On Saturday I checked the martin nest in Ballard and counted 4 pure white
eggs in the nest. Pretty late for a NW martin, but a welcome sight.
Just prior to that, Kris Baker and I had been plugging entrances on most of
the vacant boxes, to deter starlings. As we were maneuvering the ladder we
looked up and saw a tiny figure chasing one of the martins all around us,
not a sight we expected to see: a hummingbird giving chase to a martin! That
hummer was amazingly persistent, but the martin was unfazed.
Starlings, house sparrows, bonaparte's gulls, and now hummers! It's not easy
being a martin. Two pairs of martins recently abandoned the site; perhaps
the ones recently reported from the Montlake Fill came from here?

The pilings to the south had 6 Arctic terns on Friday.

Kevin Li
King County Environmental Lab
322 West Ewing St.
Seattle, WA 98119

Mailstop: LAB-NR-0100

(206) 684-2344

Visit our Lakes website:
http://splash.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/lakes/index.htm