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No. 97 SEABIRD ISLANDS

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No. 97 SEABIRD ISLANDS 100 Corella4 (4) SEABIRDISLANDS No.97 South Channel Island, Victoria Location: 38"18'S., 145"48'E.;in Port Phillip Bay, 6 km NE of Point King and 4 km SE of SOUTHCHANNEL ISLAND, Mud Islands.Victoria. VICTOR IA Stalus! Controlled by the CommonwealthGov- ernment (Departmenl of Defence) and leased to the Departmentof Ports and Harbours (Vic- toria) as an explosivesstore, and to the Bureau of Meteorology. Access is restricted, and per- mission to land is required. Other Name: Fort Island. Description: 0.5 ha; man-madeisland construct- ed in 1879-80 for defence fortifications by tbe dumping of some 14 000 tonnesof bluestoneon a sandbanka. It is approximatelyoval in shape, about 130 m long by 75 m wide having a maximum height of about 8 m. Except for the old concreteforti- fications the island is covered with sandy soil which supportsa shrub flora of Atriplex cinerea, Rhagodia baccata ar'd Tetragonia implexicoma, with occasional Coprosma repens. Grasses in- clude Sagaras ovqtus, Bromus diandrus and St enotap hr um secundatum. at least 2000 birds in 1947, and by 1960 the Landing: Via old jetty, or onto rocks. storm-petrels were almost fultv utilizing the island for breedings.In 1964, Wheelerl estimated 2 000 burrows. Ornilhological History: The first ornithological record from the island is that of storm-petrels We visited the island lor three hours on 10 breedinsthere in 1932 when therewas a'well- November1978, and it was revisitedon 21 June establisied' colony!. Tarr3 reported a colony of 1979for about 1.5 hours. November,1980 M. P. Haris et a/.. South Channel lsland 101 ' Soutlt Clnnnel Island shorting port ol a gun emplacettrent(looking south-west). ' Part ol tlte storm-petrel coloqt (looking soutlt- east) . Breeding Seabirds and Status Other Seabirds Recorded EudyptuLa rninor Little Penguin - some 30-40 Pufinus (one pairs breed on the island (D. Venn, Fisheriesand tenuiro!tris Short-tailedShear$ater dead in gun emplacement). Wildlife Division, pen. comm.) and we found Stema bergii Crested Tern one dead bird in a gun pit. Pelagodrotna marina White-faced Storm-Petrel. Banding The species occupied an area estimated to be PeriodJanuary 1960 to June 1978. 3 300 m1. The mean burrow density in 40 quad- PeLagodroma - rats nqTinq l5 adults,237 nestlings; of 3.14 m! was 2.05/mi and the population one recovered25 WNW island; number km o{ the 6 of burrows on the island was estimated birds banded at Mud Islands as 6 (957o interval found dead on 800 conlidence 6 000-7 600). SouthChannel Island. The number of burrows seems to have increased considerably; Wheeleri estimated only one burrow per sq. yd. (1.20,/m!) in an occupied Bibliography arca of 2 400 square yards (2 006 mr) in 1964, (1951), 'Death but there is now litle unused soil for more pairs l. Dickinson. D. J. traps on Fort Island', I/ic. Nat. 67t1'10. to burrow in. 2. Gillham, M. E. and J. A. Thomson (1961),'Old and new storm petrel rookeriesin Port Phillip Bay', Larus novaeholland.ae Silver Gull - We found Proc. R. Soc. Vict. 71:37-46. J. Tarr, H. E. (1948), in 'Nature Notes', ,ird Orrerl,- seven nests, two with 2 eggs and two with 2 er's Club Monthl! Noter. January 1948. young (10 November 1978). 4. Wheeler, R. (1964), 'South Channel Fort Island', YORG Notes ltl-2. Factors Aitecting Status The island is well vegetated but the soil in which the storm-petrels burrow collapses easily. Date compiled:10 July 1979. Many people visit the island and, as they are un- aware of the existence of the storn-petrel colony, M. P. Haffis+, D. M. Deersont and R. S. Brorvn-t. must cause considerable damage by collapsing 1'lnstilute of Terrestial Ecolog!, Banchory Research the burrows. Many birds perish by falling into the Station, Hill ol Brathens, Banchory, Kincardineshirc, gun pits from which they are unable to AB3 4BY, U.K. i Arthu Rflah Inslilule lor Environmental Researclt, escape1,x.3.4.There are no avian or mammalian Fisheies and Wildlile Division, 123 Brown Street, predators recorded for the island. Heidelbery, Vic., 3084..
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