Weather Bureau and got tide charts; checked shoreline for unusual species (especially our missing laughing Gull) - nothing; returned to Navy Boat Dock to catch 4:00 Mike Boat; returned in time for chow; after chow got haircut from Wilke (an Asheville, N.C. fellow with whom I've discussed the city many a time); went to other end to check plots; found a dead frigate (dead too long to skin - appeared to have hit a wire?); 4:00 P.M. talked to Wirtz at Kure over Side Man Radio at Signal Bldg. - Pond was great help in this respect - talked 20 min.; when ready to leave Signal Bldg. and band Sutcliff roared up in jeep screaming for a set of two-way radios - they were off to answer distress flares from the reef - looking toward the reef I could see a red flare go up every now and then - I had plenty of time to watch as they tried to fix the radios - wouldn't work - (the Coast Guard is always ready) - the story

Lehner, P. 1964 26 Aug. 6 - Continued On this unbelievable occurrence is worth recording: before the movie began (about 7:30 P.M.) some of the personnel saw flares being shot in distress sequence (3) and watched with awe - figuring the Navy would make the rescue they decided to go in and watch the movie - if he was still shooting flares at the end of the movie, they would do something about - he was and they did - Lt. Thurman (the Old Man) called the Navy and explained what was happening - the Navy replied that they had a boat out in the area searching - at this point the Old Man got out his binoculars, dusted them off, brought them to his eyes, then turned them around to make things larger rather than smaller; it seemed that the Navy was searching (as indicated by their searchlight) beyond the reef; it was then decided that the Coast Guard would go to the rescue; Sutcliff was sent to the Signal Building for two-way radios - the radios didn't work - while Pond worked at fixing the radios the flares continued to go up - finally said the hell with it and Sutcliff returned to the

Lehner, P. 1964 27 Aug. 6 - continued main building with a dead radio; however, by the time he returned from his radio mission it appeared as though the Navy was now searching in the vicinity of the distress signals - it was decided to sit tight and see if they had found them - the searching boat continued to move about, but then stopped- everyone agreed that the rescue must have been made; a phone call to the Navy confirmed that the small boat (no vivid description of the trouble) had been rescued - everyone was proud of the rapid rescue (about 3 hrs. 15 mins. from the time flares were seen until rescue) - needless to say Dave and I were not impressed - we decided there was a moral to the fiasco. IF YOU ARE GOING TO CRASH, FALL OVERBOARD, ETC. DON'T DO IT NEAR A NAVY OR COAST GUARD BASE - IF YOU DO, YOUR BEST BET IS TO HOLD YOUR BREATH AND WALK TO SHORE! After this sterling rescue we banded 200 sooties - they are becoming very hard to catch; after banding we were standing by the transmitter building gathering our gear; Dave said he felt something in his pants (not too unusual) - he unbuckled his belt, dropped his drawers and a mouse jumped out (unusual). -toobed-

Lehner, P. 1964 28 Aug. 7 A.M. blew eggs out and rested up for and from ; P.M. checked plots and took measurements of bunkers, etc. for picture reproduction - reduction; made PX run in evening - more film - a few beers at Waikiki Club; after chow watched movie - set mouse traps and started on a party - could be the worse yet - good by cruel world.

Lehner, P. 1964 29 Aug. 8 - still feeling the effects of last night's sport we arose at mid A.M. and checked mouse traps; back for chow at 11:30; P.M. did laundry, checked Noddy eggs and made maps of Sooties; saw a ray about 20 feet off the East Shore at about 4:30 P.M. (they are quite common - I've seen four in one day); to the other side tonight to celebrate Dave's departure; watched the bingo game - helped Conners play a card but came close only twice; went to Waikiki Club after the game for a beer; returned to Sand and continued celebration - crap game and card game (10-64 dollars per throw); obviously I didn't join in the gambling- to bed pretty late and in pretty bad shape.

Lehner, P. 1964 30 Aug. 9 - up in A.M. to check mouse traps; Kepler arrived 11:30; (back step) we also ran plots this early A.M.; showed Kepler the Island; 9:00 P.M. to the other end - set traps and took blood from 4 Sooties and 2 Wedgetails - also took then for specimens; retired after recording the days data.

Lehner, P. 1964 31 Aug. 10 up early for breakfast; out to check mouse traps; spun down six sera samples; Dave finished packing and Cam began moving in; Dave plans to leave at 3:00 P.M. - Wilkie has also had to wait that long after hearing of his brother's tragedy on Friday; Wilkie got out at 3:00 - Dave leaves at 9:00; took Dave across at 6:45, got him to plane and went to the BX; returned shot some pool, ate hot dogs and drank beer - then to other end; set mouse traps, chested Wedgetails and collected 42 Sooty Tern blood samples; to bed about 2 A.M.

Lehner, P. 1964 32 Aug. 11 Cam made breakfast but I passed and slept till mid-morning; to other end to check mouse traps; after checking traps we looked over the incubating Wedgetails then returned for lunch; after lunch returned to other end - Cam checked Islet Wedgetails (2 new chicks) - I made map of guywire bases in preparation for daylong count of Frigates and Boobies on the wires; we ran the Noddy plots and returned for supper; early P.M. (just at dark) to other end - checked Wedgetails and set mouse traps; took blood serum samples from Wedgetails until early A.M. - (took 70 samples) - Cam painted numerals on the chest and head of some of the Brown Boobies.

Lehner, P. 1964 32 Aug. 12 - didn't make breakfast again after last night's struggle with the sooties; checked mouse traps and took scales to other end in preparation for Noddy chick weighing in afternoon; rain this A.M. and P.M. - worse day for weather to date; Cam spun down more blood samples while I was at other end - he had my watch which was a half hour late - he almost didn't get any chow; looked like and definitely was rain in early P.M. - spun more blood samples; 2:00 P.M. to other end to weigh chicks - had to quit at 4:30 P.M. and return after chow - finished just before dark; numbers Cam put on Boobies appear to show up quite well; however, they do not seem to have penetrated well and may flake off; saw an adult Noddy pick a Noddy chick up twice and drop it from a height of 10ft. - amongst the flurry of birds it appeared to be the adult incubating an egg 1.5 feet away (the closest egg). - tonight we'll set traps for mice and check wedgetail change-over.

Lehner, P 1964 34 Aug. 13 - checked mice and caught up on bookkeeping in A.M. - 1:00 P.M. to Johnston to make bi-weekly survey and get pictures of Fairy Terns; Can checked his camera with Security, found 18 Fairy Terns; 30 adult Red-tailed Tropickirds, 3 eggs, 6 chicks, 4 immatures, shorebirds are very scarce; later in P.M. checked Noddies, Wedgetails and set mouse traps; took Sooty Tern blood samples (~70); missed a good flick "In the French Style" - according to everyone's description it was a little risqué anyways, so I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it; glad the movie projector is back and operating - everyone has been very restless and looking for something to do.

Lehner, P. 1964 35 Aug.14 was the usual routine day except for the evening; O'Donnell contributed 3 cases of beer to the cause and everyone proceeded to get three sheets to the wind; a double feature tonight but Cam and I decided to finish off the blood samples; however, when we finally got started I was slightly under the influence and not all that effective (Doc, D.C., Haskins, Willie, Conners, O.D., etc. were having a fiasco in the yard with hamburgers and beer - I couldn't leave without a few for the road); after taking about 20 samples of blood - Cam took way over half - he decided that I was in no condition to continue, expressed this opinion and then grabbed up most of the equipment and stalked back to the barracks; I decided that as long as we'd started we might as well finish it - in order to get more equipment I rode the bicycle to the pump house and returned; I began taking more samples - Sutcliffe came up at 12:30, poked around for awhile and then returned to the barracks where he consumed 9 more Miques (he never returned to "the other end", needless to say); I worked until I had an additional 44 samples which I figured would give us plenty to allow for centrifuge breakage; I returned to the barracks, showered and hit the rack at $3:45 AM.

Lehner, P. 1984 36 Aug. 15 - didn't arise until 9:30 A.M., had brunch; Cam did his laundry and then went to the reef with J.L., Sally, Bo and Briggs to go skin diving; I went to Johnston ("the other side") to PX where I picked up infinitesimal number of items for everyone else and forgot half the items I had intended to buy for myself; returned to Sand and spun blood samples until supper time; Cam went to "other end" to check Wedgetails and Noddies while I did my laundry; after supper we conned Pond into helping us catch Wedgetails in their burrows; we banded and painted until about 12:30 A.M. when we returned to the barracks with red hands - a combination of red paint and blood. Progress Report Time

Lehner, P. 1964 37 Aug. 16 an uneventful day - usual routine - banded and painted more wedgetails; Caringi and Bercik were up shooting at other end again - I'm convinced that they're shooting very few birds; Cam spotted a shorebird in P.M.; I went to get my camera and the shotgun; Caringi returned with me as gun bearer; I took several pictures with my 700mm and then had Caringi shoot the bird; I'm convinced that it is a Wilson's Phalarope - Cam doesn't think it is a Phalarope at all; after movies (Stalag 17 + Captain Sinbad) I got the large sealed beam light and we went to other end to count Red-footed Boobies and check Wedgetails and Bulwer's burrows. - worked some more on progress report

Lehner, P. 1944 38 Aug. 17 - early A.M. - it's raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock - a good chance to finish progress report; left mice until P.M.; Cam checked mice and I worked on reports; finished with the damn thing by mid-afternoon; went to other end to fill mouse traps and got drenched - rained all day except for late P.M.; had cookout for O.D. - beer + dogs, Bo showed underwater slides (slides he had taken underwater; he didn't show them under- water); checked Wedgetails late P.M.; during mid-afternoon I saw a Brown Booby feeding near Signal Bldg. - today's first time I've seen them feeding this close to sand; also first time it's rained this hard this long; Cam found a Great Frigate with a broken wing in early P.M., brought it to pump house where we bled 20 cc. of blood from it, to ext. parasites and then froze it.

