Bratley, David A., 1964-1965

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Fri. June 12 Sand Is. — Found 3 Emma. Noddy Tern eggs piped. 2 were laid May 8, therefore taking 35 days to be piped. 3rd egg laid on May 10, therefore 33 days to piping. Dr. Ely & Binin Amerman left today for Honolulu. I flew down here on June 7 with Dr. Ely. I was Binin's replacement. The past 5 days Dr. Ely, Binin, Diet Meril, +4 managed to band 10,400 Spot Terns — 7500 immatures + 2900 adults. Mon. June 15 Johnston Is. — 9 returns on Red-Tailed Tropicbirds today, 5 of these were on eggs + 1 had a small young chick. Evidently the birds or eggs are renesters, but earlier data must be seen to confirm this. All these returns were banded by Ken Amerman +4 during my last stay except maybe one, 4 most of those birds did eggs or chicks at the time. The green crosses (egg or young) or green lines (non renesters) painted on the breast were for the most part now too smudged or worn to tell exactly what they had been. All the birds now are marked with blue paint using the same system. 5 birds banded less than 90 days were also checked as well as 8 new birds banded. The data on returns + returns less than 90 days follows:

Brattley, D.A. 1964 Sand. Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Min. June 15 (cont) p.2 Returns : Band Number age/sex Breeding status old paint mark green new paint mark blue 565-12016 A-u egg - + 12042 " egg ? + 12047 " " ? - 12048 " " ? - 12050 " egg - + 12054 " egg - + 12063 " egg + + 12064 " small young + + 12065 " " + - Returns less Than 90 days : Band Number age/sex Breeding status old paint mark green new paint mark blue 565-12083 A-u egg + + 12087 A-4 " - - 12092 A-u egg - + 12095 A-4 egg + + 535-14061 A-u egg + + Banded : Band Number age/sex Breeding status blue paint mark 535-13513 A-u egg + through 535-13520 " " "

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Mon. June 15 (cont.) p.3 Note: 535-13513 through 13516 was landed on east side of south taxiway. The nest on the west side of the runway. Total: 20 nests, 3 with young Sand Is. - Red-Tailed Tropicbird - one landed 535-13521, was adult subadult (A-U). This bird was incubating an egg under a Massarachnidia argentinia just out side our window of the quarters. Marked with a red cross (+) on the breast. Bulwer's Petrel - A certain less than 90 days, 642-01101, found under rock on east shore of northeast peninsula. Also landed me 642-01129 on north side of canvey just west of the air signal building. It was sitting in the same hole as with a previous landed bird 642-01120. This pair was making cooing sounds + our disturbing them didn't seem to place them in the least. Tue. June 16 Sand Is. - Ruddy Turnstone - all show some degree of change in plumage, with some nearly in full breeding plumage + some hardly changed from the non- breeding plumage. Golden Plover - Only two birds showed that showed any change in plumage + this amounted to just small black blotches

Brothley, O.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. 7/11 (Notes) Tues. June 16 (cont) on the breast belly. all other plumes were in non-breeding plumage. Wandering Tattler — Both the birds, one on sand + one on Johnston were in non-breeding plumage. Bulwer's Petrel — Banded one as 642-01130 tonight. This bird was paired with 642-01128 in a hole along the north bank of the causeway just west of the signal building. The entrance was surrounded by seagrass. Thur. June 18 Sand Is. — Sooty Tern — collected two immatures tonight with green color cands #30 & #62. These are know- age birds from plot #4. Soft-part colors was taken, they were weighed, & then frozen. Sat, June 20 Sand Is. — Red-Tailed Tropicbird — banded the two chicks on the island today, # 535-13522 was under the Nissarachnidia argentir in front of the pump house. # 535-13523 was banded in the bunker on the east shore of the original portion of the island. Both were tagged with orange nylon leg streamers & painted across the breast with red paint. C. Noddy Tern — young noddies, some fledged + some nearly to this stage was banded today. 100 was banded.

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) June 20 (cont) p2 Seven of these 100 were known age, either having been marked with color bands (numbered) at a previous date or the hatching date was known. These birds were weighed + length of bill, wing, + middle toe taken. The data as follows: Band No. Hatching Date or color band # No. grams of weight bill length (mm) Rwing (mm) mid toe (mm) 753-26201 4/2/64 157.3 275 171 35 -26202 blue # 88 202.2 315 230 42 -26206 " # 86 190.5 335 235 40 -26211 " # 85 210.0 335 223 41 -26246 red # 146 223.0 370 225 38 -26262 blue # 78 207.5 310 220 38.5 -26263 " # 76 199.1 330 221 38 Ten (10) color banded immatures were collected as specimens, however, only 8 were the numbers legible. One blue + one red color band could not be read. The numbers as follows: blue # 79 red # 132 " # 81 # 134 " # 87 # 142 " # 91 # 143 Twenty-nine (29) adults (nesting) also banded.

Bratley, D. A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Mon. June 22 Sand Is. - Wedge-Tailed Shearwater - Nests were marked on the island for a beginning in an incubation study. Ten nests were marked & since the egg laying date was unknown, all nests & eggs from 1 to 10 were given an X marking. Thereafter, there will be daily checks for new eggs. All birds incubating were marked with red paint on the breast, head, & tail & the band numbers read. Data as follows : Band No. Nest No. Remarks 565-12921 #1 " - 12965 #2 " - 12924 #3 615-01178 #4 " - 01177 #5 565-12910 #6 615-01137 #7 Dark phase 565-12915 #8 " - 12925 #9 " - 12972 #10 Band number 615-01131 was found incubating under a log on the east shore. The egg was probably laid around 6-15-64 as this was the first day it was seen in the hole. Another bird, which we banded

