Hello tweets,

Great story for you: Today I was stand up paddleboarding in Puget Sound
just north of Ray's Boathouse. My friend Traci Ree was just west of the
piers where the Purple Martin nest gourds are located and shouted, "Bird
emergency!!!" As we raced to the piers we could see a female martin had
wedged her neck in between the two vertical aluminum poles that support the
crossbeam from which two gourds hang opposite of each other. The martin was
flapping her wings furiously but was obviously trapped at the neck. As the
two vertical poles are open in a "Y" formation at the top (to support the
crossbeam), and quickly taper to parallel as they descend to their
anchorage, there was no way the martin was going to free herself and it
looked like strangulation would be the eventual outcome. The local Martin
Nation was vocalizing and circling her fervently trying to help, but to no
avail. We brought our paddleboards up to the wood beam that acted as a
fender to the pier poles and Traci climbed up onto the aluminum poles and
balanced on the wood beam. Grabbing an aluminum pole in each hand and
pulling apart with all her strength, she open a gap wide enough for the
Martin to fly through and, free once again, join the rest of her
compatriots. Traci and I thrust our fists into the air in a victory
gesture; her quick response cetainly saved the bird from a grisly fate!

It would be wise to wire or band the three sets of aluminum poles tightly
together where they form the "Y" so as to prevent accidental entrapment of
other martins.

Somewhere I know my old friend Kevin Li is smiling.......


Ed Dominguez
Madrona neighborhood
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