Purple Martin Outing
Date & Time: Thursday -- July 22, 8:30 -10:30 a.m.
Leaders: Ken Wiersema and Dow Lambert
Meeting place: 3 Crabs parking area
Cost: No charge
Features: Taking count and monitoring the nesting of Purple Martins. This outing focuses on our OPAS community science Purple Martin colony project on 3 steel pilings in the tide flats just off shore, and on the boxes fastened to root wads next to the parking area at 3 Crabs. By mid-July a few young Martins may have fledged, but most chicks will still be in their nests, We’ll be viewing the inside of nest boxes with an endoscope camera, where you’ll see the chicks at various stages of development. By mid to late August, they will be clustering together on the nest boxes and the power lines along 3 Crabs Road preparing for their migration to South America. Numerous other shore and water birds will also be out on the tide flats providing a good opportunity to view them too.
Bring: Binocs, scopes, wear calf level boots (as we will be walking out onto wet, soft, sandy tide flats for a close look at the nest colony) and personal accoutrements as desired. If it’s windy, a light windbreaker will be a welcome garment.
COVID considerations: Please preregister for trip. We will ask attendees to self-notify trip leader on your vaccination status. We’ll maintain social distances, except to view handheld screens linked to our endoscope camera. We’ll ask unvaccinated folks to mask while viewing screens. Optics will not be shared with unvaccinated attendees. Trip size limited to 8. If the trip is full when you register, a waitlist option is available on Eventbrite. If you need to cancel, please let the trip leader know so that a person on the waitlist can be contacted.
Further Information: Contact: Ken Wiersema <wiersema@olympus.net> / phone 360 460-5515
Liability Form: We are asking field trip participants to print, sign, and bring a liability release form the day of the field trip. You can review, download, and print the form in advance by clicking here. New! We now have an easy way to eSign the form online and you will not have to bring it with you when participating in a field trip. Click here to eSign the liability release form. Once you sign the form, it will be good for other OPAS field trips.
Click on the button below to register.
Checking Purple Martin nest boxes at 3 Crabs.