2 
. birdswere available and wanted me to call him at 1 o'clock. TJie plane reach¬ 
ed 12:20 p.m. and after the usual 15 minute security briefing, camera 
check-in, etc., I called Ken who Klas here on Sand. With the help of an AEC 
man the birds had been captured and crated Thursday night but the Air Force 
\ personnel in charge of flights to and from Johnston told Ken that the earliest 
plane the birds could be flown out on was Mon. (Sept. 30). Because of this the 
birds were still here on Sand. When I explained the situation to the AF peo- 
pie they went way out of their way to try and help us by talking with the Lt. 
I Col, in charge of the flight. At first he said that he couldn*t take them be- 
I cause of the people on the plane. He then asked me some questions and I told 
I him it was very important and he finally reconsidered and said to load the birds, 
I This last-ditch attempt fell through because it woulu have taKen at least two 
I hours to bring tne birds over to Johhston from Sand ana run thx^uagn tne neces- 
I sary red tape and paper worK connected witn such flights. The plane was sched- 
I uled to leave here at two but left aboub 15 minutes early since there was a 
I medical patient in serious condition. At 12:50 the radio-phone call to Uapt, 
I Sudduth was first attempted but wnen I finally was able to talk wion him at 
I 2 o'clock tne plane haa left, I*m not certain that he understood that tne 
I birdie were still here on Sand but he did say to release the birds whieh we 
I did Jt^'riaay afternoon (3 dead out of I 5 O; 2 later found dead in colony pos- 
I sibiy weaKened due to confinement). He also said to wait for notification 
I regax-ding the next shipment until we hear from the S.I. which we will do. I 
am sending a letter to Capt, Sudduth to explain tne situation to him, 
I have talked with Lt, Hayes about the problems involving tne bird ship¬ 
ments and he has made the following suggestions: ( 1 ) that someone be sent to 
accompany the birds from here since this seems to be the most successful way 
of carrying out the operation^ i.e, GirAgosian, ( 2 ) that Coast Guard District 
be notified when anyone is scheduled to come out here (this should be done 
b 3 ^ DTC when they cut tne orders j, (3) that if it should be necessary to have 
more personnel than two for which he has authorization to come out here bet 
tween now and March he would appreciate being notified by S.l. and DTC at 
least two weeks in advance so that the necessary preparations can be made, 
(4) that it is not necessary to have prior notification when one person is 
sent here for one or two days in connection with a bird snipment, ( 5 ^ fo^r 
aavanced planning you should be informed that there is a very strong pos¬ 
sibility that the runway will be closed for at least a two weeK period dur¬ 
ing October or Novamber (we *11 let you know when it becomes more definite). 
To the rest of this all that Ken and I can think of that should be add¬ 
ed at the moment is ( 1 ) no ticks have been collected yet ^we will continue 
trying), and ( 2 ; after the successful completion of tne bird shipment pre¬ 
sently hanging fire tnere wi.ll be a population here of approximately 1400 
shearwaters ( 9 OO banded) IF they are all still coming in to tne island, 
Ken will sena a letter tomorrow and we*11 work on the Sixth Progress 
Report together so you will be hearing from us again soon. 
Robert A. Sundell 
Research Curator 
Pacific Project 
Division of Birds 
Smithsonian lestitution 
