Purple martin activity has been at a high level over the past week, with
adults feeding both nestlings and fledglings at Ballard's Shilshole Bay and
at Port of Seattle's Jack Block Park. Late mornings are excellent for
viewing at Shilshole, with the morning sunlight bringing out the purple
highlights in the adult male plumage. At low tide one can approach quite
closely. Calm sunny evenings are great at Jack Block Park, with the sun at
an optimal angle until it drops below the ridge of West Seattle. At times
I've seen as many as 10-15 martins in flight, with others still in the boxes
or gourds.

Yesterday at Shilshole Bay Kris Baker and I saw a sudden commotion among the
martins as a kestrel landed atop a piling, possibly in pursuit of one of the
many house sparrows that frequent the area. The martins reacted with a
fervor unprecedented in my years of martin viewing; several martins chased
the small falcon to the north, and then the kestrel looped back near the
nests again. The martins continued pursuit well to the northeast, perhaps
for half a mile.

I've seen martins chase crows, kingfishers, cooper's hawks, gulls, and
eagles, but never with the determination of the three martins yesterday.
Prior to this spectacle we saw a flock of crows mobbing something in the
intertidal nearby; the cacophony continued for quite a while when we
suddenly saw a large river otter loping along the rocks to the north.

At Jack Block Park on Saturday evening I saw a nearby nestling suddenly make
the leap from its gourd, landing clumsily in the water about 20 feet away;
it pumped its wings furiously and eventually it became airborne again,
flying to some of the many nearby structures. An adult male tagged along for
part of the flight, and the two perched together for a while before
returning to the gourd.

Kevin Li
Ballard, USA
kdli at msn.com