Lehner, P. 1964 29 Aug. 18 - up in A.M. to check mouse traps; weather is still threatening, but no rain; ran through the usual routine day - collected 24 wedgetail blood samples; collected 5 known age to be unknown age. Common Noddy chicks (3,13,18,25 days old); oldest turned out Aug. 19 - uneventful day - routine - collected 5 known age Noddy Tern chicks - took 24 more wedgetail blood samples.

Lehner, P. 1964 40 Aug.20 - A.M. Cam checked mouse traps while I spun down Aug.18 wedgetail blood- we're breaking about 1/4 of our samples in the centrifuge - perhaps slower speeds and better balancing is the answer; P.M. set mouse traps, checked wedgetails, collected 20 wedgetail blood samples; also collected 4 common Noddy Terns and took blood from them; Sooties still on decrease, shorebirds on increase.

Lehner, P. 1964 Aug. 21 - day started off as the usual; ran the routine surveys; a cookout was planned for "the other end" so we did not take blood; the cookout was held - one of the greatest fiascos yet held - a roaring fire and a roaring drunk; we moved to a new cube in afternoon - being slightly intoxicated I went to the wrong rack, made several comments about my linen being stolen and then sacked out anyway - many weird occurrences too numerous and too unbelievable to relate.

lehner, P. 1964 H2 Aug. 22 routine day except for a large head; we ran all of our checks and set mouse traps in great anticipation of catching more big game; being Sat. night we decided to go over to the "other side" (Johnston) and play bingo; weren't enough going to take the USCG VP so we had to wait for a Mike boat - too late for bingo - Cam decided not to go; Willie, Doc and myself went over and met Chief Riggins and D.C. at the N.C.O. club - met some of the pipe fitters and plumbers, went to their shack for steak and beer; spend many hours consuming - learned to use chop sticks from King (Chinese plumber); watched some of the gambling tables (Ace Away, Craps and poker) - I've never seen so much money change hands so fast for so long - 200 dollars a roll on the dice; we missed the Mike boat coming back - spent a few minutes at the Waikiki Club then Riggins called for the Coast Guard VP; while waiting it was decided we ought to return with a souvenir - the large white propellor set in concrete and surrounded by chains in front of the Navy office; when the boat arrived Doc and Woody picked it up and carried it to the boat the rest of us formed shield between them and the office and hoped they wouldn't be seen - they weren't; I retrieve it. expect the Navy over here anytime now to [illegible] ONE OF THE YOUNG CHR. ISLAND SHEARWATERS LEFT TODAY

Lehner, P. 1964 43 Aug. 23 up in A.M. to check mouse traps; did backwork during the afternoon and then ran checks on Wedgetails + Noddies after supper; the two cats on the island are apparently killing some birds (found a couple Noddy chicks before - two Wedgetails today); collected 36 Wedgetail blood samples which gives us a total of 101 Wedgetails; now to start work on the Noddies which are going to be very difficult to catch; saw a flock of 24 Ruddy Turnstones today; all shorebirds are on the increase; I'm convinced that young fledged Sooties are fed by a great number of adults; the chirping of the juvenile apparently triggers the feeding response in any adult close by.

Lehner, P. 1964 Aug.24 - ran the usual routine checks on our study plots ; mapped the Sooty Tern population boundaries ; the population is still dropping slightly in numbers ; collected 48 Sooty Tern blood samples - hope to get 52 more before beginning on Noddies ; Noddies are going to be tough - full moon, hard to catch and far from plentiful.

Lehner J.P. 1964 Aug. 25 - bookwork in A.M.; barbershop and PX run in P.M.; made routine checks on plots; located 2 gross of centrifuge tubes and roll of 1/4" hardware cloth in preparation for early Sept. blood and mouse shipment. A Pat Neehan from Holmes & Narver called saying he had black bird for us that had hit a guywire on North Island - he expressed interest in seeing our bird populations - he brought the bird over on 4:30 Mike boat (immature banded Sooty Tern); Cam volunteered to show him Sand on Sunday.

Lehner, P. 1944 Aug. 20 up in A.M. to check mousetraps; early P.M. out to measure and weigh Noddies; a White-tailed Tropicbird was seen over Sand about 3:00 P.M. by Coast Guard personnel; P.M. collected 57 Sooty Tern blood samples; Cam's getting pretty damn good at pool - I'm better at movies.

Lehner, P. 1964 47 Aug. 27 ran routine checks during day and did bookwork; spun down more Sooty Tern blood samples during afternoon; worked on mouse cage from midnight till 4:30 A.M.; cats are causing more trouble with chicks; checked with Thorman - he gave OK to trap and take the cats to Johnston. Aug. 28 slept late - Cam checked mousetraps; early afternoon finished mouse cage while Cam spun more blood; off to collect plants; collected five species - put in press and taken to pump house; we returned the Navy's propellor today in response to a request from the C.O. - they were very hospitable to us; we gave them an invite for a cookout tomorrow; there is great activity among the wedgetails again - digging, billing, moaning - we may have another spurt of egg laying.

Lehner, P. 1964 48 Aug. 29 ran routine checks; Sooties still leaving in small numbers; shorebirds picking up in numbers - still mostly Golden Plover and Ruddy Turnstones; about 40 Navy personnel came over for a cookout about 1:00; the C.O. broke out 8 cases of beer for a starter - a lot of eating, drinking and rabble-rousing; I bet Willie I could pick him up over my shoulders, but when I tried both his shirt and pants tore off, so he spent the rest of the beer blast in his drawers; somehow I wrenched my left shoulder again, bruised my left foot, burned my right cheek with a cigar (that's a tough trick), and scraped my right knee - Cam made the nightly rounds, but we put off blood letting and banding.

Lehner, P. 1964 49 Aug. 30 Cam checked once this morning; I arose (almost from the dead) feeling in good shape and ran through a little bookwork and data organizing; I ran the plots in the P.M.; at 11 P.M. we went to "the other end" to try to let blood from Noddies; we only managed to catch about 15; they either got up and fly off way ahead of the light beam or they weren't there at all; most that I could see I was able to walk right over and pick up - many were on ~ Eggs or had chicks; they were also able to fly-climb out of the double height wire corral - bending the top in helped some; they give 5cc. of blood with difficulty and are extremely weak afterwards - Sooties are much more capable blood donors; we tried taking 6cc/bird and calling it a sample - we'll see how much serum it provides; however, this just about killed the bird - we then took 4.5 cc from each of two birds - worked much better; also bled one male frigate; the young Frigates appear to go through a stage when the head and neck (formerly white) becomes reddish-brown.

Lehner, P. 1984 50 Aug. 31 - made routine runs in A.M.; to Johnston in P.M. - Cam made bird census while I collected plants - we have probably close to ~5 species on Johnston; found three Wedgetail burrows across from JTC B&G. Headquarters - one had a chick; Pat Meehan, Jim Sublett, and Bill Sinclair (all employees of Holmes and Narver) came over on the 4:30 Mike boat to see the birds at the other end; we got them chow and then showed them the birds until 7:00 when they caught the next Mike boat back - ran the Sand Island survey.

Lehner, P. 1964 51 Sept. 1 routine A.M. ; Dr. Arnold Joseph of AEC came over for noon chow and then Cam took him for a tour of the Island while I pressed plants and started organizing data for biweekly progress report ; Dr. Arnold has been working on radiation studies in the Marshalls (Bikini, Eniwetok, Rongelap, etc.) ; he said the island to see was Perape ; about 2:00 P.M. I spotted an unusual shorebird bobbing around the barracks - by the time I had gotten the skipper and the shotgun I couldn't find the bird again ; however, about 2:40 I again spotted the bird, got the gun and collected it - neither Cam or I can figure out what it is - definitely unusual.

Lehner, P. 1964 52 Sept. 2 the usual A.M. mouse trap check and book work & weighed Noddy Tern young in the P.M. ; late P.M. we collected 48 more Sooty Tern blood samples - this time we combined banding with bleeding and put on 100 bands.

Lehner, P. 1964 53 Sept. 3 Cam checked the mice while I finished up the Bi-weekly Report; the rest of the day was routine; we have begun using the the Thermograph again and find (to no surprise) that the temperature varies from 80 to 85 and those are the extremes; without this breeze it would be hell.

Lehmer, P. 1964 54 Sept. 4 today was the first guywire census; We were up at 4:30 A.M. to watch the scheduled missile go off but it was canceled; Cam ran the census from dawn till 11:30 A.M.; I took over after lunch and ran it till dark; during the census we also banded 100 Common Noddy Tern locals; we also ran the routine plots the rest of the day and evening; I saw a Sooty Tern young with still some down today - the youngest Sooty I've seen since out here; the Sooty Tern population is decreasing rapidly.

