Hi Kevin,

I was delighted to read your account of that fledgling purple martin
recovering after hitting the water. Ive always wondered about how much
fledgling mortality results from the fact that so many (almost all)
known martin colonies in the Northwest are directly over water, and many
cavities are relatively low during high tides. Previous to your
observation, Ive always assumed, based on the few times Ive seen
fledging martins hit the water and not recover, that a hatching year
martin that hits the water is dead.
Thanks for the observation.

Stan Kostka
lynnandstan at earthlink.net
Arlington WA

original message:
Subject: Seattle martins
From: "Li, Kevin" <Kevin.Li at METROKC.GOV>
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 11:15:10 -0700
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.