Purple Martins - Photo: Dee Renee Ericks
Purple Martin outing/field trip
Date & Time: Thursday -- July 14, 2022 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. We built 18 boxes to install on 3 steel pilings in the tide flats just offshore, and 4 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 or maybe a few eggs will be in their nests. Nesting was 10-15 days late this year due to a cool spring and lack of insects to feed both chicks and adults. 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 in July, providing a good opportunity to view them as an adjunct to this trip. We plan to be off the tide flats by 10 a.m.
Bring: Binocs, scopes, wear calf level waterproof boots (as we will be walking out onto wet, soft, sandy tide flats for a close look at the nest colony) and other personal accoutrements as desired. If it’s windy, your light windbreaker will be a welcome garment.
COVID considerations: Please preregister for trip. We will ask attendees to self-notify the 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 10. If the trip is full when you register, a waitlist option is available on Eventbrite. We’ll consider an additional trip in August if there is enough interest. If you need to cancel, please let the trip leader know so that a person on the waitlist can be contacted. Trip leaders are fully vaccinated and boosted.
Further Information: Contact: Ken Wiersema <wiersema@olympus.net> or phone 360 460-5515
Liability Form: We are asking field trip participants to sign a liability release form the day of the trip. This signed form will be good for future field trips. You can review, download, and print the form in advance by clicking here. You can also scan the release form, sign it, and send the form by email to webmaster@olympicpeninsulaaudubon.org
Register by clicking on the button below.