Lehner, P. 1964 55 Sept. 5 up at 6:00 A.M. and went on a deep sea fishing trip with 7 other of the Coast Guard personnel; we went out with one of the two Navy recreational boats stationed on Johnston; Wally, Doyle and Browne had the chairs to begin with and Conners the left outrigger- J.L. the right; Wally got a strike within minutes after our being out; just as line was screaming off his reel, Browne and Doyle got strikes and then Conners; the line snapped immediately on Conner's pole, a few seconds later on Wally's; Doyle sat there amazed with the rod in its holder, a sandwich in one hand, a beer in the other and watched line scream off his smoking reel - all of a sudden bap! The line snapped, lashed back and caught him in the chops and almost made him spill his beer; Browne managed to land his, a tuna, which topped the scales at 129 lbs. (the largest this month); almost everyone landed at least one fish (I got a small tuna) before we returned at 1:00 P.M.; I got a lot of pictures during and after the trip - almost everyone got their picture taken with Browne's whopper to send home claiming they caught it; the skipper (Huey) relied almost solely on the birds to locate fish - we located Dolphin, Tuna and Bonita this way; we never got more than a mile from the reef - saw Brown and Red-footed Boobies, Sooty Terns, Fairy Terns, (over)

Common Noddy Terns and Great Frigatebirds all feeding. Cam ran the routine checks for the day - I filled the mouse traps and checked the Wedgetails at night - poopad!

Kehner P. 1964 56 Sept. 6 Cam arose early to take pictures and check mouse traps; I'm catching up on bookwork; made all afternoon checks; late PM. collected 49 Sooty Tern blood samples and banded 100 Sooties.

Lehner, P. 1964 57 Sept. 7 Cam made check on mouse traps; we decided to go skin-diving out at the reef with Browne, Conners, Briggs and Hauserstein - loaded all our gear on the raft and got a tow out from the V.P.; the underwater world out there is the most beautiful I have ever seen; some of the most bizarre fish and coral formations one could imagine; we dove for four hours and then got a tow back in (11 A.M. - 3 P.M.) ; the evening meal was a cookout - we cooked up some of the fish caught on the earlier expedition - the Dolphin is undoubtedly the best tasting fish I have eaten (although the taste is impossible to describe, it does not taste like fish); the rest of the night turned into the usual fiasco with dancing around the fire's all this activity did not seem to disturb the birds much except for the ridiculous pyrotechnques demonstration when well aimed flares put Noddis off the guy wires or made Frigates change course in the air; Conners almost hit one of the MATS flights as it skimmed low over the island after just taking off from Johnston.

Lehner P. 1964 58 Sept. 8 mousctraos were not set last night - no recoveries to be made today; a jeep went to the other end to recover the picnic table, bench and bodies of those who never made it back; the jeep promptly got stuck and called for help; in P.M. we ran the routine plots; late P.M. finished Sooty Tern blood samples by taking 10 (whole blood *2cc) + 8cc to be spun down) samples - we also took another regular sample (5cc from each of two birds); Cam took samples while I banded 150 sooty Terns - rained like hell! The Sooty Population is extremely low - the Wedgetails seem more numerous.

Lehner, P. 1964 59 Sept. 9 routine day; weighed the Noddy chicks in the P.M. - there are very few young Noddies left that we can catch - their nesting cycle is about through - there are very few eggs remaining; late P.M. Cam spun blood while I banded more Sooties (only managed to get 50, with Cam's help); got another Common Noddy Tern blood sample and three Great Frigatebirds.

Lehner, P. 1964 60 Sept. 10 Cam ran mousetraps; we made the boat run to Johnston to pick up box shipment for our live bird shipment; we stored all but the batteries in the Coast Guard Johnston Station locker; spent all afternoon helping Coast Guard bring supplies back over; late P.M. took it easy in anticipation of early rising to run first shift of guywire census. NIGHT ON SAND ISLAND The night wind breathes of a different world from the depths of which it comes; And the sounds it brings are from different things that arise when the sunlight runs; MAN HAS CHOSEN TO REST while this world is alive, and the only ones that will know, ARE THOSE who will step on a moonless night into darkness intent and slow; See with your ears and step very light, recall and then let it be known; There's nothing so weird, so soothing, so calm, as a Wedge-tailed Shearwater's moan.

Lehner, P. 1964 61 Sept. 10 up at 6:30 A.M.; started guywire census at 7:00 A.M. and ran it through 11:00 A.M.; Cam took over at 12:00 and ran it through completion; had less birds on the wires early today but they seemed to remain longer; about 10:00 A.M. saw a female adult Frigate chasing another to obtain a free meal - no success; put up one mist net south of barracks Sooty Tern 10:08 A.M. juvenile chirped at adult flying overhead - adult squawked - juv. gave same squawk sequence (Qaa-aak) but much higher pitch (due to higher pitched voice) and then followed with a series of chirps - adult landed - more chirping - adult fed juv.

Lehner, P. 1944 62 Sept. 12 usual day with routine plots run; wedge tail plots have been abandoned - the amount of data we were getting was next to nil; Wandering Tattlers are more in evidence - Ruddy Turnstones and Golden Plovers holding about steady. Sept. 13 up at 6:30 A.M.; Cam got the mice ; caught 7:30 Mike boat to North Island ; joined Pat Meehan, Bill Sinclair and Jim Sublett for skin diving off the island at their invitation ; found a "fish ball" covered with barnacles and some shells - saw 2 Ruddy Turnstones and 2 Golden Plover ; the undersea landscape was beautiful - 30 to 30 ft. deep with coral heads rising to near the surface ; the area was better diving than near the reef ; saw Corvet fish, Squirrel fish, Butterfly fish, Tang; Wrasse, Snappers, Trigger fish, Surgeon fish, Parrotfish, Moorish Idols, etc. ; rainy-windy night ; set traps for mice ; prolonged other work till tomorrow.

Lehner, P. 1964 63 Sept. 14 got up and counted toes on mice; got word (from enlisted men, not C.O.) that they were going to pick up and burn dead birds at the other end; I went along and sorted through the 200-250 birds (mostly juv. Sooties) and took off about 100 bands; the whole station going all out to clean up for the Western Area inspectors on the 18th. Sept. 15 checked mice in A.M. and caught up on data recording; the spray truck came over from Johnston and spread DOT all over the island; late A.M. Caringi came in saying there was a Pileated Woodpecker on the causeway - this we had to see - it turned out to be a Bristle-thighed Curlew; I took several pictures with the 700 mm. lens. We went to Johnston in early afternoon; Cam ran census and I inventoried boxes for live bird shipment; called it a day on return from the "hot, dusty hell" of Johnston; fed mice in late P.M.

Lehner P. 1967 Sept. 14 usual A.M. maneuvers; weighed and measured Noddy chicks in P.M.; found one broken wing Sooty Tern and took a blood sample; we decided to cool off after the Noddy encounter and went skin diving off the seaway; the water is still very cloudy; made the usual checks and fed mice in late P.M. Sept. 17 checked mice in A.M.; returned to Johnston Island (after a day's leave of absence); made plane reservations - called Capt. Smith (AF); and checked on Jilson's reservations and gave him my estimated shipment figures (no. and wt. of boxes); ran the daily Noddy Tern egg count; Sooty Tern population is shrinking very fast - daily number of adults is about 50; I bought a Nikons underwater camera from wally - he also tossed in a light meter, film, etc. all for $55 - great deal! Jim Sublett brought over some pictures of the birds on Sand which Bill Sinclair had taken - he also brought a book for me to read - "In the Presence of My Enemies" - he highly recommended it.

lehner, P. 1964 64 Sept. 18 ep at 6:30 A.M. to begin guywire census; to 350 mm and camera along and took pictures of Wedgetails and Shorebirds; Wedgetail chicks are wandering about in early daylight hours; all still completely in down; adult wedgetails are still moulting possibly indicating more breeding; Cam caught a strange Petrel today which landed at "the other end" on Sand; we cannot identify it; it has pink legs - the distal 2/3 of feet are black; tail, head, throat, upperparts are black-brown, lower breast, abdomen and under tail coverts are white; measurements are as follows: total length 13 3/4 in., tarsus 2 5/16 in. wng 11 in., tail 5 1/8 in., bill 1 1/8 in., wt. 280g. we put him in the albino Sooty Tern cage; the mice are showing an increase in the prevalence of mange (over 10%); today was the Western Area Inspection - Thurman was nervous as a prostitute in church; all went well - the enlisted men were all in white uniforms - Cam and I had nothing on but shorts and shower shoes; they left about 6:45 P.M.; Wally left with them.

Lehner P. 1964 65 Sept. 19 unusual day; the water was unusually clear near Sand today; Cam and I went skin diving north of the causeway; I took pictures with my new underwater camera; borrowed J.L.'s throw net and caught several small mullet for the Petrel, but he won't eat; worked on Progress Report. Sept. 20 arose late; checked mice and to 11 A.M. Mile boat to North Island for skin diving & as we arrived to Hawaiians boarded the boat with a Moray eel 5-6 ft. long they had speared; I entered the water with some apprehension after seeing that; also, the Navy crew told me that several barracuda had been caught inside the reef recently; as it turned out, I saw two morays while diving (small ones, 3-4 ft. long) and got a picture of the head of one; shot two rolls of film; having trouble with shutter mechanism of the camera; the Petrel has still not eaten; we can't figure out what species he is so will have to collect him.