Bretley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Mon June 23 (cont) as 535-14062 was incubating under the old dock. Red-Tailed Tropicbird — Band number 565-12008 was found sitting near 565-12015. Evidently these birds are a pair. They are incubating an egg under a Nesserodinidia argentin on the south side of the causeway just as we leave the man-made portion of the island. Brown Booby — Seven (7) young were landed today, 3 in the islet + 4 on the east slope of the island in the main colony. Since the young wander about it was unsafe to associate the young with a nest number, instead one of the adults were caught & the band number read. Past data can then be consulted to determine when the egg was laid & hatched. Data as follows: (adult or islet could not be captured to associate with the young) Band No. of Young Band No. Adult which young was associated Location young banded Probable Nest No 737-44615 - 44616 - 44617 - 44618 - 44619 - 44620 islet islet islet main colony " " 737-44072 A-M - 44048 A-F - 44026 # 36

Brattley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Mon. June 22 (cont.) 737-4Y621 737-Y4081 A-M main colony p.3 Sooty Tern — Tonight we took regurgitation samples of 500 young sooty terns by placing a plastic sheet beneath a wire pen in which all the birds were placed. Weight of all the regurgitated food was taken. Errors would be as such: Sand was introduced into sample by the young themselves, by wind, by a wedge-tail digging nearby, + by some sand that was packed around the outside edge of the plastic sheet to help keep it in place; many birds regurgitated before entering the pen + some regurgitated after being released. It may be noted that all the young birds did not regurgitate, however this is to be expected + would not enter as an error. The weight of the total regurgitation was 12 pounds, therefore the average per bird was 0.024 lbs, or 0.384 oz., or 10.896 grams. Tues June 23 Sand Is. - Wedge-tailed Shearwater. — Three (3) new nests were found on the islet today. The eggs were marked with today's date + 2 of the incubating birds were captured to read the band number. Three 3 birds were marked with red paint also. The data as follows :

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Tue., June 23 (cont.) p.2 band No. Nest No. Date of Egg laying R = 3 X = unknown painted Rod Pair To: 565-12966 #3 X - 565-12924 " - 12999 #6 X - " - 12910 " - 12951 #8 X - " - 12915 615-01139 #9 X - " - 12925 565-12999 #11 6-23-64 R " - 12936 #12 6-23-64 R #13 6-23-64 On the original portion of the island 3 burrows were dug up open just above the terminal end of the burrow. The small hole was covered and will later be used for to observe the change over periods of incubating widgestails. Other burrows will also be spied in the same way. Of the 3 burrows, one already has an egg, one egg was broken, & the 3rd the bird has yet to begin nesting. Common Noddy Tern — During landing of adult 3 pairs were landed & they are so such: #1[753-26165] #2[753-26172] #3[753-26193] [753-26168] [753-26173] [753-26194] Also one known age bird (an immature) was landed. The red color band #128, was replaced by band number 753-26394. Christmas Island Shearwater — Saw one adult feeding its young on the sand alone (by the limber) at 9:00 P.M.

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Wed June 24 Sand Is. — Wedge-Tailed Shearwater — Two new nests, #14 #15, on islet today. Date as follows: band No. Nest No. Date of Egg laying X = unknown R = 15 painted Red Pair to: 565-12926 #2 X — 565-12965 535-14064 #14 6-24-64 R 615-01142 #15 6-24-64 R 535-14063 #13 6-23-64 R Nests were also marked in the original portion of the island, some being dug open at the terminal, others were located under heavy grass cover which can be checked without much disturbance to the bird. Twenty nests were marked, 12 do not as yet have eggs, 8 have eggs (one of which has the egg laying date known). The nests which do not have eggs will be checked daily for fresh eggs. All nests will eventually be used for change over study. Nest No. Nest No. Date Egg without eggs with eggs were laid X = unknown #W1 #W7 X #W2 #W8 X #W3 #W11 X #W4 #W12 X #W5 #W15 X

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. At.11 (Notes) Wed, June 24(?) # W 6 W 9 W 10 W 13 W 14 (abandoned egg) W 16 W 17 # W 18 W 19 W 20 6-21-64 Bulwer's Petrel — 6 birds landed tonight, 3 had eggs. Another bird, previously landed was also found incubating on the S. bank of the causeway, E. of the signal tbuilding. This now makes the total to 5 known nests sites with eggs. 4 other future nest sites are known also. One pair was landed: 642-01135 642-01136 Thur. June 25 Sand Is. — Rod-Tailed Tropicbird — Saw one adult feeding the young in the bunker at 4:10 P.M. Wedge-tailed Shearwater — all records kept on a separate chart now. Fri. June 26 Sand Is. — Common Noddy Tern — Four young, which hatched yesterday & today were banded with blue color bands. These chicks will be kept track of, weighed, & measured periodically. The newly born chicks will be color banded daily now.

Bratley: J.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Fri. June 26 (cont) in the study areas. Data as follows: Area Hatching Date Blue color band No. Phase South Shore 6/25/64 127 White South Shore 6/26/64 128 Black Northeast (E shore) 6/25/64 129 White " 6/25/64 130 Gray Other - an attempt was made to captured Bad-footed Boobies + D. Shigates Tonight but it was not very successful. We were practicing for next weeks bird shipment, by trying out different techniques of catching, but it looks as if we are going to run into many problems. Once the guy wires are tumbled or one bird is taken off, the next fly. Specimens of fish + money eel were taken tonight also. Sun June 28 Sand Is. - Wedge-tailed Shearwater - Two eggs were found in two of the nest sites we stated at on the original portion of the island. Data follows: Nest No. Date Egg laid W 3 6/28/64 W 10 6/28/64 Common Noddy Tern - Three other

