I will weigh in with mention of the two Purple Martin nesting sites that
Natalie and I have monitored the last few years - Titlow Beach Park and
Dickman Mill Park - both in Tacoma. Last year we were unable to do solid
monitoring at either site, but we saw more than two dozen Purple Martins
at Titlow shortly before the adults and sub-adults headed south last
year, and we had 18 Purple Martins at the Dickman Mill site on one visit
toward the end of the season last year. Because of these nesting boxes
on opposite sides of the peninsula that holds North and West Tacoma, it
is not uncommon on summer nights to heard Purple Martins flying high
overhead with their distinct burbling calls to each other as they pluck
insects from the sky.

As for other sites that I am aware of in the South Sound, I have seen
martins nesting in beat up nesting boxes along the west shore of Vashon
Island at Lisabuela Park on Colvos Passage - Ed Swan may be able to
offer more information about this site and confirm if the boxes were
used last year. I also know that the Kitsap Audubon Society is doing
work with Purple Martin nesting boxes this year. Maybe someone from that
area can weigh in with where there are boxes located now and where new
boxes are planned.

Rob McNair-Huff ---------- Tacoma, WA
Author of Birding Washington (Falcon Publishing, 2004)
and Insider's Guide to the Olympic Peninsula (Globe Pequot, 2001)
Mac Net Journal ---------- http://www.macnetjournal.com

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