Kehner, P. 1964 66 Sept. 21 A.M. checked mice and finished Progress Report; checked the Noddy Tern study plots and saw the Bristle-thighed Curlew crossing the causeway in flight about 7:05 P.M.; observed a small mouse on N.E. peninsula chewing on Tribulus buds; Wedgetail chicks were observed out before sunset - out about 7:10 - sunset about 7:20; took some sunset pictures. Sept. 22 up at 6:30 A.M., checked mice and then caught 7:30 Mike Boat to Johnston with Cam; checked weight of boxes, re-figured shipping weights and then called Dr. Ely from JTF 8.6 Headquarters phone 405, priority 5, code AA38; talked to Jan as Dr. Ely was out; returned on a 9:30 A.M. run; wrote a confirmation letter to Dr. Ely about shipment; made usual P.M. rounds.

Lehner P. 1964 67 Sept. 23 got up due to noise arising from a Coast Guard day off; checked mice, had brunch and then made run to Johnston for boxes; went skin-diving with Brownie, O.ch., Lt. Thurman and Briggs on the raft to the range light; found one large cowrie - left at 1:00, returned at 4:00; we weighed and measured Noddy chicks after late chow; saw what appeared to be a Wandering Tattler on the causeway, but had yellow legs - further check showed this to be a correct field character; at 7:15 P.M. Cam and I saw an unknown shorebird east of the transmitter bldg. - small, dark back and breast, distinct demarkation to light abdomen, mottled back and wing pattern in flight, light under tail coverts; - we'll try to locate it and collect it tomorrow; darkness caught us tonight.

Lehner P, 1984 68 Sept. 24 Jillson arrived at 10:50 A.M.; I took the Mike boat to Johnston, picked him up; afe chow at Holmes + Narver and then reported shipping wts., etc. to H+N shipping's got stencils made, then called Coast Guard and asked to be picked up at Terminal; Sutcliffe and Smith arrived about 1:00 P.M.; and we returned to Sand after running a few errands; while I was on Johnston Cam was putting boxes together at Transmitter Bldg.; we put several more together before chow; finished putting boxes together and painted address and shipping number on after chow; by the time we finished it was dark so we began by trying to catch Sooty Terns; it was immediately apparent we would not be able to catch many Sooties, if any at all; we were able to catch 160 Wedgetails between 9:00 and 10:30 P.M. which we put in 40 boxes; we had to catch them in nets - 2 catching and one boxing; we then rested and discussed the Sooty problem - we abandoned the mist net idea because of the small number of Sooties we would get in comparison to all the Noddies and Wedgetails; we figured we could get 5-10 sooties if we spent the night at it; this we decided would not be worth the effort; I tried to call Dr. Ely until 1:00 A.M. but due to numerous telephonic difficulties abandoned the idea.

Lehner, P. 1967 69 Sept 25 up at 6:30 A.M. for breakfast - Cam got the mice; called Dr. Ely ~ 8:00 A.M., talked to Jan, gave shipping wt. 350 lbs., 120 cubic feet, 40 boxes, 160 Wedgetails; 8:45 loaded 2 freezer containers with blood, 3 unknown birds and several other specimens; 9:15 loaded birds in VP; 9:30 we headed for Johnston - took birds first to Holmes and Narver shipping dept. and then to MATS cargo; we returned the unused boxes to the storeroom and were introduced to Sam the young pet Fairy Tern in the Security Badge office - had picture taken with him on my shoulder; after all was squared away we left Jillson waiting for the plane and returned to Sand for chow; heard the plane leave 2:10 P.M.; we ran our routine checks but had to delay the guywire census until tomorrow; saw a small Sandpiper which Cam thought might be a Baird's.

Lehner, P. 1964 70 Sept. 26 up at 6:30 A.M. to run guywire census; saw the same Sandpiper about 7:30 A.M. and thought I might get close enough to net him; I rolled around on my hands and bare knees through coral rocks, Tribulus "puncture pods" and that bird made a real ass out of me; he had the most uncanny sense to stay just out of reach and still casually pick up small insects while he was at it; I missed the 8:00 guywire count in an effort to catch him but gave up in time to make the 9:00 count; by this time I was so frustrated I went to the barracks got the shotgun, returned and put an end to his sneaky maneuvers; while trying to catch him I lost the lens cap off my camera and a pair of scissors; I later found the scissors; between hourly counts I took pictures with the 350mm telephoto; once again a bird made an ass out of me by outmaneuvering me and my camera - I would rush up the beach out of sight of this feeding wandering Tattler, set up my camera and wait; he'd come hot footing it up the beach so fast, and swerving so much that I was virtually helpless to attempt pictures of him with the tripod; that afternoon while Cam had the census - I used the '700 mm with gunstock* and got the pictures the birds had stubbornly refused me earlier.

Lehner P. 1964 71 Sept. 27 got the plant collection separated into two sections; one to be sent off and one to serve as an indicator of what has been collected; finished packing in preparation for flight to Raro tomorrow; ran routine checks. Sept. 28 up at 6:30 checked mice; called MATS to check on reservations for Willie and myself; got confirmation at 10:15 and took VP to Johnston at 11:00; got lunch at H+N, ran errands to get all squared away for a boarding pass; departed Johnston via MATS C-118 at 1:25 P.M.; arrived at Hickam at 3:45 P.M.; Willie could not get out that night and there were no cars at the Hawaiian King to pick us up so we caught a taxi to the same hotel; we encountered quite a crowd of project personnel when we reached the hotel; about 14 of us there; we got something to eat then began a night of room parties (Judy + her two tahitian friends), Forbidden City, and factory Volkswagen Microbus; earlier I rented a red Ford Mustang which I threw into reverse on numerous occasions thinking it was standard; each time someone sprayed teeth, hair and eyes all over the dashboard; roomed with Alan Anderson.

Lehner, P. 1964 72 Sept. 29 returned to hotel at 7:30 A.M.; Willie and I caught a taxi to Forbidden City to pick up the Mustangs; nothing much seemed to be in need of help as far as preparing for the Marshalls trip so I took Willie to Hickam to get him on a flight; after several trips to Hickam and International I finally loaned Willie $50 to get him to fly commercial; returned to hotel, talked ate chow and then went with Husted, Fleet, American, and Woodward to Bentley's Martini Room where we met Carol - undoubtedly the dumbest chunk of flesh (and what a chunk it was!) I have ever seen; she came out with unbelievable comment all night the rarest one was, "No! I don't go to bed with anyone, I'm not a prostitute and I don't cash Traveler's Cheques." Later we went to the French Quarter where Fleet swallowed a ice cube (and possibly a glass) after being hit in the face with a tassel behind which was nothing but skin; from there to Coco's for some chow; most of us had Nui- burgers; henceforth, Fleet and my greeting has been Nui - I predict this word will last forever; called Maria Ferraro earlier - 9:30 tomorrow night.

Lehner, P. 1964 73 Sept. 30 aroused about 7:30 by Merrill; helped Merrill and Clapp cart goods from Pearl City to the Shearwater; went shopping in the afternoon; helped pack gear on Shearwater; chowed down then sat around killing time until 9:30; Fleet and I scared several family's out of the hotel with our guitars and voices; picked Maria up at 9:30, shot the bull about old Cornell and returned to the hotel about 11:00 P.M.; a little reading and then bed.

LEHNER, P. 1964 October 1 to November 28 recorded in separate journal for Marshalls-Gilberts Trip.

Lehner, P. 1964 Nov. 28 It's now 12/16 on Sand and the typewriter's broken down so I'm back to printing notes; at 8:20 A.M. someone called me to get up; I was too much in the bag to know whether it was someone from the project or not but assume that it was; went with the full complement to the Shearwater and helped unload the ship; we ran numerous errands throughout the day; rode with Binion as far as the Iliki where Standen and I got out-Binion took Dr. Ely and Wislocki to the plane where they flew to Washington; George had on his suit plus a native straw hat that looked more like an inverted basket; Bob and I started at the Iliki and worked our way around to the Merry Monarch where we quit.

Lehner, P. 1964 Nov. 29 up at 9:30 to spend a day of leisure; ran a few errands with Standen and truck; hit the beach and bookstore where I layed in a supply of paperbacks for Sand Island; Bob roared into the room at about 3:30 in his shorts and X-country shoes to announce that he was about to jog out to the park for his race - I decided to pass up the event and returned to my Tom Collins and Erskine Caldwell; later, but still early evening, Bob returned saying he had placed 10th; Husted, Standen and I had supper and hit the town; we once more hit the Merry Monarch - this time we met Diane who was destined to be in and out of my room several times in the next few days.

Lehner, P. 1964 Nov. 30 back to the ship today to unload the last of the gear and take it to Pearl City; the ship moved from Pier 39 to Pier 14 for repairs at 1500; we unloaded all the gear onto the pier before it moved and then made 2 1/2 trips to Pearl City; what was to be our third trip fell through because we arrived at 3:55 and they were already making their 4:00 lock-up; another evening was spent chasing women and staring at ice cubes; tonight Diane provided Husted, Standen and myself with very educational conversation; Stadel arrived after I had climbed into the rack; we shot the bull for awhile and then turned in.