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Sun. June 28/69 young were banded with blue color bands today, as follows: Area Hatching Date Blue color band No. Phase South Shore 6/28/64 131 Gray NE peninsula (east shore) 6/27/64 132 White NE " (west shore) 6/27/64 133 Black Mon. June 29 Johnston Is — Red-Tailed Tropicbird — 20 nests were found on Johnston today, 5 of these had young birds. Six birds were banded & 3 returns were made. All birds with eggs or young were painted with a blue + on their breast. Non-nesting birds were painted with a blue line. Date follows: Bird banded: band No. age/ sex breeding status 535-13524 A-u Egg probably pair to 535-13515 which has egg; painted blue on back 13525 " " 13526 " Egg 13527 " " 13528 " Egg 13529 " " Returns: 565-12014 A-u small young -12045 " " -12072 " Egg

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Mon June 29 (part) p.2 Returns less than 90 days: Band No. age/ sex breeding status 535-13515 A-4 Egg; probably mate to 535-0525 ** -13593 A-a Egg; see note 565-12084 " Egg 12086 " 12089 " Egg 12096 " small young 12099 " Egg 12100 " large young ** This bird was accidentally banded this number on 04-24-64 & went unnoticed until today. The string of bands has been used only up through -13529, therefore someone on Mar 24 must have accidentally taken a band from the latter part of the string & never noticed it. Other — 8 Fairy Terns plus one young were sighted today. Only 3 Golden Plovers were seen. My estimate for the entire island would be about 60 Red-tailed Tropicbirds, 25 Golden Plovers, 25 Buddy Turnstones, & 9 Fairy Terns. Sand Is. — Common Noddy Tern — Four (4) young were banded with blue color bands. Blue color band #136 was placed on the chick just as it emerged from the egg; the complete hatching was accomplished at 6:59PM. The data as follows:

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Mon. June 29 (cont) p3 Area Hatching Date Blue color band No. Phase South Shore 06-29-64 134 White " 06-29-64 135 Gray NE peninsula (W. shore) 06-29-64 (6:59PM) 136 Black " 06-29-64 137 Black Tues. June 30 Sand Is. — A #7 band which read 587-527.55. I was found lying in the tunnel on the islet. The band was closed but there wasn't any bird remains to be seen. How long this band has been lying in the dirt is difficult to say + it was most likely exposed to the surface by a burrowing wedgetail. Wed. July 1 Sand Is. — Bird Shipment — Bay Jillian arrived today for the shipment of live D. Frigate + Red-footed Boobies. The allina dirty Terns + 7 other boats are also to be escorted back by him on July 3. Twenty-four birds were captured tonight, 14 D. Frigates + 10 red-footed boobies. Of the D. Frigates there were 13 adults + 1 immature; of the red-foots there were 9 immatures + 1 adult. All but 6 of these birds were taken from or near the nesting frigate colony. Four of these red-footed boobies, one of which was the only adult to be captured. Only 2 frigates could be taken off the guy wires + from the other nesting

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) wed. July 16th [illegible] (north shore area violet). We abandoned the idea of entering the only nesting area, since it will mean great destruction to young chicks + eggs which are left unattended by our disturbance. Only birds incubating eggs or those just nesting in the colony were taken. Of the two banded frigate birds taken, one was from the colony area + this bird had a much swelled leg foot due to the land. Thur. July 2 Sand Is. — Bird Shipment — a total of 8 birds captured for shipment, 7 of these were frigates (all adults) + 1 immature red-footed booby. The only bird which we were able to capture off the guy was a frigate, the rest came from the nesting frigate colony area. Even the birds in the nesting colony have become quite spooky due to our disturbing them last night. Again only nesting or birds incubating eggs were taken. The allino Doty Tom escaped today when it was taken from its pen. Once it climbed high in the air the wind took the bird + drove it backwards. It was not yet strong enough to fly into the wind + this was driven backwards toward Johnston Island. Tomorrow Johnston will be searched in hopes

Bratley 4: Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Note) Thur. July 2 (cor?) p.2 that the bird will be found. If the bird does not make Johnston, but instead falls to the water, its chances of survival will be small, so it will most likely be swept to sea. Once it is in the water I doubt if it will be able to get off of it again. Eight young sooty terns (not yet fledged) were also readied for shipment tomorrow. These terns will go back to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Run down on the bird shipment is as follows: 1. Total birds captured: 40 birds 2. Species: 21 Greater Frigatebirds 11 Red-footed Booby 8 Sooty Terns 3. Greater Frigatebird i.a. 20 adults, 1 immature b. 18 from nesting colony c. 2 from outside nesting area d. 2 banded (1 was immature) e. of the 2 banded, one from colony & one outside colony (asked) 4. Red-footed Booby i.a. 1 adult + 10 immatures b. 7 from nesting frigate colony area c. 4 outside nesting area 5. Sooty Tern: all 8 birds un-fledged young.

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Fri. July 3 Johnston Is. — Bird shipment — Bay Jillson left with the birds a 2 PM this afternoon. Johnston Is. was searched for the albino but we were unable to turn it up. We still hope that it may return even though its dance do not look good. Also accompanying Bay Jillson are 1000 live chicks which we collected yesterday off of the Northeast Peninsula of Sand Island. Sand Island — Hawaiian Noddy Tern — one nest with one egg found atop an Amaranthus viridis near the southeast corner of the transmitter building. This is the first time this species has nested in this area this year. The other two nests on the same plant species but SW of the Transmitter building have recently been destroyed. Greater Frigatebird — In the nesting frigate colony 18 young birds were counted + 1 egg was pipped. Wedge-Tailed Shearwater — an egg was laid in nest # W13 today + in # W6 a bird was found incubating an egg, however this bird has moved its egg from a connecting burrow into our marked nest site. Brown Booby — Nest # 33 abandoned. There is also one new nest with one egg. The bird incubating this egg was earlier marked with

