Hi Denny,

In the Tacoma area, martins nest at Titlow beach near the Narrows,
and on Commencement Bay at the old Dickman Mill site along Ruston
Way, and at the Hylebos waterway, and nearby at the the Chinook
landing guest moorage, and other pilings at about the 4700 block of
Marine View Drive. All these sites are nestboxes on pilings, some
not the best for photos in my experience, where you need a boat at
high tide to get reasonably close to the birds. There may be floats
at Chinook landing and along Marine View Drive, but I'm not sure
about public access.

In Seattle, martins are nesting at Shilshole in Ballard at the public
beach access, at Terminal 91also known as Interbay, along the lower
Duwamish at public access T105, and Kellogg Island (view from Herring
House Park), and at Jack Block Park at the northern edge of the port
in west Seattle.

In my experience, Jack Block Park, and Luhr Beach, at the mouth of
McAllister Creek in Thurston County, are the two best places to
photograph martins. Both sites have public viewing platforms near
and above the nestboxes/gourds. Morning and evening are likely the
best time to catch the birds loafing around their nests.

Over the years Kevin Li took some outstanding photos of martins at
these sites, one in particular is the most stunningly sunlit shot
of a Purple Martin I have ever seen. Kevin freely shared all his
photos with anyone interested in promoting martin conservation
through education. Some were posted on the web, perhaps a google
search would still turn up some of them.

Please let me know if you see any banded individuals. Note band
color(s) and which leg. Thanks.

Stan Kostka
lynnandstan at earthlink.net
Arlington WA N48 15.37 W122 06.50


Subject: Purple Martin information requested
From: Denny Granstrand
Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 18:13:44 -0700
Is anyone keeping a spreadsheet or list of where Purple Martins are
nesting
in the Seattle to Tacoma area? I am hoping to get photos of some this
weekend and would appreciate information on where to find them.