Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Centralia Purple Martins
Date: Aug 2 13:33:37 2014
From: stan Kostka lynn Schmidt - lynnandstan at earthlink.net


I too would like to acknowledge Henry on this one. To the best of my knowledge this is the first time martins have been recorded nesting in Lewis County since the 1970s. For anyone else visiting the site, I encourage you to look closely at the legs of any perched birds, especially those feeding young. Many martins have been and are being banded in the Northwest, we know they disperse great distances, from BC into Oregon, from the Columbia River into the North Sound. If anyone finds a banded purple martin (all banded birds are from nestboxes) breeding in a snag cavity, that would be really big news, and would merit a note in an ornithological journal. To the best of my knowledge it has never been documented anywhere in North America, ever, and would be very significant in the long term conservation of the species.

Stan Kostka
lynnandstan at earthlink.net
Arlington WA

Subject: Centralia Purple Martins
From: Russ Koppendrayer <russkope AT gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2014 20:13:03 -0700
Hi Tweeters,

I followed up on Henry Wegener's July 29 post this afternoon. Where the
logging road ends at a landing I found at least 8 PURPLE MARTINS in the
vicinity of a few snags below me. I was able to follow an abandoned logging
road or cat track to get closer. From here I observed adults shoving food
into a cavity a couple times. The number 8 is the most I observed
simultaneously, but it is very likely there were more present as birds were
regularly coming into and out of sight. In the 10 minutes I was there (an
ill-advised climb without water) I only witnessed the one cavity in use,
but there were many other possibilities in the immediate area. Thanks to
Henry and Leah for the post and prompt spot on directions in response to my
request. Nice find Henry! Good to know these birds can still use natural
nesting sites.

About 0.75 mile up there was a CALIFORNIA QUAIL in the road a species that
had eluded me in Lewis Co. until today - nice bonus.

Russ Koppendrayer
Longview, WA