Lehner P. 1947 Dec. 21 up again today to run errands; we made another trip to Pearl City only this time when we came out of the warehouse area we still had two large boxes (containing tiger clam shells) and a huge whale vertebrae ; when we pulled up to the gate the guard noticed the boxes, but not the whale vertebrae; seeing that he wanted an explanation, we told him that we had taken the in and were now going to take them to be marked - feeling that he was not quite satisfied I told him, "All we have are a couple of boxes and a whale bone." With this he walked over to the truck until he could see the large vertebrae, then his mouth just flopped open and he couldn't say a word - we drove off ; I'm sure he thought he was letting something get out, but I doubt if to this day he can figure out what; that huge vertebrae caused all kinds of stares and remarks all day long; at 8:00 P.M. Stadel, Stauden and I flew to Kauai, rented a car and proceeded to try to find a motel room near Lihue; we stopped off at the Hawaii Surf for a little entertainment and then returned to wake people up to get a room; we finally found a room just south of Lihue on Rt. 50.

1964 Lehnert, P. Dec. 2 we arose at 8:00 A.M., climbed into our rented Datsun and headed SW on Rt. 50; we stopped and ate at Cookie's Diner, the only eating place for about 40 miles; we then headed on our westerly trip; bad luck finally caught up with us at Waimea Canyon lookout (we should have taken the sign for what it said - Look out!); when we pulled into the parking lot there was one other car there so I pulled in two spaces over, leaving one space between us, as well as the whole parking lot around us; we hadn't been there long when a tour bus pulled into the parking lot, ignored all the rest of the parking lot and attempted to back into the spot between us - he got in but he also smashed in the right side of our car; [illegible] the bus, the bus driver and our car all belonged to the same company so we were some what better off; the bus then regurgitated its screaming mob of typical tourists which came spilling up onto the lookout; two women came up, stood beside me and began the following conversation which had me in stitches (to be in perspective one must picture this huge canyon stretching tens of miles in every direction - a rival for our own Grand Canyon) "Isn't it lovely?" "It's called the (over).

P. Lehner 1904 Dec. 2 - continued / Grand Canyon of the Pacific" "It's not quite as big as our canyon; I like ours better" "It's a little hazy; are you going to take a picture" "Yes, but I think I'll use my FLASH." AND I'LL BE DAMNED IF SHE DIDN'T! She took out a little flash bulb the size on a pencil eraser, stuck it in her Brownie Starflash, aimed and fired; I watched the bulb and had a hard time seeing it go off, but she intended to light up the whole canyon with it. We returned to our mangled car and continued toward Kalalau lookout; along the way I had to convince an elderly woman and her husband that she was shooting her movie camera at the right lens opening; through mud, rain and beautiful countryside we continued to Kalalau lookout and then back and around the other side of the island; we stopped to take pictures at Hanalei Valley; there was a horse near the road which I used as a foreground - Standen came up and took a close up of the horse's head; I suggested he go to the other end and get a picture of a horse's posterior - there he was about 3 ft. away from the south end of a north facing horse, focusing his camera while cars went by with amazed faces pressed to the windshield; earlier in the morning I had climbed onto the top of our car to (over)

P. hehner 1964 Dec. 2 - continued 2 Get a good camera angle and had permanently dented in the roof; we had a good tour of the island in our car, that we had broken and got many good pictures of the beautiful landscape; we returned to Lihue about a hour before our plane was scheduled to depart so we stopped at a well hidden cocktail lounge called "Hideaway Bar"; when we were ready to return to the airport we hopped into the car but the lights wouldn't work; Bob called the Anchor's Rent-A-Car people and informed them we had broken their car; they got a limousine to pick us up and get us to the airport where we explained our misfortunes to the Anchor representative, just in time to catch our plane; we arrived on Oahu just in time to catch some more nightclubbing on Kalakaua.

Lehner P. 1904 Dec. 3, 4, and 5 these days all blended together in a nothingness of running errands, shopping and chasing around after last minute items, good food and women

Lehner, P. 1964 Dec. 6 drowned at 5:00 A.M. by the phone ringing and a voice telling me a taxi would be there in 15 minutes; I packed, gave Stadel $20 to give to Woodward, who was to take my two glass balls back to Washington with him; the taxi got me to Hickam where I checked in and then fell asleep watching Joe Brown trying to get on a flight; the plane left at 7:30 getting me to Johnston at 10:40 A.M.; I called Sand Is. to try to get a VP over after me, but had to wait for an M boat so I thought, later Joe Brown and then the VP arrived with Dr. Kirkpatrick and we headed for Sand; I got unpacked, looked around the island and they caught up on lost sleep.

Lehner P. 1964 Dec. 7 we checked the 72 trap mouse grid; took blood from a broken wing Sooty Tern; after supper we moved 25 traps to a new area to trap mice for autopsy; the vegetation is much overgrown from when I left in Sept.; Frigates are courting - they can be heard calling and the males are displaying gular pouches and carrying nest material.

Lehner P. 1964 Dec. 8 we picked up the mice caught in the 25 traps last night; we had 21 mice which we autopsied and took the following data on: morphological measurements, weight, sex, age, ectoparasites, condition of reproductive tract, measurement of reproductive organs, and cased the skin; we set the traps again after supper. Dec. 9 today we caught 20 mice and spent most the day autopsying them; we reset the traps after supper but this time moved them from the east end of the island to the west end.

Lehner, P. 1904 Dec. 10 at 8:45 A.M. we were out checking the live traps and scared up a Short-eared Owl from the grass near the old pier - it immediately flew to Johnston Is. and was harassed by Frigates and Noddies for about half the distance - we found five pellets in the immediate vicinity which we collected for later investigation; we had only trapped six mice (much poorer than at the east end of the island); we found one broken wing Sooty Tern, which we took blood from; we also collected two Golden Plovers which had broken wings; in late afternoon we constructed a perch and put it in the ground on the west end of the island - the horizontal perch is about 10 ft. above ground - we had hoped to get the owl to use the perch so that we might later share him (to date - 12/20/04 - we have no evidence that the owl has even returned to Sand Is.); the Sooties are now coming over the island at night in very large numbers; Common Noddies are very thick along the east shore at night - some of the Common Noddies have a distinct bill coloration which is pink except for the most distal 2 cm. which are black; these may be birds of the year?

Lehner P. 1964 Dec. 11 today was our Friday guywire census; Doc took the A.M. and I had the P.M.; at 12:30 at Sooty Tern flew over the island calling - the first I'd seen over the island in the daytime; 3 Red-tailed Tropicbirds called and swooped low over the island; an adult male Great Frigatebird pulled at Tribulus runners - I have not seen any Frigates work on the runners from the ground, but always swoop down and grab a runner trying to pull it loose - I walked one adult male twice carry Tribulus runners out of sight NW of North Island; many of the male Frigates are displaying throughout the day.

Kehner, P. 1904 Dec. 12 at 10:00 A.M. Doc and I went to East Is. On the VP with Chiefs Taylor and Rossi - we counted 5 Golden Plovers and 3 Ruddy Turnstones; at 11:30 A.M. we caught a Mike boat to North Island where we had lunch and counted birds: 12 Golden Plovers, 3 Wandering Tattlers and 1 Ruddy Turnstone; the rain poured down all evening and night, cascading off the roof tumultuous waterfalls. Dec. 13 set mouse traps to collect mice for a dyed food study; we collected one Golden Plover with a broken wing; pinned out most of the mouse skins from previous skinning.

Lehmer P. 1904 Dec. 14 We caught 17 mice in the traps and placed them in the four compartments of the large cage in groups of: 5, 5, 4, and 3; the four dyes we mixed with the oats were all aniline dyes in the following four colors: fast green, basic fuchsin, gentian violet and methylene blue; we took blood from one broken wing Sooty Tern; the 11:30 Mike boat took us to Johnston where we ate lunch, borrowed a truck and surveyed the island; we found: 26 Golden Plovers, 24 Ruddy Turnstones, 6 Red-tailed Tropicbirds and 1 Sanderling; returning from Johnston in mid-afternoon on the VP we saw a Wedgetailed Shearwater sitting on the water (undoubtedly hurt); later in the afternoon we counted shorebirds on Sand Island: 30 Golden Plovers, and 3 Ruddy Turnstones; Sooty Terns are now sitting on the ground at night in numbers from 5 to 7 thousand.

Lehner P. 1964 Dec. 15 we checked the caged mice - the pelts that had fallen on the cardboard could best be recognized by the red and green colors (basic fuchsin and fast green); some of the mice had died (or been killed) and cannibalism was almost 100%; we spent most of the rest of the day writing the bi-weekly report. Dec. 16 Check the caged mice - they appeared very emaciated and several more had died so we released the four that were still alive - a final examination of the feces showed that the red and green were most discernable; we picked up 3 broken wing Sooty Terns - it is quite noticeable that most of these broken wing birds are found on our near the beaches - could it be that they head for the water when they can't fly? - I can remember seeing juvenile broken wing Sooties jump into the water and swim out from shore - what is the reason? Once again the bill coloration of Noddies has become very noticeable to me (see Dec. 10); went to Johnston Is. at 11:00 A.M. and took the typewriter over to be repaired, had Chow, picked up a government drivers application then returned to Sand Is.; after supper we pinned out more mouse skins.

Lehner P. 1944 Dec. 17 at 9:30 A.M. we set every other row of our mouse traps (5 rows of nine traps each) and began our activity study; we both checked traps and reset them every two hours all day and night; Doc kept the records, but it was obvious that activity picked up at night, especially early evenings; Dec. 18 we both ran the traps at 7:30 A.M. after we had begun the Guywire Census at 7:00 A.M.; I returned to barracks at 8:00 to sleep until 11:30 when I would eat and take over for Doc; during the day one of us could easily run both the guywire count and the activity mouse grid; early A.M. found only a few Sooties over the island - some were heard off to the South; at 1:20 P.M. one of our green footed mice (one of our previous colored food experimental mice) was found dead in the Transmitter bldg. (about 60 yards from his release point); Doc missed the VP to Johnston, but Armstrong returned with the typewriter; we collected the three abandoned Great Frigatebird eggs and blew them out.

