A bat, which was hooked on a back cast while fly-fishing, was caught
and released after flying into a nearby tree with the line and
leader.?Also a Marbled Murrelet was hooked while casting for salmon
from shore near Deer Harbor.?Luckily it was easily released and
apparently suffered no harm.

?We finally have Purple Martins on Orcas Island near Deer Harbor at
Spring Point.? We placed a Martin house on one of the in-board pilings
at the community beach three years ago.? That spring we had Violet
Green Swallows nesting and brooding their young.? Unfortunately Yellow
Jackets moved into one of the nesting compartments and the swallows
aborted their nests.? In 2005 we moved the Martin house to the outer
most piling and had both Violet Green and Tree Swallows nesting.? This
year we have those two species nesting,?and about four weeks ago Purple
Martins appeared and are using the nesting compartments.? So far we
have observed two pairs entering and leaving the house.? The Martin
house is located at the end of the Spring Point dock, which is at the
southwest entrance to Deer Harbor opposite Fawn Island.

Don and Sandi McVay
Deer Harbor
dmcvay at cmc.net

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