Bratley, D. A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Fri. July 3 (unit) orange paint on its belly, thus it must be a nereeting bird. 24 young birds counted in the Brown Booby nesting area (this includes the 3 on the islet). Of these 24 all but 21 older than 21 days, the being less than 10 days old. 5 fledged young were also sitting in the colony. Red- Footed Booby - 6 young, all over 21 days old, were counted. There was one nest with an egg along the north shore (on the concrete piling). Gray-backed Terns - 2 eggs on the old dock. Of the 32 birds counted sitting on the dock, 7 were immatures (fledged). Some of these immatures were nearly in the adult plumage, except for a small amount of gray speckling in the anterior portion of the black cap; it appeared also somewhat lighter gray on the back. Sat. July 4 Sand Is. - Red-Tailed Tropicbird - The young in the bunker along the east shore of the original portion departed either during the night or early in the day today. Mon. July 6 Sand Is. - A large hermit crab was taken tonight in a fish trap just off of the seaplane ramp on the man-made portion of the island. The hermit crab was as large as the species found in the Phoenix Islands, however, it was

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Mon July 6(??) light browned in color rather than red like the Phoenix do. species. The crab was in a large turk shell, species unknown, which had on the outside of it 5 sea-anemone like organisms. Both the crab & sea anemone-like animals were preserved in alcohol (70%), but in separate whirl bags. Each bag was given a field Series number; Div. of Birds, USNM tag. The tag number for the sea anemone-like animal was 25049, the hermit crab was 25050. Wed. July 8 Sand Is. - Wedge-tail Shearwater - saw a wedge-tail in the tunnel of the burrow cairn, a marked egg around in its cloaca. The large end of the egg was in the cloaca with the marked small and protruding. about 1/3 of the egg was in the cloaca. Once laying egg, these birds must be able to move them from place to place in this manner. Thur. July 9 Sand Is. - collecting skins - 4 adult Sooty Terns & 2 wedge-tailed shearwaters were collected for skins today. Blood samples were taken from the wedge-tails. An attempt will be made to collect this same number every month from now on. Sooty Tern - This evenings one in changing

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Thu. July 9 (col) plumage (from immature to adult plumage) was collected as a specimen. The band number, 753-17588, was left on the bird, as was the orange nylon leg streamer. This bird was banded last year; mostly likely was an immature, according to the changing plumage now. It was speckled with black in the forehead & on the throat & chin. Many of these birds have been sighted, but this was the first bird to be seen with a band. Previously we didn't know whether these birds were this years young or last years young. By finding this banded bird, it proved that these changing plumage birds are last years immatures as this band number was placed on the bird in the month of July, through Sept. of 1963. Sun. July 12 Sand Is. — Bulwer's Petrel — 3 new sites of Bulwer's nesting areas were found, however, none as yet had eggs. Overall, now there is 5 pair with eggs, 1 pair with a chick from 1-10 days old, & 8 pair with future nesting sites. Of the pair with the chick, one has been banded as 642-01137. The chick is all black covered with down so soft that one is unable to feel it with the fingertips. The down was long & the chick looked like a small ball of

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Sun. July 12 (w/?) Jazz with a bill protruding from one end. The rest of the head was difficult to make out unless the down was brushed back. 642-01139 was found to be mated to 642-01133; 642-01109 was mated to 642-01132. 3 birds were banded. Also change-over took place this evening on the nest along the south bank of the concourse, east of the signal building (nest with one bird banded as 642-01138). It will now be watched for the next change-over time. Mon. July 13 Johnston Island — Red-Tailed Tropicbird — 17 nests were found today a Johnston; 9 of these had eggs; 8 were with young birds. 3 of the young were less than 10 days of age, 1 was from 10-20 days old, 2 were better than 21 days old, + 2 were nearly fledged. The two that were near fledging age were banded; color marked with orange leg streamers,+ painted with a blue line across the breast. Data as follows: Birds banded: band No. age/sex breeding status 535-13530 A-u Egg -13531 I-u nearly fledged -13532 I-u nearly fledged -13533 A-u Egg -13534 A-u Egg

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Mon. July 13 (mid) p.2 Returns Band No. 565-12080 -12081 Age/ sex A-U A-U breeding status with small young less than 10 days old. with young that was from 10-20 days stage Returns less than 90 days 565-12094 A-U Fairy Tern — 23 birds were counted on Johnston today & all but the one chick were sitting in the casuarina trees northwest of the Post Exchange. This is a sharp increase in numbers over last survey June 29 when only 9 were sighted. The population has remained nearly constant over every month of this year & this is the first instance it has risen to such a number. The chick which is beneath the ——save of the PX building on a roofer is now older than 21 days & has lost most of its downy look. Sand Island — Bulwer’s Petrel — a young fulwais was found in the nest where one of the parents had been banded as 642-01138. We assume the chick hatched today or last night the adult bird was in the nest. Today the adult was gone & the chick was left alone. How long the adults stay with the chick once it hatches is not known, so we may be wrong in assuming the bird

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Mon. July 13 (cont) p.3 hatched today. This was the same nest we planned to do change-over studies on, but will now be unable to do this. The chick was a ball of black fuzz & the same size as the one found last night. Sooty Tern — for the past week now nearly the whole population will rise from the island with no disturbance at all. This mass flock will hover in the air & spread out to about twice the dimensions of the island. After a few minutes they settle back to the ground. Any type of disturbance or noise, like the jet attack bombers which have recently started to take off & land on Johnston will cause the same behavior. This must mean they are becoming restless & preparing to depart. Already large areas (Northeast peninsula, Southwest portion of island) are almost completely devoid of birds in the daytime & very sparsely populated at night. During the daylight hours, the population = decreases considerably over the whole island, but at night it builds up to a dense population again, however, it is noticeable that nightly population is decreasing too. Tues. July 14 Sand Island - Bulwer's Petrel — both nests which now have young birds were

Bratley, D.A 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Tue. July 14 (ord) found to have the adults with the chicks today. Fri. July 17 Sand Is. — Wedge-tailed Shearwater — a plastic tube was pushed down into the stomach of 4 birds in an attempt to make them regurgitate. The method was unsuccessful. Sooty Tern — A known age immature (red color band # 180) was collected as a specimen tonight. Also 2 adults were taken as specimens (all killed by the dog doe). Common Noddy Tern — one adult collected as specimen. Mon July 20 Sand Is. — Common Noddy Tern — collected 3 adults for study skins tonight. All were tagged + frozen. Tues July 21 Sand Is. — Soil Samples — The beach soil samples are being prepared for shipment today. All area within these dimensions, 6 inches x 12 inches x 1 inch in depth, was taken for each sample. For date + location of sample, see below. Samples 1-6 taken on original portion of island. Sample No. Location Date 1. Below high tide mark 6-30-64 on West shore, just south of the causeway.