Lehner, P. 1964 Dec. 19 today we found an adult male Great Frigate incubating an egg on the south shore; at 1120 went to Johnston Is. to lay in stores and get a haircut Dec. 20 picked up 3 broken wing Sooty Terns and 1 Common Noddy Tern; we got blood from 2 Sooties and saved one for a specimen. Dec. 21 took blood samples from 3 broken wing Sooty Terns - collected 1 for a specimen.

Lehner P. 1964 Dec. 22 tides were very high this morning with surging lagoon waves breaking and rolling over the break water wall and rolling up to the back steps of the barracks; the waves surged over the causeway in several places washing large rocks onto the roadway and undermining much of the signal building; our first row of mouse traps (#1-9 on North Shore) were washed 20 feet inland; the western edge of the island up to the roadway to the dump was underwater; we took blood from 4 broken wing Sooty Terns; took the 4:30 P.M. M boat to Johnston to trap mice - had chow - left traps and returned to Sand on V.P. at 7:00; found a Red-tailed Tropicbird on nest and egg under Scaevola bush near barracks

Lehner P. 1904 Dec. 23 took 7:20 M boat to Johnston for traps; caught 3 mice and returned to Sand at 9:45 A.M.; skinned the 3 mice; in afternoon Doc got a call from John Makilan (exterminator on Johnston) who said he had caught 2 rats; we took the 4:30 M. boat over, collected his 2 rats, ate chow and returned to Sand on V.P. at 6:10 P.M. Dec. 24 took blood from 1 broken wing Sooty Tern; spun blood and froze serum Dec. 25 CHRISTMAS DAY we attempted to dye two mice for Christmas presents - one green and one red; the red one came out fairly well ( used the aniline dyes mentioned previously); the crew through a Christmas party at night - Archie played Santa and handed out gifts to all.

Lehner, P. 1964 Dec. 24 ran guyn wire census from 700 to 1910; at 1245 the crew took target practice on the island and disrupted the count; however, Doc and I got to shoot a few rounds and not all was lost; we started the count again at 2:00; Sooty Terns started arriving about 4:20; the Red-footed Boobies are sitting on the island more. Dec. 27 started the mouse activity study at 11:30 A.M.; ran it every 2 hours until 7:30 P.M. on the 28th; took blood from 1 broken wing Sooty; we started autopsying broken wing sooties today and checking their molt and reproductive condition.

Lehner P. 1904 Dec. 28 continued to activity study on mice through 7:30 P.M.; Sooty Terns started leaving the island noticeably at 3:30 A.M.; at 5:30 A.M. only about 100 Sooties remained over the islands; took blood from 5 broken wing Sooties; Frigate egg on South Shore missing today. Dec. 29 rained almost all night and all day; we skinned out the 2 rats taken on Johnston on the 23rd. Dec. 30 The Sooties are now dropping out of the sky with damaged or broken wings with increased frequency; bled 4 broken wing Sooties; at 2:00 P.M. we went to Johnston for survey and got started at 3:00; it rained almost all P.M.; we counted: 45 Golden Plover, 23 Ruddy Turnstones, 1 wandering Tattler, 1 Sanderling and 4 Red-tailed Tropicbirds on Johnston.

Lehner P. 1967 Dec. 31 took blood from 4 broken wing Sooties and 3 broken wing Noddies; at noon we went to North Island for the census and chow; we counted: 7 Golden Plowers, 1 Ruddy Turnstone and found 4 broken wing Sooties; the rain caught us on the Mike boat today as it continued its long seige on the atoll

Lehner P. 1965 1965 Jan. 1 we ushered in the first day of the year with the gypwire census; Doc ran the first couple of hours and checked half the mouse traps before I had a chance to get out of bed; saw Red-footed Boobies in mating behavior today: One bird (apparently female) sat on ground at probable nest site while two others (apparently males) flew back and forth swooping close over her - every time they would approach, the sitting bird would squawk at them in what appeared to be a threatening gesture. Observed a male adult Great Frigatebird take a Tribulus runner out to the rocks north of the Signal bldg. Two Common Noddies were observed in close flight, side by side - apparently mating flight After supper we once again sat grid traps.

Lehnes P. 1965 Jan. 2 ran the mouse grid traps in the morning; worked on paperwork in afternoon; re-set grid mouse traps after supper. Jan. 3 ran mouse grid in the morning; took blood from and autopsied 7 broken wing Sooty Terns; also took blood from 2 Common Noddies; finished Progress Reports; had rain and strong winds almost all day long; set grid mouse traps after supper; approximately 4,000 Sooties now on ground

Lehner, P. 1965 Jan. 4 ran the mouse grid in the morning; found the last young Great Frigate bird to be raised on Sand Is. had hit a guy wire and broken his wing; took him and one Common Noddy to pump house [illegible] and took blood; also found a juv. Brown Booby with a broken wing; Doc was feeling sick for the second day and took an M boat to Johnston in the afternoon; set mouse traps in late P.M. Jan. 5 ran mouse grid traps and worked on paperwork.

Lehner P. 1965 Jan. 6 ran mouse grid traps; caught the second adult Red-tailed Tropicbird at nest near barracks - carried band number 505-12069 - we painted a green cross on its breast and put a green spot on its head; took blood from 6 broken wing Sooties and 1 broken wing Noddy (common); reset mouse grid after chow. Jan. 7 ran mouse grid in morning; took blood from 1 Common Noddy and 1 Sooty Tern ; Doc went to Johnston to make plane reservations and saw 8 Red-tailed Tropicbirds on Johnston; reset mouse grid traps in late P.M.; approximately 100,000 Sooties are now on or hovering over Sand Island; they are still coming in to the island at 11:00 P.M.

Lehner P. 1965 Jan. 8 ran guywire census from 0700 to 1900, rain almost constantly throughout the day; at 3:00 P.M. Sooties began returning to the island. set 25 mouse traps on East side of island to catch mice for autopsying. Jan. 9 autopsied 13 mice; we moved our cubicle location from the last one in the southeast corner of the barracks to the last one in the northwest corner; Rossi has become another new officer believing he has been called to create a utopia here on Sand; every thing is being moved around so that it looks different, but it's the same old place underneath; set mouse traps again on East side of island.

Lehner R. 1965 Jan. 10 picked up trapped mice; caught 15, two were marked, 13 were autopsied; set traps again across east side of island after supper; saw a Christmas Island Shearwater flying back and forth across the east shore (a band was visible); this is the first one seen this year. Jan. 11 picked up traps and mice for autopsy; autopsied 14 mice, making a total of 40 for the month; the population of mice appears to be lower this month than in Dec. and Nov. as our overall trapping success is lower.

Lehner P. 1965 Jan. 12 packed two wooden crates with specimens in preparation for mailing to Washington; almost all the mammal specimens collected to date were mailed (boxed); Doc and I ran three transects across the island, sampling the vegetation by the point center quarter method. Jan. 13 took an inventory of materials; Binion called from Johnston about 11:20 A.M. saying that he and Norm had arrived too late to catch the M boat; at 12:40 we rode the VP to Johnston to mail (ship) the boxes and pick up Norm and Binion; the four of us looked over the island and Binion found 5 Grey-backed Tern eggs on the old pier and 4 on the islet.

Lehner P. 1965 Jan. 14 Doc packed in preparation for leaving today, we marked the old Gray-backed eggs, finding one new one; found a Red-tailed Tropicbird (return # 565-12017) under Scaevola by pump house; Binion found 2 Christmas Island Shearwaters under a concrete slab on the east shore; Doc got a call that there was room on the 12:45 flight if he could make - so we did; Binion, Norm and I got a car from Mr. Lee McCaffery of H+N and surveyed the extent of Johnston Island; we found two banded Red-tailed Tropic birds on eggs (# 565-12029 and 565-12070), found # 565-12033 under bush with no egg, but with # 565-12069 pointed green on the sixth on Sand Island; in total we found: 8 Red-tailed Tropicbirds, 1 White-tailed Tropicbird, 106 Golden Plover (1 orange tagged), and 3 Ruddy Turnstones; flocks appear to be getting slightly larger; returned to Sand Is. on UP; found 2 new Gray-back eggs on Pier and 2 destroyed eggs on islet; at 11:45 P.M. the Sooty Tern population was down to about 60,000 birds.

Lehner P. 1965 Jan. 15 got up to start guywire census at 7:30 A.M.; set out 5 sets (2 each) of the moisture blocks, one on surface (denoted by red tape) and one at the 6" depth (denoted by blue tape) - the blocks are gypsum, designed to soak up moisture and therefore change resistance - a known current is fed into one side of the block and a meter reads the resistance in ohms or the % humidity; at 9:30 A.M. a Christmas Island Shearwater was sitting in some Portulaca near the concrete slab on the east shore; Norm and Binion took 3 Berlese samples; there were 2 new Grey-back eggs on the pier (total of 10) and a total of 2 on the islet; there is also a new Frigate bird egg on the islet; a Golden plover repeat # 642-01170 was caught in the mist net; we ran a shorebird count on Sand getting the following figures: 83 Golden Plover, 44 Ruddy Turnstones and 4 Wandering Tattlers; there appears to be 5 Blue-faced Boobies using the guywire bases.

