Photos and narration by Dee Renee Ericks
Our Purple Martins are now migrating southward to Brazil!
On September 14th, the Purple Martin crew met at 3 Crabs to take down the Purple Martin nest boxes. This date had one of the last extreme low tides during daylight hours as fall and winter set in.
The PUMA team heads out to the pilings at 3 Crabs as the early morning sun rises through a low cloud bank.
A long telescoping pole is used to remove the nest boxes, after the securing wires below are released. Alex Ayoub removes the nest boxes as Ken Wiersema and Dan Jacobs assist.
The pole fits neatly into two metal fittings at the bottom.
Work proceeds quickly to the second piling.
The boxes are transported on small wagons.
Removing the nest boxes at the small inland pond is trickier, as the logs below are very slick.
Dow Lambert, Dan Jacobs and Alex Ayoub look on as Dan Wilson removes the lower nest box on the post. The placement and removal is particularly awkward at this site, but Dan Wilson has worked out a system over many years.
The nest boxes will be cleaned and sterilized for next year’s occupants.
Not all the youngsters made it. Nest box 2c had 5 eggs laid late in the season. Hatchlings were observed during an 8/16/2024 nest box check. Unfortunately the weather turned unseasonably cool and wet after that check, which led to a scarcity of insects available. The parent PUMAs knowing they had a long migration ahead, made the difficult decision to feed themselves. Nature happens.