On Thursday of last week I saw a purple martin fly past a bonaparte's gull
that was perched on a piling just south of the Ballard martin boxes; the
gull suddenly took off in hot pursuit, chasing the martin intensely for
several hundred yards. The martin adroitly flew just out of reach, and
looped back toward the nestboxes. Then another martin joined in, and both
martins chased the gull for about a hundred yards. It's the first time I've
seen anything chase a martin. Martins have been extremely defensive about
crows, chasing off any within about 40 yards. I've also seen them chase off
accipiters, eagles, herons, and kingfishers.

At this point it appears just two pairs of martins are nesting in Ballard;
two of the boxes that had been recently active have been frequented by
starlings on many early mornings, and a recent nest box check showed a lack
of nest material. Starlings have been pillaging the pilings on many
mornings, making it quite a challenge for the martins. On Friday I installed
a new box with an entrance designed to resist starlings, in a last ditch
effort to salvage the nesting efforts of the displaced pair of martins. Some
martins were still gathering nest material just a few days ago.

Recent banding efforts by WDFW in the south sound have confirmed that martin
nesting is about two weeks late this year.

Friday and Sunday I also observed a river otter at the Ballard martin beach;
Friday afternoon at low tide the otter came bounding across the beach like a
happy puppy, despite the harassment of about a dozen crows. Usually I just
see otters swimming in the evening from the south toward Shilshole marina.

I've been told that Picnic Point has some pilings that may have martins
nesting in them, but haven't been up there myself. Has anyone else seen
them? The lower Duwamish martin boxes may have produced some tree swallows,
but I haven't been able to monitor these boxes as well as I would like.

Kevin Li
Seattle

> ----------
> From: Cliff Drake[SMTP:cdrake at zipcon.net]
> Reply To: cdrake at zipcon.net
> Sent: Saturday, July 31, 1999 4:44 PM
> To: tweeters
> Subject: Gulls in Ballard
>
> A cool sight this morning at the locks, fifteen Bonaparte's, two Mew,
> one Ring-billed and one Glaucous-winged Gull on the west end spillway
> cable all at the same time. The closest Bonaparte's was too close to
> focus my binocs on. A California Gull was nearby as well, as were a
> female Belted Kingfisher and two Killdeer. No Herons today, and only a
> few salmon, but one of the chinook was easily a 40 pounder.
>
> Cliff Drake
> Ballard Seattle, WA
>
>