Martins have finally shown up in Ballard again, and are showing strong
nesting instincts around one of the two gourds I installed this spring.
Yesterday morning a pair arrived shortly after 930 am, and they promptly
started diving at crows that were naively walking too close to the pilings.
One martin clearly was unbanded, and the status of the other couldn't be
determined. Looked like a sub-adult male and a female. On Sunday I had seen
martins for only a minute out of an hour of observation, the first I had
seen of them at all for about 6 weeks.

Two nights ago I paddled my kayak on the lower Duwamish, and found as many
as 6 martins at Port of Seattle Terminal 105; two pair are certainly nesting
and are probably incubating eggs. I could see a female in one box, her face
clearly visible in the entrance. She didn't budge for an hour, and the male
stayed nearby.

A quarter mile upstream at Kellogg Island in Rich Siegrist's boxes are one
or two pairs which were noticed a few weeks later than the ones at T-105. A
few nights ago I observed one pair possibly building a nest in the southern
most of the four Kellogg boxes. Paddling around the island I also saw three
other swallow species, at least 100 Canada geese, a kingfisher, and a
spotted sandpiper. The martins were especially easy to observe by kayak,
showing curiosity and almost no timidity. They may be mingling with the
T-105 group, being in such close proximity. Being directly across from the
major habitat restoration effort at T-107, martins are a great addition for
the viewing public and the local fauna.

Last night I paddled up the Sammamish Slough to Swamp Creek, where Karin
Osterhaug and Kris Baker and I installed 5 martin boxes on a county wetland
plant bank site. No martins, but tree swallows, violet green, and barn
swallows were abundant. Bats came out later, and three beaver swam nearby. A
green heron fished a few feet away from me. I had hopes of seeing wood ducks
and black swifts, but I wasn't so fortunate. A nice evening anyway.

Kevin Li
Seattle, WA
e-mail: kevin.li at metrokc.gov