Corella,2004, 28(4): 1 1G-1 11 SEABIRDISLANDS No. 248

Bootry Island, Kimberley Region, Western

Location: 15.03'40"5, 124"tg'34"8., about 22 kilomerres NNE of Champagny Island and about 60 kilometres west BOOBY ISLAND of Cape Brewster in the Kimberley region of . Booby Island was formeily [no*n us Wt ii" KIMBERLEYREGION, Island. The name was changedon 25 March ZOO+Uy ifre WESTERNAUSTBALIA UeographicNames Commitree of the WesternAustralian Department of Land Information in oraer to avoiJ confusion with anotherisland of the same name situated .""..i'il-, furtherto the north in Admiralty Gulf. ..- Status: Currently un-allocated Crown land. Negotiations : , are in progressberueen the Departmenlof Coriservation 'i and 'i Land Managementand rhe Kimberley Land Council for a proposal to set aside Booby Island u. u nutur","r"iu". 'i i,i Description:A.small rocky islandof aboutfour hectares, tt composedentirety of dark coloured basaltrising to a heighi .t'i of no more than 20 metres. There is no vegetition-Enteromorphl oi a;tt it' description a green ."p1rl .f.:r algae. clat,hrata(idenlified by A. Millar. Royal BoranicGarden, Jyoney) covenng someof the basaltrock exposedat low tide. Almost the entire area down to the waterline is coveredwith a thick coating of white guano.The island was at one time.minedextensively for guano,although no records can be lbund as to when or who was responiible. The first discovery of guano in the area is anributed to American whalers,and the fimt olTicial record of suano Jd"-t export.._wa.sin 1E,17'. Guano mining on Booby Islandiould most^tr.kelyhave occurred during the mid to latterpart of the l9th century, when other islands in the Kimberlev were mined. such as the LacepedeIslands and BrowseIsland'. On Booby Island,loose rocks havebeen stacked into Diles in order to gain accessto the guano. In some areas,*iere communicated to D. L. Seryenty that it was an important slabsof stoneand rubble havebeen cleared, ideal nestins roosting place for the Brown Booby. placeshave been created for . In October 1945 there were 4 000 to 5 000 roostins A poorly charted reef adjacentto the westernside of boobieson While I\land tnow Bouby tsland).D. L. Booby Islandextends past the northernand southemends Serventypassed by rhe island on 12 October 1949, but saw and is uncoveredfor a considerabledistance from the no birds at all over it5. Serventyalso mentionsthat a Mr islandduring low tides.A high degreeof cautionis advised Bardwell visited the island,describing it as beingof pure when approaching. sand, bare of vegetation and with no sign of bird life, but thrs account was most likely confused with the White A passing reference by Commander John Lort Stokes6 .a Islandin Admiralty Gulf. aboardlJ.M.s. Beagle on 19 April 1838to white islet in the distance'is thought to be the first referenceto the On 19 August 1986,A. Burbidgeand p Fuller visited island. the island between0700 and 0800 hoursr.On 2l Ausust 1998.a brief visit was made by T. Willing. Landing: On a small beachat the northernend. or on a bur a lanJing was not possible due to unfavourable nanow beachon the eastside that is presentduring calm tidal conditions (pers. comm.). On 22 May w^eatherand a low spring tide. Due lo the slipperynature 2O02, K. Coate and B. Moyle visited the island between of the basalt rock, it is still necessaryto walk to the 0630 and 08J0 hours.makins a hazardouslanding at rhe northernend if landingon the eastside. Any slight swell norrhernend. On I9 Mav 200i K. Coatewirh orher from the nearby reef can create a hazardouslandine. naruralisrs,visited the islandbetween 0630 and 0730 hours, Anchoragefor a 2o-metrebort can be found to rhe eait landing on a low ride in calm conditions of the islandat about 15"04'327"S,124.20,008"E. on the east€rnside. On 27 June 2003, K. Coate again visited the island, but becauseof adverseconditions Ornithological History: The first indication that this was was unable to land. The nearestmajor breedingcolony a major island was in 1952 when S. Fowler of Brown Booby to Booby Island is Adele Island -

