Photos and Narrative by Dee Renee Ericks
Purple Martins on their nest boxes at the 3 Crabs tide flats.
On Sunday morning, June 14th, the Purple Martin Team met to do the first 3 Crabs nest box census of the year.
Leaving the parking lot and headed for the tide flats on a beautiful warm morning.
With the tide at –3.3 feet, clear blue skies, calm winds, and 70 degrees, it was a perfect day to check the 18 nest boxes perched on three off‑shore pilings.
We made our way out across the tide flats carrying needed gear.
The plan was for Dow to take turns with Alex, who is learning the census technique. Balancing on a tall ladder fifteen feet above the sand, threading a small wire with a camera on the end through a pre-drilled hole, and looking down at your cell phone screen to spy the nest box contents in bright sunshine is not as easy as it looks!
Dow scampered up the ladder with endoscope in hand. He is looking at his cell phone screen for the image of the nest interior.
Dow uses the endoscope in each box.
Alex heads up to double-check Dow’s sightings and finds two extra eggs!
Alex uses an app to view inside the nest box and takes a photo of each. These images will be compared at the next census check.
Folks gather around Ken to see the contents of each box. If the nest is empty but has grasses and green leaves, eggs are on their way. Sometimes grasses are stolen from a nearby box and moved to another, leaving it empty. Eggs are found in a few boxes and notations are made.
Watching the screen closely to count eggs.
Nest Box 3C has grasses with some green leaves. Eggs are expected soon!
While the Purple Martins are temporarily perturbed by our invasion, they return quickly as we head out.
This year’s census is eight days earlier than last year. We found only 14 eggs in three nests. Ten other nests appeared complete, mostly with fresh green leaves, suggesting that we'll have a lot more eggs on the next census. Four boxes were completely bare.
Endoscopic image of nest box 6C. Note the green leaves.
Purple Martins typically lay 4-6 eggs, one per day, generally in the morning. Incubation starts with the second to last egg, so the chicks all hatch within a day or two of each other.
Egg size: 0.8-1.1" long; 0.6-0.8" wide
Incubation: 15-18 days
Fledging: 26-36 days
Purple Martin Team and supporters include Brodie, Alex, Carrie, Bud, Dow, Holly, Scott, Tim, Ken and Dan. A shout out to Dan for carrying the ladder!