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Tues. July 21[st] Sample No. Location Date 2 above high tide mark on west shore, SW tip. 6-30-64 3 below high tide mark on south shore, but very western and, on line with road running N to S. 6-30-64 4 below high tide mark on east beach in front of bunker. 7-9-64 5 above high tide mark on north beach, approx. 100 feet west of pierhead. 7-9-64 6 below high tide mark on north beach, NW edge right alongside of causeway. 7-9-64 7 below high tide mark on south beach of man-made portion of island. The beach between the camera site + causeway. 7-9-64 note: Rock samples also accompanied shipment. The red rock sample was found on the west beach of the original island portion. All others came from the east shore.

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Wed. July 23 Sand Is. — Skins — collected one adult red-tailed tropicbird today which was struck + killed by baseball accidentally. Also collected were 14 heads of Dooty Terns (9 imm.+5 adults). A series of 25-50 heads will be collected for a future project of Bimin Amerson. All heads were taken from birds with broken wings + all were frozen. Thurs. July 23 Sand Is. — Blood Samples — Were requested to get 200 Dooty Tern blood samples today. Tonight 125 were taken + in the process 69 birds were killed, 39 of those being taken as specimens. All samples will be centrifuged to get the sera + the sera of these 200 samples will accompany Dick Merrill when he leaves for Honolulu July 28. 1500 birds were requested also. Fri. July 24 Sand Is. — Blood Samples — 84 samples taken tonight + not more than 8 birds killed. The reason for the much lower mortality was due to drawing only 5cc of blood rather than the 10cc which was drawn last night per bird. Samples of two birds were pooled into one centrifuge tube. This method proved to be much faster also, as the 84 samples took us only 3½ hours to draw in comparison to

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) For the 10 hours (8:30 P.M. through 6:30 A.M.) for the 125 samples last night. It proved just as easy to take samples alone rather than have someone hold the bird for the person drawing blood. Almost 100 of the samples were centrifuged for the area. We had no sleep now since Thursday morning at 10 A.M. or 40 hours ago. Fairy Tern — 3 fairy terns were landed on Johnston Island during the morning & one bird was taken for a specimen. This is the first time Fairy Terns have been landed or taken as skins on this island (or sand) since the commencement of the Pacific Project. It has only been this month that their numbers are up enough to catch these birds. There are about 25 on Johnston now. Sat. July 25 Sand Is. — Blood samples — all samples have been processed for serum. Each tube was numbered & marked with locating date of sampling, & the species used (Sooty tern). Red-Tailed Tropicbird — Band number 535-13535 laid an egg under a Decocola in front of the paint shed. The young Tropicbird under the Decocola in front of the powerhouse (band number 535-13522) departed sometime during the night of July 23 a early morning

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Sat. July 25 (cont) of July 24. Sooty Tern Heads — collected 16 immature + 3 adult heads today. This makes the total to 25 immature + 10 adult heads Sun. July 26 Sand Is. — Sooty Tern Heads — 4 immature + 4 adult heads collected + frog. Ticks — 600 ticks, Ornithodoros capensis (family Argasidae) were collected from the Northeast peninsula. All were found beneath stones + boards. It was noticed that the population has dropped considerably. This is probably due to the lack of nesting sooty terns in this area. Christmas Island Shearwater — the only two young upon the island were banded today; 514-78032 was under the plywood board along the east shore + 514-78033 was beside a wooden beam just south of 78032 by approximately 25 feet. Other — Phil Lehman arrived today to replace Dick Marill. Dick will leave Tues, July 28 for Honolulu Mon. July 27 Sand Is. — Ticks — 1400 ticks were collected from the Northeast peninsula from beneath stones + boards. The 2000 ticks collected the past two days will leave with Dick on Tues. Sooty Tern — One immature, banded as 833-00478,

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Mon. July 27 (wet) was collected as a specimen tonight. Tues. July 28 p.1 Johnston Island — Red-Tailed Tropicbird — 17 nests were found on Johnston today, 3 of these nests had hatched young, 1 had large young (21 days plus), 8 small young (10-20 days old) + 5 eggs. For the first time one nest was found along the south side of the west pathway; had a small young (10-20 days of age). Data as follows: note: 2 nests were destroyed. Birds banded band No. 535-13536 13537 13538 13539 13540 13541 13542 13543 age/ sex A-4 A-4 A-4 A-4 A-4 I-4 A-4 A-u breeding status small young (10-20 days) Egg Egg small young (10-20) Egg Egg Egg small young (west pathway) Wedge-tailed Shearwater — 1 bird found incubating on Fairy Tern — Population remains at approximately 25 birds (1 young). White-tailed Tropicbird — 3 observed today. Sand Island — Laughing Gull — one flew over sand in an easterly direction about 5 PM. It was a 2nd year plumaged bird. Three sooty terns were harassing it up

