On Sunday, August 4, about 2:15 p.m. on the incoming tide at English Boom at
the north end of Camano Island, Russ Canniff and Joyce Kelley observed a
Purple Martin fledgling perched on the old rusty barge (?) on the beach.
Suddenly it attempt to fly out over the water towards a Martin house on one
of the pilings maybe 30 yds. offshore. It was accompanied by two adult
birds who appeared to be encouraging it; yet somehow it went down into the
water. It struggled but then began pumping those little wings like oars and
heading towards shore, all the time the adult birds circling close over. It
finally made it to a clump of spartina near the shoreline and struggled up
as high as it could in the grass. It was still there in it?s precarious
perch when we left about an hour later. In the meantime an immature bald
eagle had come in and was perched high in one of the Doug firs on the bluff
above. The adult Martins kept ?dive bombing? it but it remained. At least
two other Martin houses had youngsters lined up on the ?porch? but not quite
yet ready to ?take off.?
Swimming Martins may not be unusual as the nest boxes are over water, at
least part of the time, but it was a suspenseful observation for me.

Joyce Kelley
Snohomish, WA
mailto:jikel at premier1.net