Tide Flats—Photo by Dee Renee Ericks

Narrative by Dow Lambert and Dee Renee Ericks

On July 16th, 14 enthusiastic birders braved rain and wind to conduct the third census of the 18 Purple Martin tide flat nest boxes at 3 Crabs. Due to the inclement weather, only half of the 12 people who signed up for the OPAS field trip participated. Ken, Dee Renee, and Dow were joined by Stan Kostka and his wife, and we were excited to have John Gussman and Cath join us to take some drone photos of the outing.

Drone photo of the group as Dow braves wind gusts while up on the ladder. *Photo by John Gussman*

Examination of the 18 nest boxes indicated there has been some stress on the chicks. This might be due to feeding challenges with the lack of insects hatching in cool weather.

Dow checks each nest box with an endoscope. *Drone photo by John Gussman.*

The group gathers around Ken Wiersema, who monitors endoscope images captured inside the nest boxes in real time. *Photo*‍ *by Dee Renee Ericks*

Two eggs observed on June 28th have been joined by two more. Assuming the female laid the last egg on June 30th, she has been incubating for 16 days. These eggs should begin hatching in the next few days. *Photo by Dow Lambert*

App image of what the endoscope sees as viewed on Ken’s cell phone. Nest box 3C had 5 eggs on June 28th, so we assume there are five chicks here, although we can only definitely see four. *Photo by Dee Renee Ericks*

There is good news now that the weather has warmed up—we’ve had a dragonfly hatch. Purple Martin nestlings thrive on dragonflies, so fingers crossed for their improved health. In total, 39 chicks and 17 eggs were discovered.