Wednesday, 6 July 2016

[Maine-birds] Belgrade Purple Martin colony update.

Hi All,

Kristen Lindquist, Paul Doiron, Jeannette and I visited the Depot Rd Purple Martin colony in Belgrade yesterday. We carefully counted the occupied cavities, and came up with an impressive 17 active nests! This is almost double my count from last year (9)!

Needless to say, we have success! And all four gourds were occupied, and martins were making use of both the remaining old houses, and the new wooden houses put up last winter by the landowner. One European Starling was occupying one cavity, which is something we will need to evaluate.

Large nestlings were very obvious, and at least a couple of fledglings were hanging out atop one of the houses. It looks like a banner year (the warm, dry weather likely has helped)!

Don Mairs and I, along with neighbors and the landowner, will discuss the next steps in continuing the revitalization and continuation of this productive colony. I hope you get a chance to visit in the next few weeks - fledglings will be bursting out soon thereafter and soon all birds of all ages will be beginning their journey back to South America.

-Derek

P.S. When you visit the colony, please remember to remain on the road and not enter the property. Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone

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