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston I. At/11 (Notes) Tues. July 28 (2-7) p2 first observation + as it flew along other also would dive a foot at it. It probably landed on East Island. Other- Did Merrill departed this afternoon for Honolulu. We carried both the 2000 tails + 200 body lean sera samples. Wed. July 29 Sand Is. — Bulwer's Petrel — another young chick found tonight along the south bank of the causeway between the Gran "A" antenna + whip antenna. It was quite old (10-20 days). One egg was found cracked along one side + 'everything had leaked out, so it was collected even though it was in poor shape. This nest with the destroyed egg was on the North bank of causeway, next of the signal building, under the rusty pipe (6 adults 642-01132). Totals include 12 nest sites, 3 young (10-20 days old) + 1 egg. Thus 27 birds (24 adults + 3 young) are using the island. Thur. July 30 Sand Is. — Wedge-Tailed Shearwater — landed the birds in the burrows on the island in preparation of change-over studies. In all but one case, only one of the pair was landed or the return recorded. Only one of the pair was painted, which help to

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Thu. July 30 differentiate between the two birds of the pair. Data as follows: Nest No. Band Number color painted w3 565-12341 red w6 535-14068 red w7 565-12820 red w8 535-14070 red w10 615-00658 red w11 565-12197 red w12 535-14071 red w13 615-01399 red w15 615-00211 red w17 615-01290 red w18 565-12697 - 535-14069 - w21 615-00428 red These birds were painted on the throat, top of head, + top of tail. Fri. July 31 Sand Is. - Wedge-tailed Shearwater - The return 565-12299 was on nest # w16. The bird was painted red on the throat, head, + tail. Hawaiian Nobby Tern - another nest, egg found today in the ammophila rindis near the frigate colony. Laying date of the egg is unknown. There is a total of 3 nests now on the island, all with eggs.

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Sand Island, Johnston Is. Atoll (Notes) Sat. Aug. 1 Sand Is. — Bulwer's Petrel — The chick in Nest #1 was found dead tonight. During the last weighing it showed a decrease in weight, thus the adults evidently were not feeding it. The chick was tagged & frozen for a study skin.

Brutley, D.A 1964 Midway Atoll Aug 14 East Is. — 3 immature Laysan albatrosses on East Island, now were flying yet. Sand Is. — saw 2 non-flying Laysan albatrosses. Many dead Laysans along the beaches. Also a dead fulmar was found along the beach where the boats depart for East Island. Aug 15 Easton Is. — Band returns on 3 sooty terns — one from Johnston Atoll, 4 one from David Brigitte Shoals. Another orange tagged sooty from Johnston Atoll was observed, but couldn't be captured. One young wedge-tail seen in "colony #2 of sooty terns". Sand Island — another dead fulmar found within 100 ft of the bird found yesterday. It also was in a badly decomposed condition & can only be used for a skeleton. Aug 16 Drew a twin engine Grumman HU-16 amphibian to Blue Atoll, Green Island this afternoon. Spent about 2 hours looking over island + taking photographs of the seals + terns. Gave the two fulmars to Bill Witty. Arrived back on Midway

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Midway Ato 11 Aug 16 just after 5PM, but it was too late To jump a boat for Eastern Island, so could not land tonight. Aug 17 Sand do — Saw two canaries about 7:30 AM in the cassia trees across from the Open Rices building. Both had been feeding on the ground but flew into the trees as I approached. Their call notes sounded very similar to the American Goldfinch. I observed them for about 15 minutes. They were yellow on head, breast, upper belly & upper back. Lower belly & back, tail, & wings were whitish. Bill & feet & legs were flesh colored. Eye dark. Eastern do — Took over 7 hours during the afternoon & evening to band 200 red-tailed tropicbirds. All were in the Scaevola & under Mesomorphia as was difficult to get at. Almost half of the island was covered. 1100 nesting sooties were banded also, 1000 in colony 2, +100 in colony 1. They are somewhat difficult to catch as the moon is beginning to have some effect however as long as my light is bright it is not too bad. Daytime banding, on the other hand is almost impossible.

Bratley, D.A. 1964 Midway Atoll Aug 18 Eastern Island — Sooty Tern — landed 3200 nestling from 8:15 PM through 6:15 AM, a period of 10 hours. 1900 of these were in colony #3 at the south end of the island. The next, 1300, were in colony #2 on the northland of the island near the admiralate building. Other — one Bristle-thighed Curlew was observed on the southwest point of the island. There also seems to be a good population of Christmas Island Shearwaters in the interior of the island. A few of the Saysan Albatrosses are trying to fly. Aug 19 Eastern Island — Sooty Tern — finished finding the remaining 700 #3's tonight. All were on nestlings. The last half hour of my stay was used trying to capture banded birds for returns. Four returns were taken, however two other banded birds were observed, but could not be captured. A total of 8 band returns have been made on this species since my arrival last Friday

Bratley, D.A. 1965 Sand Island, Johnston Atoll (Notes) Sun. Feb. 21 p.1 Sand Island — arrived on this island Feb. 17 after spending 2 nights in Honolulu + the last weekend at home. Since have been making schedules plus putting sooty tern + boobies studies into effect. The same six sooty tern plots as last years we being checked daily now for number of eggs laid + hatched. Each egg is marked with the laying date to determine the length of incubation. Plots 1 + 5 are the only ones occupied yet with 43 + 23 50x50 eggs respectively. Two [illegible] foot area have been staked out for capturing sooties, one area for sooties without eggs + the other for sooties in which the eggs will be destroyed. The past two evenings have been used to capture + paint green (mint only) 100 sooties in the first [illegible] foot plot (#7). 1000 birds are expected to be banded or painted in each plot, however the birds are rather unsettled in plot #7 as they are just moving into it, therefore catching is difficult in such a limited area. The birds have not started to move into the 2nd [illegible] foot plot (#8) set aside for sooties in which the eggs will be destroyed. A blind is also nearly completed for observing behavior of sooty terns in plots. The blind is large enough to place a chair inside + is of a wooden frame. The span