Lehner, P. 1965 Jan. 16 did progress report for first half of Jan; at 2230 we counted birds on the guywires and got the following totals: Red-footed Boobies 1434, and Great Frigatebirds 280; there are now 15 Gray-backed Tern eggs on the old pier. Jan. 17 Grey-back eggs: 1 new and 2 destroyed for total of 1 on the islet, and 3 new and 5 destroyed for total of 13 on pier; there is one Great Frigatebird egg on the islet; today I finished the progress report and got it in the mail; we tested both the moisture meter and telethermometer today and found that they are affected to an unpredictable degree by ground current created by the LORAN tower; using a Galvanometer the ground current read about 20µ Amps, enough to charge the gypsum block like a capacitor such that no resistance is recorded at all - in fact it records a minus resistance; we checked the tele-thermometer with a regular mercurial thermometer and found that it read higher - a result, probably, of the current upon the thermocouple; Binion and Norm tried dragging a small sheet of cloth for ticks, but did not pick any up.

Lehner P. 1965 Jan. 18 renumbered and placed in position the mouse traps used for the last autopsy catch; Briggs (one of the Coast Guard enlisted men) caught a 33 lb moray eel off the dock, first hooking it and then spearing it; he took it over to Johnston Island where they're authorized to pay 50 cents/pound for morays by the University of Hawaii; at 9:45 P.M. we went to the other end and caught 5 Sooty Terns and 3 Gray-backed Terns for blood and specimens; one of the Gray-backs had a definite brood patch.

Lehner P. 1965 Jan. 19 a rainy or threatening day throughout; painted 10"x10" plywood signs for 6 Sooty Plots - the signs read: Sooty Terns Plot (number 1-6); at 1300 I took the VP to Johnston for a haircut and stakes; while there I inventoried the materials we had in the Coast Guard storeroom on Johnston; then returned to Sand at 1500; there is now one Common Noddy egg on the islet.

Lehner, P. 1965 Jan. 20 put out Sooty Plot number boards for photographing the plots; found a dead adult Blue-faced Booby (band # 558-82962) - records show that this bird was banded as a chick on French Frigate Shoals - it was layed out for a skeleton; Grey-back Tern eggs were found to total 13 on the pier and 2 on the islet; Norm and Binion took 3 Berlese samples; Winds were extremely strong this afternoon, coming out of the north.

Lehner, P. 1965 JAN. 21 rain and strong northerly winds all night; Binion received a phone call about 0900 saying that he could fly out on an early flight if he could get there by 1000; the Coast Guard VP wouldn't start so we took the noon M boat over; his plane finally left at 1645; I called Dr. Ely to tell him of the delay so that there would be dry ice waiting for the birds; the C. Noddy egg on the islet was destroyed; Grey-backed Tern eggs are receiving a great amount of destruction; we received the cannons and net today. Birds shipped with Binion: 41 Sooty Terns 5 Common Noddies 7 Wedge-tailed Shearwaters 3. Great Frigatebirds 1 Red-tailed Tropicbird 4 Golden Plovers 1 Rectoral Sandpiper 3 Grey-backed Terns

Lehner P. 1965 JAN. 22 today we ran the guywire census; there is a large Boerhavia die off radiating out from the Frigate colony; about 90% of the Amaranthus on the island is dying off; at 1030-45 we took the first pictures of the Sooty Tern plots - we expect to continue the photographic record by taking pictures of the plots every Friday; LORAN C was off the air all morning, but the chances were good that it would be transmitting again by mid-afternoon - I took one cannon and one blasting charge to the other end and set it up, taking the shunt off the charge to see if the radio signal from LORAN C would set it off; as close time approached they were still not on the air so I set it off with the blasting machine, using a small 2x4 for a drag - the cannon was at ~35° angle - when fired, it tore loose from the drag and carried about 300 ft., giving a good demonstration of its capabilities.

Lehner P. 1945 JAN. 23 In the afternoon we made two shots with the complete cannon net rig; we made the shot on the beach south of the old pier and shot into the wind - the wind blew the net back some on both shots, but worse when the cannons were elevated to about 15° on the second shot - after the two shots we feel we have the cannon placement, direction and angle down pretty well and the wiring down - with the loxan & on this time, the un-shunted charges did not go off; in the P.M. we mapped the Sooty area on the ground - at 2225 they were still coming to the Island in large numbers; I would estimate that there were not less than 200,000 Sooties on the Island at 2400; checked the Grey-back eggs - on the pier I found the 2 eggs near the edge of the pier missing and 2 crabs very close by - if circumstantial evidence is worth anything, I would hint that crabs may be causing some egg destruction.

Lehner, P. 1965 JAN. 24 walked the island in search of Sooty recoveries and suitable places for firing the cannon net; there were few of either; at 1245 there were a few Sooties flying over the island, and the multitudes could be seen coming in by 1700; surveyed the causeway and found it riddled with mouse holes - it looks like a good opportunity for a home range study, having the directional movements pretty well limited to two; checked the Gray-backed Tern eggs: Islet total: 9 new: 2 Pier: total: 6 destroyed: 1

Lehner, P. 1965 JAN. 25 entered move data received from Honolulu in the specimen catalog; autopsyed 4 Sooty Terns - they are still not in breeding condition; found a dead juv. Frigate bird; at 2130 went to "other end" with J. Armstrong to band Gray-backed Terns and Hawaiian Noddies - got 2 of the former and 4 of the latter; I would estimate about 75 Hawaiian Noddies are sitting on the NE guywire #1; many do not have the distinct white cap - it appears to be speckled with black; picked up 10 Sooty Tern returns.

Lehner, P. 1965 JAN. 26 Chick found in Red-tailed Tropicbird nest by the causeway; there was an adult Red-tailed Tropicbird under the Scaevola by the Power House, but no egg; 1745 found juv. Red-footed Booby with a broken wing on the north beach; he was preening his feathers (with eyes closed) despite his predicament; blood, measurements and ectoparasites were collected - he was not collected as a specimen; his measurements are as follows: wt. 723.2g wing: 385 mm culmen: 89mm mid toe: 80 mm tarsus: 42 mm. color: iris: gray bill: light pink, distal ¼ black feet: dark pink distinct black line across breast face around eyes: dark blue dorsal: brown, except upper tail coverts: white ventral: white, except (above) head and neck: brown At 2230 went to "other end" and collected 5 Hawaiian Noddies for specimens; got 12 Sooty and 1 Common Noddy returns.

Lehner, P. 1965 JAN. 27 recovered one broken wing Sooty Tern; three Red-tailed Tropicbirds have been spending a great deal of time flying over the island - both in the "backwards" courting flight and swooping and hovering low looking for nest sites; found a dead juv. Red-footed Booby dead on the east shore and a live Redfoot adult on the south shore, both with broken wings; Gray-backed Tern eggs now total 8 on the islet and 8 on the pier; there are about 14 Great Frigatebird eggs on the plot near the SE rim of the bunker.

Lehner, P. 1905 Jan. 28 noticed a lot of Red-tailed Tropicbird activity over the island today; there was one Red-tailed Tropicbird sitting under the old pier and one in the east shore bunker but neither had an egg - another was with the chick on the SW side of the causeway- 3 others were flying over the island looking for nesting sites; a few Common Noddies were on the islet at noon; the Gray-backed Tern eggs total: 6 on the pier and 9 on the islet; I made a nesting site (2'x2'x 3/4" plywood roof 2 feet off the ground) for the Red-tailed Tropicbirds, but 'it has not been used yet (Feb.3); called Lee McCAFFERY at H&N and reserved a vehicle for Saturday (30th) afternoon.

Lehner, P. 1965 JAN. 29 guywire census day; a few Sooty Terns seen on the ground at 0800; checked under the concrete slab on the east beach but could find neither the X-mas Island Shearwaters or any eggs - there were, however, two nests; Brown Boobies feeding heavy in the lagoon; Gray-backed Tern eggs now total 10 on the islet and 6 on the pier; there were several thousand Sooties over the island by 1900.

Lehner, P. 1965 JAN. 30 went to Johnston to count birds - had the usual H boat mixup - caught the 1145 boat and had chow on Johnston; counted the following totals: Golden Plover 16, Ruddy Turnstone 13, Sanderling 2, White-tailed Tropicbird 1, Red-tailed Tropicbird 1 on an egg with band no. 565-12079; had to make the return trip by way of East Island; censused shorebirds on Sand Island: 89 Golden Plovers, 56 Ruddy Turnstones and 2 Wandering Tattlers; the Gray-backed Tern eggs now total 8 on the islet and 6 on the pier.

Lehner, P. 1965 JAN. 31 today found a Red-tailed Tropicbird again under the east end of the old pier; the one by the power house paint locker is still there, also, but neither has laid an egg yet; found 2 Ad. Red-footed Boobies dead from broken wings; set mouse traps at 1330 and censused and mapped Sooties; caught 40 Sooties after 2400, 30 of which were returns, and checked for molt and brood patches; none of them showed any sign of a brood patch and only one had any molt ( the fourth tail feather in was in molt). Gray-backed Tern eggs: Islet 18 total, 3 new, 3 destroyed Pier 4 total, 2 new

Lehner P. 1965 Feb. 1 ran mouse trap grid; worked on Biweekly Report and other paperwork; Gray-backed Tern eggs: Islet 10 total, 2 new, 3 destroyed 5 total, 1 new set mouse grid traps in late P.M. Feb. 2 ran mouse grid and finished Biweekly Report; Sooties were over the island throughout the day in small numbers, but none sat on the ground; Gray-backed Tern eggs: Islet 10 total, 2 new, 2 destroyed Per 4 total, 1 destroyed reset mouse traps in late P.M.

