Hi Paul,

Keep listening for those birds, they may be breeding somewhere not too far from you. Based on what I've seen and heard so far this year, martins are still very much in the nest in the Pacific Northwest. The earliest nests I've heard about have young going on three weeks old, up in BC, and some down in Cowlitz county are about two weeks old. Most are much younger. I checked nests at English Boom on Camano Island yesterday morning and all 13 pair there are still on eggs. Last year the first young at English Boom did not hatch out until about July 16. The north Sound runs later than anywhere else in WA, or the entire NW, to the best of my knowledge. The data I have shows Thurston County with more data points for breeding martins than any other WA county, except for Pierce.

Stan Kostka
Arlington
lynnandstan at earthlink.net

Subject: Purple Martins over Tenino
From: "Paul Hicks" <phicks AT accessgrace.org>
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:02:23 -0700
Tweets, Mon & Wed a.m. I heard Purple Martins flying over my house (new yard
bird). I'm guessing they're in post-breeding dispersal mode - the only time
of year I've ever observed them in the Tenino area, less than annually
(average once every 5 years). Good birding!