Subject: [Tweeters] RE: Port Townsend Purple Martins
Date: Aug 19 09:29:07 2014
From: Jeff Gibson - gibsondesign at msn.com


Stan, and Tweeters
It was a good morning for Purple Martins in Port Townsend today. On my early morning walk to Fort Worden I saw 15+ martins flying around the martin boxes (there are 4) out on the Marine Science Center pier.( These boxes were busy in May). That's the most Martins I've ever seen at once in Washington state.
Feeling lucky, I also checked out the Martin boxes near the PT marina. There are 5 boxes there, at the boat entrance to the boat basin. If one goes a bit ENE from the marina, there is a little public beach access right next to the Aladdin Inn, and you can get good looks at the nest boxes. There were at least 10 martins there - at one point every box had one or more martins on it.
These martin boxes are sort of unique in my experience; a long rectangle shape, with a little "deck" on the hole end. The holes are also a horizontal shape, and situated very low - about level with the deck/perch. Have seen no Starlings or House Sparrows around any of these - luck, or the nest box design? I don't know.
Anyway, always cool to see, or hear, a Martin.
Jeff Gibsonback inPort Townsend Wa

> From: lynnandstan at earthlink.net
> Subject: Port Townsend Purple Martins
> Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2014 18:55:44 -0700
> To: gibsondesign at msn.com
>
> Hi Jeff,
>
> I still read tweeters regularly but don't post much anymore.
>
> I'm curious to know if the purple martin nestboxes in town are still there, and if there are martins using them, next to the the marina , on upland poles behind a seafood company, it was called New Day Fisheries back in 2005. Not sure of my directions there, but pretty sure it would be immediately north of the marina.
>
> Maybe you could check it out sometime, I most likely won't be making it over that way this season.
>
> Thanks ,
>
> Stan Kostka
> Arlington
>
>