Hi Lafe,
I got your voice message regarding purple martins; Kitsap Audubon has a nest box program going, and the chances of getting martins on Bainbridge can be pretty good if you have a good open spot. Starlings and house sparrows are two primary obstacles to martin nesting, but the west side of the sound has shown good results to nest box efforts.
West coast martins tend to prefer solitary boxes, although they may take to triplexes, such as on Vashon Island; the multi-plex boxes of the SE US tend not to work very well here.
A vertical opening of no more than 1 1/4 inches is recommended for limiting starling entry, and the width is usually about 2 3/4 inches. The Purple Martin Conservation Association has an excellent web site, although it primarily addresses east coast martins.
Martins are likely to be arriving over the next month or so, so it's not too late to install housing. Most of the ones known in western WA are immediately adjacent to salt water, although historically they've been known to nest here near freshwater.
Western WA and British Columbia have a loose network of purple martin advocates, and on occasion we get together in the fall. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask; I hope to have a King County martin web site on-line shortly. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has a brief web page on martins already.

Kevin Li
Ballard, USA
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