Subject: [Tweeters] Kevin Li Past Messages
Date: Jan 30 19:07:00 2006
From: Lynn Schulz - linusq at worldnet.att.net


Dear Tweeters:
Here are some past msgs to Tweets and to me, that illustrate what a very
special person Kevin Li was. I wonder if anyone else could ever do the
things he did. Please check out his messages below.
Yours, Carol Schulz
DesMoines
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Li" <kdli at msn.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2005 7:59 AM
Subject: [Tweeters] Ballard/Seattle martins


> Having seen a few purple martins at the Ballard public access recently, I
> used Saturday's's low tide to install nesting gourds. The tide was higher
> than I expected, and I had to slog through at least a foot of water with
> my 28' extension ladder to reach high on the pilings. The tide would be
> lower in subsequent days, but I didn't like the thought of these martins
> coming all the way from South America to find a housing shortage. It was a
> warm day and getting soaked wasn't a problem. I brought my ladder, a
> bucket of tools, and a car load of gourds. Initially there was a bald
> eagle on the pilings, and after a few moments I thought I heard a martin.
> I extended my ladder and got to work, filling my boots right away with
> salt water. After attaching several gourds on the pilings, about a half
> dozen martins appeared from nowhere, circling the pilings and landing just
> a few feet away while I was still on the ladder. By the time I was
> finished, a dozen martins were in a noisy frenzy over the new housing,
> moving from one gourd to the next. Probably more than half the birds were
> adult males. The tide continued to rise, and I decided to wait for another
> low tide to add more gourds. These were clearly a big hit today, a reward
> that makes the effort well worthwhile. The martins also gave lively chase
> to the crows, a highly entertaining sight.
>
> Later I went down to Jack Block Park and added five new gourds to the high
> wooden structure over the wooden pier; three martins were already there,
> the first I've seen at that site this season. I think that makes for about
> 17 gourds for the park. Brief visits to Terminal 105 and Herring's House
> Park by Kellogg Island turned up no additional martins, but an osprey has
> been on the nest quite regularly.
>
> On Friday I checked on some new gourds in Discovery Park, but only saw
> violet green swallows in the vicinity; eight gourds are at the Utah Ave
> wetland.
>
> Kevin Li
> Ballard, USA

>From Kevin Apr 24, '05
Hi Carol,
Thanks for the kind words; when martins show up like they did on Saturday,
it's kind of a magical moment. There's nothing else like it, and after
experiencing it, I can't imagine letting them down. These birds come all the
way up from Brazil, and seem to know that somebody will help them out. I've
seen them perch on my ladder many times while I'm still installing gourds.
Once I drove out near Chelan to deliver some nest boxes to a friend for
bluebirds; I had the boxes in plain sight in my parked car, with my mountain
bike on the roof rack. The bluebirds perched on my bike's handlebars,
waiting for me to come back outside and install the boxes.

Nice hearing from you!

Kevin
--------------

>From Kevin to Tweets, Apr 7, '05

A method I've used with infested nest gourds is to sneak up and envelop the
entire gourd with a large plastic bag, then take down the whole buzzing unit
and place it in the freezer for at least overnight. Doing it at night is
probably safest.

Kevin Li
Ballard, USA
kdli at msn.com