'I10 111 Decembar,2004 K H Coafe.Booby lsland

Factors Affecting Status 140 kilometres WSW'?.Browse Island to the north of Adele it was Island was a former major breeding ground, but Due to the remotenessand difticulty in landing on Booby in the l9th abandonedafter disturbancefrom guano diggers Island, there would be very little human interfercnceto the century. breeding colonies. Predation from Silver Gullsa, Reef Egrets ind possibly White-bellied Sea-eagles,which are Breeding Seabirds and Status reisonably common in the area, are the most likely factors to affect t-hecolony. On 22 May 2002, 46 Silver Gulls were Sulaleucogaster Brown Booby - On 19 August 1986, resting on shorelinerocks and 15 on 19 May 2003 Unlike Burbidge and Fuller found breeding had taken place and Silvei Gulls at other major breeding islands in the nestingfinished. Severalthousand Brown Boobies were Kimberley (Adele Island and the LacepedeIslands), these presentwith about20-25 per cent in juvenile plumage and birds showed a total lack of interest in our presence,and unableto fly. They estimatedthat therc were between2 0O0 on both visits did not interfere with the nesting colony of and 2 500 birds in juvenile plumage and that the island Brown Booby or Crested Tern. This may have been due carried about 2000 breedingpairs. On 2l August 1998, to them being full of food and the early hour of the day Willing estimated400, mostly immature with a ratio of 5 No reptiles were evident. to every adult. On 22 May 2002, Coate and Moyle found birds were Other Seabirds R€cord€d spreadover the entire island, with an estimated 1500 - Egrctta" sacrc EastemReef Egret residenlthirteen 2lAugusl upward to 2 000 breeding. Nests were mostly shallow t9981six 22 May2002; three 19 May 2003 scrapesin guano with some containing gither feathers, PhalaoocottLttvarr6 PiedCormotanl - tive 2l August1998' - 1998;forty-six or sparse amounts of seaweed.Breeding was at all Larus novoehollandiaeSilver Gull 6fty 2l August 2ot)2tfifteen |9 May 2003ififteen 27 number (40-50) on the summit sitting 22 M^y stages,with a small June2003. many on eggs. Clustered on rocks above the water were Stentaalbifrons Little Tem - two 2l Au8ust 1998 fully-fledged juveniles as yet unable to fly. Many juveniles Ste a ben,alenrk LesserCrested Tern - sixty 2l August 1998' were flying in the vicinity of the island. 20-30 dead young at all stages of development were scattered through the Banding breeding colony. On 19 May 2003, Coate et al estimated Nil there was a similar amount of birds to the previous year, breeding was at all stages- from eggs to fledged and that Bibliography young. On 27 June 2003 there was noticeably fewer nesting birds on the island, but many more juYeniles flying l. Burbidge,A. A., Fuller,P J., Lane,J. A. K. and Moore,S A - FrigateBirds in or clustered on the rocks still unable to fly. Booby chicks (1987).Counts of nestingtEobies and Lesser WesternAustralia. Emu 87t 12-o129. in down, were on the summit. Scatteredthroughout the still 2. Coate,K. (199?).Adele Island.Westem Australia. Corella 2l: breeding area were many dried fish with chewed heads t24-t28. (Thesewere identifiedby B. Hutchins,Curator of Fish at 3. Fanbridgc.R. w (1948).Discoveries in the Timor Sea.North-west the WesternAustralian Museum as Finny Scad Megalaspis Australia.Rrldl Historiml Sodety-J proc \ol. xxxiv, Part iv: 193-218. cordyLa,a memberof the trevallytamily). 'Handbook 4. Johnstone,R. E. and Ston. G. M (1998)- of Western - pass€rincsEmu to Dollarbird' Sterna bergii Crested Tern - Breeding on Booby Island AustralianBirds. Vol.l non (WestemAustralian Museum: Perth.) previously. 22 May 2002, there has not been reported On 5. Serventy.D. L. (1952).Bi.ds of thc SahulShelf. Emu 52'.33-59. were an estimated500 birds sitting eitheron eggsor with 6. Stokes,J. L. (1846).Discoveries in Auslralia:with an accoutrtof newly hatched chicks about 50 metres south from the the coastsand rivers exploredand surveyeddunng lhe voyageof landing point on the north end on an area of ground HMsAedSl? 1837-43. Vol. l, 238 PP 7. woodward,H. P. (1917).The phosphaticdeposits of western cleared by guano diggers.The nestswere hardly noticeable Australia.Cedl. Survey west.Aust Bulletin 74t 9-28 scrapeson accumulated guano. Concentratedamongst the d rocks near the waterline at the northern end were an Acknowledgments estimated400 runners, including small fluffy chicks to almost fully-fledged juveniles as yet unable to fly. in Thanks are extended to Nick Linton and Dave Abbott, addition there were many juveniles flying. On l9 May the crew of the Abrolhos Oddyssey, for their seamanship 2003, there were about 400 birds sitting on eggs and newly in getting us onto the island and otT again in adverse hatched chicks at the same location as the previous year. conditions on 22 May 2002. I would like to thank Dr Alan About 100 metres to the north-west, was a further colony Millar for identifying the algae and Bary Hutchins fbr with about200 birds sitting on eggs.In this vicinity and identifyingthe tlsh. down to the water's edge were an estimated400-500 small Date compiled; 11 May 2OOl to medium size runners. Resting on the exposedreef adjacent to the island werc three large concentrationsof Kevin H. Coale, ll Peak Vicw, Canning Vale, Westem Australia 6155. CrestedTern, estimatedat a thousand in number, of which about a third were in juvenile plumage. On 27 Iune 2003, large numbersof birds could be seenfrom the dinghy with many immature birds sitting on the northern end of the island. Some medium size runnen were visible, but there did not appear to be birds sitting on eggs.