Bratley, D.A. 1965 Sand Island, Johnston Atoll (Note) Feb. 21 (cont) and is placed to catch the direct force of the wind. All openings except the back side + an opening for breeding activity behavior in front will be covered by funny socks so that air may pass through freely. Today after supper Norman Skryfard + I stated all the brown booby + red- footed booby nests, giving each nest a number. The eggs are being marked as to the laying date to determine incubation time + later fledging time. Seven brown booby + 3 red-footed booby nests were noted on the east slopes of the island. The incubating birds were almost impossible to catch to check for band numbers as the winds this past week has been blowing with a strong force. As it was only 2 red-foots were captured. East Island was visited today by Norman + I as well as a number of other Coast Guard fellows looking for shells. This was the first time for both Norman + I to set foot on this newly built island in the atoll. It was square, somewhat larger than the original portion of Sand Island, strictly of white coral rock, with one shiny metal building + four antennas. It had one large + one small dock. The life on the island were the shorebirds found along the

Bratley, D.A. 1965 Sand Island, Johnston Atoll (Notes) Feb. 21 (cont) p.3 edge of the water + a few golden plovers scattered through the interior amid the white coral gravel. All together 5 Golden Plovers, 30 Buddy Turnstones, + 1 Wandering Tattler were sighted. Yesterday during late morning + during the afternoon Johnston Island was visited. Nearly all the vegetation used previously by red-tailed tropicbirds has been cleared away + as a result only one nest with an egg could be found. It is very discouraging to see what can be done by men to such a place. The island is becoming less + less productive for birds all the time. All together 22 red-tailed tropicbirds, 39 golden plovers, 4 buddy turnstones, 1 wandering tattler, + 7 fairy terns were observed. One large bird was observed sitting on the northeast corner of the island from quite a distance. By the time we drove to the area, it had been frightened away by a couple of fellows looking for sea shells. I unfortunately failed to see it fly as we passed a supply area which blocked the area from my view. Since I have never observed a gull sitting along the shoreline of Johnston during the 5 months in which surveys were conducted to this island last year, this may have been a gull. However, this is my conjecture on my part.

Brutley, D.A. 1965 Sand Island, Johnston Atoll (Notes) Feb. 21 (cont) p.4 Sand Island Observations — Sooty Terns — Yesterday I watched a sooty tern chase a golden plover at length. It followed the plover not only in a straight line, but also in a zig-zag course, harassing the plover for about 600 feet as it flew east & then north out from the island. This species is settling + laying eggs in areas which it did not occupy for the entire length of the breeding season last year. They are now in the lagoons along the west shore + extending eastward + northward across both roads. One reason for this may be the Ammophila which has become much more dense in the area between plots 1 & 2. This area was practically bare + unvegetated last year at this time. Out of the 100 birds banded + painted green on their breast in the plot of birds without eeggs (+7), 3 have already been seen outside the plotted area. The plotted area is along the south wall of the old transmitter building. This area was set aside to determine movement of birds which have not laid eggs. Two days after banding one was found along the west roadway incubating an egg (about 300 feet from the plotted area). Two others have been observed west of the plotted area also, however, neither have eggs. There are

Bratley, D.A. 1965 Sand Island, Johnston Atoll (Notes) Feb. 21 (cont) a couple just sitting outside of the boundary p. 5 Brown Booby — One immature plumaged bird was observed to land beside an adult + beg food from it. The adult fed the immature + then walked a few feet + joined another adult. The two adults appear to be paired + planning to nest. The adult which fed + the immature were unbanded which makes me believe they are not originally from this island as all immatures raised on this island last year were banded + tagged. Feb 22 Sand Island — Spent the morning autopsying mice (nine mice musculus). The afternoon was used to check eggs in plots #4 + 5, culling eggs, marking nests, + banding + checking for pair bonds in the body colony. Norman + I also attempted to make foot stepping stones between the island + islet so it will be easier to get to the islet when the tide is in slightly. Managed to get my feet + shoes quit wet during the ordeal. After supper the cannon net was set up in plot #7 in hopes of catching sooty terns + to make a worthwhile night of banding out of it. It took an hour + a half to get the net stretched out + arranged properly.

Sand Island, Johnston Atoll (Notes) Bratley, D.A. 1965 Feb. 22 (cont.) This time also included getting all the p2 equipped up to the original portion from the pump-house + unpacking the gear. Much of the trouble was untangling the net as it cated in Tribulus. Once it was dark the canons themselves were put in place + all charges hooked up to the detonator. This took another hour as the ground was soft as it this gave us trouble positioning, the canons not properly. The bared ends of the wire connections also had to be covered with plastic bags to keep everything dry during the light intermittent rains. We then waited 2 hours for sooties to settle into the plotted area, but very few of them ever did. I believe this may have been due to the very high winds we were experiencing. With the charges set we had to fire the canons anyway, so at 10:30 PM the canons were detonated. One end of the net caught the sharp spliced ends of a ground wire running from the Sonar antenna, making a 2 foot rip in the net + the net failed to twist more than ten feet at this point. The other two canons took the net its full 30 ft length + 21 sooties were captured. Not many for the effort involved. 15 of the birds were landed +

Bratley, D.A. 1965 Sand Island, Johnston Atoll (Notes) Fe. 6. 22 (cont.) pi3 5 returns made, no bird escaped. After banding the net was folded up + everything brought back to the pump house. Tomorrow however the net will have to be stretched out on the tennis court to repair the hole + also clean all of the Tropibirds twigs out which has caused many entanglements in the net. Altogether 5½ hrs were spent tonight to band only 15 birds. The breakdown: setting up net + cans 2.5 hrs. waiting for bird to settle 2.0 hrs. banding + disassembling net 1.0 hr. total 5.5 hrs. Feb. 23 Sand Is. — it took us 2½ hrs during late morning + after dinner to clean the canoe net of all twigs + other matted it picked up in the shot last night. Rest of day spent following our routine procedure. Feb 25 Sand Island — all dead birds were picked on the island today to make ready for the mortality study to begin tomorrow. Red-Tailed Tropicbird — a tropibird laid an egg in the bunker today. This is nest #2 for the island this year. The band number was 565-12025. The first nest is under a 'Mesquite' tree at the beginning of the caneway. It has a young bird.

