Hi Todd,

That's some great news you have on martins, thanks for your efforts!

My Ballard/S Shilshole site was also in its third year, but unfortunately
there were no successful nests there at all this summer; house sparrows were
a continuing problem, and our single pair of martins was not observed after
early June. The pair had been present for about 5 weeks.

A man from Vashon Island named Rich contacted me regarding his success
around Vashon, he reports that his communal (5 unit) nest boxes have proven
to be acceptable, contrary to the general perception of western purple
martins. I spoke with Rich about possibly collaborating and installing new
boxes around the lower Duwamish area. Rich has done quite well with his
several dozens of boxes around Vashon.

On a recent survey of marinas all around Puget Sound I found that martin
boxes were frequently in place at sites along the west part of the sound; I
was quite pleased that so many people have made the effort. Many of the
boxes were along the lines of Jack Davis's nest box design. Seabeck, Port
Ludlow, Port Hadlock, Steilacoom, and Port Townsend were among the many
sites I found with martin boxes.

Lanny Carpenter also reports a good year for martins in the Olympia area,
including the lake site in his yard.

As for other sites, I understand Suquamish has some nearshore pilings that
appear promising.

Thanks for your posting. And Diann MacRae's suggestion of Anacortes (Ship
Harbor?) sounds like an excellent one, if access is reasonable.

Dyanne Sheldon wondered how far north the range of purple martins is, but I
understand that Vancouver Island/Victoria has quite a good program of
providing martin nestboxes. Sequim and Port Angeles should be suitable as
well.

Check out our lakes web page!
http://splash.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/lakes/index.htm

Kevin Li
King County Environmental Lab
322 W. Ewing St.
Seattle, WA 98119-1507

(206) 684-2344
(206) 684-2395 fax
kevin.li at metrokc.gov
> ----------
> From: bf519 at scn.org[SMTP:bf519 at scn.org]
> Reply To: bf519 at scn.org
> Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 1998 6:33 PM
> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: [TET31964 at aol.com: Re: Purple Martin Article]
>
> ================= Begin forwarded message =================
>
> From: TET31964 at aol.com (Todd Tannery)
> To: WA-RAINIER at list.audubon.org
> Subject: Re: Purple Martin Article
> Date: Mon, 14 Sep
>
>
> Michele, The following is my contribution to the next news letter....
>
>
> Purple Martins
>
> Well, it was a banner year for Purple Martins down at the Hylebos
> Mudflats
> this year. As you may be aware, this is the third year we've been
> activly
> monitoring and adding to the colony. The original sight had a total
> of 7 old
> wooden boxes with slotted starling proof holes. In 1996 we added 12
> new
> boxes; four wooden style and eight made of white interior PVC piping.
> White
> interiors are known to discourage Starlings at nest sights so, I
> thought I'd
> give the idea a try. I wanted also to make them of something long
> lasting and
> weather proof. A day at the hardware store led me to a new
> innovation. PVC
> tubing. These modified 6" OD pipes cut to 1 foot lengths with end
> caps and a
> 2 " hole work wonderfully. The Martins that first year took to them
> without
> hesitation. From the 12 new boxes that year, 5 were used. Bringing
> the
> total martin box usage number to 10 (5 original boxes were also
> used). In
> 1997 we added more boxes of the PVC design. That Summer, of 37 we had
> a total
> of 18 boxes being used. Starlings were still not a problem. This
> year the
> grand total of boxes was pushed up to 48 boxes. We had 28 pair using
> 28
> boxes. The estimated total of fledgings is between 75-100 young.
> What a
> significant number!
>
> What is even more exciting is that the birds, in many cases were using
> boxes
> that were next to other nesting pairs on the same pilings. I think it
> is
> encouraging to see that our Western race of Martins are accepting
> "closer"
> nest proximity than once thought. With plans to erect more boxes in
> the years
> to come, suitable areas are not in great supply. Should anyone know
> of an
> area that has pilings or tall posts out of the water on the sound or
> river or
> lake, please let me know. I would be eager to investigate the
> options.
>
> Todd Tannery
>
>
>