Having heard of purple martin arrivals at various places around Puget Sound and in Vancouver BC, late this morning I took advantage of the low tide to use my extension ladder and prepare some of the Ballard/Shilshole Bay martin boxes. I pulled plugs on several boxes, cleared out one house sparrow nest, and then heard the familiar chuckle-chirping of a martin. An adult male circled around me several times, chased off a crow, and then landed a few feet above my ladder. I could easily see that it was an unbanded bird, as it stayed in plain view for at least 30 minutes. It checked out several boxes, but clearly paid the most attention to the second box from the north end, which happens to be the only one from this site that was successful last year.

Yesterday evening Kris Baker and I checked the lower Duwamish area for martins, but we saw none around Kellogg Island, T-105, and the Jack Block access. A few nights ago I saw an adult male at the Jack Block access.
An osprey carrying a fish, and the great weather, were the main highlights of the evening.

Excuse me, while I put on some more sun screen and get back outside to this afternoon's weather...

Kevin Li
Ballard, USA
kdli at msn.com