Lehner, P. 1965 Feb. 3 SHAVED BEARD ran the mouse grid; we seem to be getting a high trapping success including many new unmarked and young mice; found another broken wing juv. Red-footed Booby - the strong winds lately seem to be playing havoc with the larger birds as well; we've been taking blood and ectoparasites; 3 Red-tailed Tropicbirds were over the island performing their mating flight in the afternoon; Great Frigatebirds are still counting in great numbers, despite the fact that jets are continually taking off from Johnston Island; Gray-backed Tern eggs: Islet 10 total, 3 new, 3 destroyed; Pier 7 total, 3 new; during the movie the C.O. received a Tidal Wave alert and later the warning; we grabbed all of our important records and documents, personal effects, chow, etc. and hauled it on top of the power house roof - the whole station (shutters, etc.) were secured - we set around transmitters and receivers on top of the roof, under blankets, etc. and waited for the on-rush of water - it never came, so about 0130 the warning was lifted and all the gear was taken down and stowed away; I went in to take a shower but the water line had broken and no one was anxious to fix it that night; the Sooties were quiet all night until about 0100 when they moved across the island in large numbers (over)

Lehner, P. 1965 Feb.3 - continued heading for "the other end"; we didn't set the mouse traps, but helped stow the gear away which had been up on the roof. Feb. 4 the shutters were left down all night and all morning so everyone slept late; at low tide we counted Gray-backed Tern eggs: Islet: 12 total, 2 new; Pier: 7 total, 1 new, 1 destroyed Two Red-tailed Tropicbirds flew over the island today - they appeared to be still looking for a nesting site; fixed bike and got it back in pretty good shape; put rubber shock pads on the lead end of the cannon missiles in anticipation of their getting banged around on rocks; found an adult Red-footed Booby and adult Great Frigatebird dead on the east shore; two Christmas Island Shearwaters at the concrete slab on the east beach - one under the slab, one outside - still no egg; another X-mas Island Sh. on east shore: band #: 514-78013; a large number (75-100) of both Brown and Red-footed Boobies are spending a lot of the daylight hours in the nesting colony (near the highest point of the island), but don't appear to be there after sundown.

Lehner, R. 1905 Feb. 5 ran the mouse grid - still getting a large trap success; ran gufwire census; Sooties fairly thick near the island in the morning; 1010 saw a Great Frigate bird chasing a Red-tailed Tropicbird at a high altitude; Norm found a broken egg (probably a Common Noddy or Sooty) on the Island; we took the 6 Sooty Tern Plot pictures but recorded the date as the 4th in the picture; 3 Red-tailed Tropicbirds over the island again today; Sooties started arriving in multitudes by 1845.

Lehner, P. 1965 Feb. 6 ran mouse grid; several Sooties over the island at 0900 with several thousand off shore; Gray- backed Tern eggs total: Islet 14 total, 2 new Pier 9 total, 2 new reset mouse traps about 2200, between the frequent rain squalls which continued all night. Feb. 7 ran mouse grid traps; a few Sooties (20-30) over the island at 0930; checked Gray-backed Tern eggs: Pier 11 total, 3 new, 1 destroyed Islet 11 total, 3 destroyed Great Frigate bird eggs now appear to be down to about 4 on the islet; Chief Rossi went along and we took pictures of the Gray-backed Terns and Great Frigate birds; the Red-footed Boobies have been spending more and more time in the usual nesting area - it would be safe to say that nest building has begun, but no eggs have yet been layed; set the mouse traps in the late P.M.; Red-tailed Tropicbird chick on SW end of causeway shows pin feathers coming in on upper back.

Kehner P. 1945 Feb. 8 ran mouse grid; hundreds of Sooties over island at 0900; at 1130 Mr. Bushman, Dr. Bode, Col. Barry and Everett Morse arrive; I showed them our facilities and present work and we discussed collaboration with Morse on his work; Mr. Thurman (C.O.) OK'd the bringing in of a refrigerator and other tables, etc; at 1415 all but Morse depart on Mike Boat for Johnston Island; counted Gray-backed Tern eggs: Pier 12 total, 2 new, 1 destroyed Islet 9 total, 2 destroyed There was a fourth Christmas Island Shearwater on the East Shore today, paired with the third one discovered on Feb. 4; counted approximately 50 Hawaiian Noddies on NE guywire.

Lehner, P. 1965 Feb. 9 hundreds of Sooty Terns over or near the island all day long; another Red-tailed Tropickird appear to be starting to nest beneath the Seavola bush on the NW end of the power house; Morse's refrigerator; field tables and white gas arrived from Johnston and we helped him stow everything away; the Gray-backed Tern egg numbers are still fluctuating greatly: Islet: 9 total, 1 new, 1 destroyed Pier: 13 total, 3 new, 2 destroyed In a short tour through the Sooty Terns about 22:00 we noticed about 12 instances of copulation.

Lehner, P. 1965 Feb. 10 Sooties were over the island in the thousands all morning - they could be seen sitting on: (1) the east tip of the NE peninsula, (2) the north side of the highest point sand and (3) on the NE slope; We expected Dave Bratley today and worked at punching #3 streamers waiting for a phone call - he did not make it; there were 7 adult and 1 juvenile Red-footed Boobies in the nesting colony today; we counted 2 pair of Christmas Island Shearwaters - the previous pair and a pair with band nos: 514-78008 and 514-78013; there were 2 Hawaiian Noddies in the Amaranthus nesting area (off SE end of transmitter bldg.) at night; we counted 7 pair of Sooty Terns copulating.

Lehner, P. 1965 Feb. 11 Norm counted ~ 12 broken Sooty Tern eggs on the ground this A.M.; there were also 6 Christmas Island Shearwaters on the East Shore in the A.M., there are now two Red-tailed Tropicbirds occupying 2 different possible nest locations under the Scaevola bush near the paint locker - neither has an egg as yet; from 1200 to 1330 we ran the plant survey on the first 36 mouse grid plots - we could not follow the plan prescribed of recording units, etc., but instead estimated the percent of each prong of the crow occupied by each species as follows: Plot: x { Lepturus: 15, 10, 10 = 35 Tribulus: 10, 10 = 20 Setaria: 20 = 20 Sesuvium: 5 = 5 } From 1720 - 1750 we ran the last 36 plots of the plant survey; counted the Gray-backed Tern eggs: Islet: 7 total Pier: 10 total, 3 new, 1 chick the chick was given a plastic leg band (green # 101); (over)

Lehner, P. 1965 Feb. 11 - continued there was an adult Blue-faced Booby in the islet bunker - we put on band # 737-44622 - there were two other adult Blue-faced Boobies on the east rim of the bunker; at 2300 we went to the other end to collect 6 Sooty Terns and 5 Common Noddies - they were collected and Norm tried to brush ectoparasites from them and Morse took blood from some before the died or were killed; they were weighed and measured, then froze. Sunset saw many thousands of Sooty Terns on and over the island; if I was to point to a day which would mark the turning point when the Sooties would begin to occupy the island throughout the day in mass, lay and begin incubation, I would say that today was that time.

Lehner, P. 1965 Feb. 12 Guywire census day; found about 75 eggs on the ground - believed to all be Sooty eggs, but there was no instance of incubation; discovered a total of 4 pair of Christmas Island Shearwaters (1 pair under east beach concrete slab, 2 pair on east shore, and 1 pair in burrow on upper end of NE slope); All morning there were hundreds of Sooties over the island, thousands off shore and over 100 sitting on the islet; off the numerous Christmas Island Shearwaters, Red-footed and Brown Boobies now occupying "nests", no eggs have yet been found; found a juv. Red-footed Booby that had undoubtably bitten a wire and fallen into the high grass stunned - when taken to the beach, he made a wobbly but successful take-off; there were 7 Hawaiian Noddies in the Acanthos nesting colony in the early daylight hours; there are now about 20 Great Frigatebird eggs on the South Shore; found a Red-tailed Tropicbird sitting under a small Messerschmidia bush on the south side of the road to the transmitter building; counted Gray-backed Tern eggs: Pier: 11 total, 1 new, 1 chick Islet: 18 total, 1 new 1815: Sooties sitting down fairly thick on upper part of NE slope, and on the north tip of the NE peninsula 1830: several hundred Sooties sitting on the islet; thousands hovering and flying over and thousands more over the island proper (over)

Lehrer, P. 1945 Feb. 12 - continued the Sooties came in noticeably from the SW today and seemed to funnel over the islet; those that continued on to the island proper appeared to seperate again into flocks of a couple hundred birds, swoop and circle around as a fairly compact unit and then move among the thousands of Sooties amassed near, on and above the highest point and the NE slopes there was individual movement between smaller flocks, but not marked; 1845: I would say that there were no less than 150,000 Sooties on or over the island; there were perhaps 10,000 sitting on the island. Today we learned from Chief Rossi of Mr. Bushman's plan to build a house on the island - needless to say, this was met with mixed feelings throughout.