Yesterday Kris Baker and I went to Pier 90 to see the purple martins for
ourselves, and it didn't take long before we saw a pair tenaciously
defending the site from crows. I take that as a good sign that they're
committed to the site. Worried that the gourds were swaying too much in the
stiff breeze, I brought my ladder and tools during the low tide. When the
martins flew off I raised my ladder and got to work, adding some support to
the gourds which had been installed about 3 or 4 years ago by Jean Power and
myself. When I climbed down to grab some duct tape the martins returned and
perched on the ladder itself, and they took a long time excitedly checking
out the interior of the two gourds. No nest material had yet been inserted,
so there remains much to do for this pioneering pair.

Later we went to the Nisqually Reach Nature Center and learned that one of
the purple martin nests had just hatched its entire clutch of five eggs. All
hatched roughly around 10 am, according to the Nature Center staff. I
suspect a number of the nests have nestlings, while some martins are still
building nests. A number of the martins could be seen panting in the warm
weather.

Jack Block Park was open today and there was a moderate amount of martin
activity during mid day; it appeared that parents were switching duties on
the nest, and some were seen bringing food.

Kevin Li
Ballard, USA
kdli at msn.com