Bratley, D.A. 1965 Sand Island, Johnston Atoll (Notes) Feb 26 Sand Island — Gull — one medium was seen tonight on the isle while bonding Blue-faced Boobies. The gull, was first observed overhead + then as we turned off our lights + concluded in the gun emplacement it landed among the blue-faced boobys. I tried to capture it but failed to accomplish the feat. Norman went after a shotgun at 12:30PM. We had to wake the C.O.. By the time he returned with the gun, I had left the isle as it appeared the gull would not be back due to the disturbance. Will try tomorrow morning again. Description: medium size gull with a narrow black tail band. Resembled a 2nd year Laughing Gull but this bird had an orange bill with a black tip. Blue-faced Booby — landed 4 on the isle + had returns from other islands. Mar 5 Sand Is.— Sooty Tern — Observed one which appeared to be sleeping today. Its head was tucked beneath its wing.

Bratley, D.A. 1965 Sand Island, Johnston Atoll (Notes) Mar. 5 (cont) for at least a couple of minutes, however the other sooty disturbed because of my presence, bumped the bird & it awoke. It was not preening itself or anything on this order, but seemed to be in a resting state. This was the first sooty tern I have seen doing this. Mar. 6 Sand Is. — Hawaiian Noddy Tern — Two of the birds which had been sitting on nests in the Lamanthus all week in the center island laid eggs today. Red-tailed Tropicbird — 2 nests found today, both in the Scavola in front of the pumphouse. This male nest #3 + #4 for the island this breeding season. Mar. 20. Sand Island — Great Frigatebird — a male bird not yet in its full adult plumage was seen incubating on a nest atop one of the concrete landings on the inlet. He still had the white breast, however all else was black. A red throat pouch could be seen but was not as an extensive area as on a full adult. The pouch was not inflated. The female, observed later, was in typical adult female plumage. Sooty Tern — saw 2 nests with 3 eggs each.

Bratley, D.A. 1965 Sand Island, Johnston Atoll (Notes) Mar. 20 (cnt) Brown Booby — 3 birds seem to be incubating on one nest as I have caught 2 males + one female incubating over a period of time. The nest, #28, will be checked daily now to see which is the true pair. Also a female captured on nest #35 yesterday was on nest #35 today, which is only about 4-5 feet from #25. The nest #35 is not a built up nest as is the usual, but a single egg has been laid upon the ground. It may be that the female laid the 2nd that not in nest #25 where it belonged. This egg was numbered for nest #35 today for the egg was not there yesterday & we had numbered up to #34 yesterday. Mar. 21 Sooty Tern — Watched an adult kill a young chick which had wandered into its territory. The adult grasped the young by the nape, shook it, pecked it in the body's head, repeating such in a random method until after the chick was dead. Examining the chick afterward, the skin was broken & the internal organs of the abdomen could be observed. The skull, from which I took the body's had further tucked to distal 3/5nds of the head from jailing the small bird. Mar. 23 Sooty Tern — Observed plot #2 from 1200—

Bratley, D.A. 1965 Sand Island, Johnston Atoll (Notes) Mar. 23 (ext) 1300 hours. Many had their eyes closed, leaning sideways, bill tips nearly or Touching ground — appeared asleep or in a daze. Every few minutes they will blink their eyelids. One sooty was observed to keep pulling at his range steamer. Later in plot #2 a third bird took over an egg, was chased off by one of the — two we landed & had colored, but at 6 PM this unmarked bird was again on the egg. Red-footed Booby — On nest #6 saw one unlanded bird — displaying along side the incubating bird. Both were on the nest as the nest is placed on metal piling projecting from the water. Two birds found incubating on the nest were landed, streamlined, & marked with red paint; — this bird was not chased away by the incubating bird March 29 Johnston Island — Passerine — a small bird was seen this afternoon as it flew from one tree to another. It was only observed the one time & no color could be seen. However by its size, shape, & flight characteristics in the short flight; I — believe it was a Japanese White-Eye. It was a small bodied bird with a very short tail.

Bratley, D.A. 1965 Sand Island, Johnston Atoll (Notes) Mar 29 (cont) The area it was observed was between the south side of the west taxiway + tennis court among the shrubby trees + casuarinas. The tree into which the bird flew was searched thoroughly — but it could not be found. Every area where I thought the bird might be on the island was searched for a period of 3 hours, but it was never sighted again. April 9 Sooty Tern — 1450 hours — Watched change over of a sooty today. As one mate landed the other backed off the young chick + began strutting in a semicircle. The one which landed appeared to feed the chick. The young then crawled beneath the feeding adult — the adult kept backing up + then finally settled on the chick. The former incubating bird now strutted back + forth in front of the other adult + then took off. April 12 Sand Is. — Sooty Tern — Today was the first day nest collared birds did not appear in plot #3. It seems that the adults will leave the young for awhile + then return. Also observed an adult pick up food that a chick had regurgitated + swallow it.

Bratley, D.A. 1965 Green Island, Kure Atoll (Notes) June 26 Saw my first gecko tonight outside on the wall of the offices quarters. Photographed it under artificial light inside. It drew my attention by calling. July 9 Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus Schauinslandi)- While making the red-tailed tropicbird check in the study area at the south end of the island, I found where a seal had regurgitated numerous moray eels or a very similar family of eels. The bodies were in tact with the fin membranes dissolved leaving only the long processes protruding from the fish. Since it was not decomposition was already underway with a bad odor, the investigation did not proceed further. The fins, caudal fin, was nearly as deep as the body itself - non approximating 7/3 over the body. All eels were from 2-3 feet in lengths all seemed to be the same species. July 13 Sphinx Moth — One was seen in the moth antenna field after supper but could not catch it. Drove a stake at it but missed + it didn't give me a second chance. It was hovering over Tribulus flower.