104 USGS/BRD/ITR-2000-0012 



any of the murre colonies... ." In addition, Clay (HSU- 

 SCL unpublished field notes) made the following 

 general notes: "The California Murre were in full 

 nesting. Eggs fresh to slight incubation"; and "The 

 greedy Western Gull was seen to make off with a murre's 

 egg at every opportunity, holding it firmly between his 

 beaks, with the large end towards his mouth." In June 

 1 934, Fraser (Osborne 1 972) also noted breeding murres 

 at Castle Rock. 



On 18-20 May 1935, C. I. Clay collected at least 

 13 eggs, of which 12 are specimens in the HSUWM 

 collection (HSUWM Nos. 1,091-1,094; 1,097; 1,099; 

 1,101-1,103; 1,106; 1,108; and 1, 109). Clay (HSU-SCL 

 unpublished field notes) noted each of the 13 eggs 

 collected (field nos. 2,337-2,350) on the "north high 

 point of island" with the following notes of interest: 

 "Three separate rookeries are on the island.. ..The murres 

 were all sitting on their eggs"; and field no. 2,338 

 (HSUWM No. 1,094) - "This was 11 P.M. Bright 

 moonlight overhead. The colony next our position 

 crowded close against each other as we approached their 

 position." Talmadge also noted breeding murres in two 

 large colonies in the mid- 1930s (Osborne 1972). In 

 addition to the above egg specimens, another 24 eggs 

 without any data are housed in the HSUWM collection 

 that were probably collected by C. I. Clay at Castle 

 Rock between 1917 and 1935. 



On 27 May 1956, L. T. Stevens noted "10,000 pair 

 nesting" and collected at least 1 8 eggs with set numbers 

 ranging between 2402 and 2504. Ten eggs are in the 

 WFVZ collection (WFVZ Nos. 34,224; 78,967-78,969; 

 124,155-124,157; 132,452; 145,266; and 145,267), six 

 eggs are in the SBNHM collection (SBNHM Nos. 2,403; 

 2,412-2,413; and three without catalogue numbers), 

 and two eggs are in the USNM collection (USNM Nos. 

 46,569; 46,574). On 28 May 1961, L. T. Stevens and J. 

 D. Daynes noted 5,000 breeding pairs or 5,000 birds at 

 Castle Rock and collected at least 28 eggs with Stevens' 

 set numbers ranging between 3172 and 3209 and 

 Dayne's set numbers ranging between 9 and 27. Twenty- 

 four eggs are in the WFVZ collection (WFVZ Nos. 

 30,161-30,162; 34,205-34,215; 34,217-34,222; 

 34,225-34,228; 145,268) and four eggs are in the USNM 

 collection (USNM Nos. 46,570-46,573). 



In July- August 1969, breeding pairs were estimated 

 at 5,400 (Osborne 1969) although surveys were 

 conducted late in the season. On 7 February 1970, 250 

 birds were present with irregular attendance until 

 breeding started. In 1970, about 20,000 pairs were 

 reported breeding, although between 16,600 and 32,000 

 birds were counted on various dates in April-June 

 (Osborne 1971). Osborne (1972) reported 40,000 



breeding pairs in June 1970 and noted that the murre 

 population of northern California had increased since 

 1900 when egg predation by native people and 

 European immigrants began to decline. If a k correction 

 factor was applied to 1970 counts, a range of 27,700- 

 53,400 breeding birds or 14,000-27,000 pairs can be 

 calculated. Because low counts may have occurred prior 

 to egg laying, rough counting techniques were used, 

 and aerial photograph counts are often greater than 

 visual estimates, the upper end of this range is compared 

 to 1979 (see Chapter 2 text). On 18 July 1976, 1,000 

 were reported (T. Schulenberg, American Birds Files 

 and personal communication). H. Cogswell 

 (unpublished field notes) roughly estimated at least 

 50,000 from a small aircraft on 2 July 1977, as well as 

 300,000 murres from a telescope count from the adjacent 

 mainland, hundreds of meters away. 



Whaler Island (Castle Complex) 



On 23 June 1928, F. J. Smith collected one murre 

 egg (set number 8) on "Whale [sic] Island, Crescent 

 City, California . . . about 80 feet [24 m] above the sea" 

 (BM VZ No. 1 3,292). He also collected eggs from nearby 

 Castle Rock at this time (see earlier). Whaler Island was 

 a well-known location at Crescent City harbor, so there 

 does not seem to have been confusion between Whaler 

 Island and Castle Rock. This is the only available 

 documentation of murres breeding at Whaler Island. 

 Murres were not reported there by egg collectors and 

 early naturalists in May 1916, July 1919, 22 March 

 1925, 20 May 1934, or June 1939 when thousands of 

 nesting Leach's and fork-tailed storm-petrels 

 (Oceanodroma leucorhoa and O. furcata) and other 

 species were noted (Howell 1920; Osborne 1972; Clay, 

 HSU-SCL unpublished field notes). A small breakwater 

 was completed by 1939 connecting the island to the 

 mainland. In the early 1950s, the island was partly 

 quarried and the breakwater strengthened. In 1969, 

 Osborne (1972) visited the island and noted rats (Rattus 

 sp.) and no breeding seabirds. 



False Klamath Complex 



Dawson (1923) noted breeding by murres on rocks 

 of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties but provided no 

 exact breeding localities. A large congregation of murres 

 was noted by Kelly on the large rock offshore near 

 Requa (probably False Klamath Rock) on 1-6 June 1941 

 and the "whole side of rock was covered with birds" (L. 

 O. Williams, unpublished field notes). Clay (HSU-SCL 

 unpublished field notes) did not provide any earlier 

 observations of seabirds at False Klamath Rock. In 1969, 

 5,000 breeding pairs were reported (Osborne 1971; 

 Osborne and Reynolds 1 97 1 ), apparently from an aerial 



