This evening I finally saw my first purple martin of the year, an adult male, in Seattle at the end of the wooden pier at Elliott Bay's Port of Seattle terminal 5, aka Jack Block Public Shoreline Access and Park.

Two pairs of martins nested in this general vicinity last year, and recently Jean Power and I installed several new gourds and wooden nest boxes. The new gourds are close and very obvious, and two new boxes are a couple of hundred yards eastward (toward Harbor Island) on the end of the nearest long pier.

Tonight I also checked the nest cavities on West Marginal Way near Kellogg Island, but none were seen; Shilshole Bay was also lacking martins, early this morning and this evening. Other areas that I have hopes for are on Puget Sound, at the mouths of Boeing Creek, Deer Creek (S of Edmonds), and at Picnic Point. I also intend to place some new martin gourds in the Montlake Fill.

Kevin Li
kdli at msn.com
Ballard, USA