Subject line: Seattle Purple martin support

Kevin Li brought Purple martins back to the Seattle area about 20 years ago. Since his passing in 2006, several of his friends have taken
over the maintenance and expansion of the colonies he started. There are active Purple martin colonies
that Kevin started
that are at/near capacity in the lower Duwamish River, Shilshole, and Terminal 91 in Elliott Bay. The creosote pilings at Terminal 91 (near the cruise ship terminal) are being
removed this summer during a Port of Seattle remediation project. The T-91 gourds have supported an ever-growing colony over the past few years. We are working with the Port of Seattle to find one or more alternative locations in the vicinity for the gourds.
Ideally this will happen before the martins start arriving in late April/early May. The alternative locations will require “racks” (metal poles) and robust plastic gourds (resist vandalism better than the natural gourds).

In addition, the pilings at Shilshole (north of Ray’s Boathouse/waterward of the Elks Lodge) are falling down over time. Every year there
are fewer to support gourds and this is a big colony (over 30 gourds and a couple boxes) with at least 20 successful nesting pairs.
We are working with the Port of Seattle and others to try and find a location nearby to transition the martins that will also require racks and gourds. Currently there are more martins than there is housing near saltwater!

Larry Hubbell wrote a very nice article about Kevin on his Union Bay Watch blog at
https://unionbaywatch.blogspot.com/2022/09/thank-you-kevin.html and here’s an article in the Seattle Times
Purple Martin Majesty | The Seattle Times as well as a few photos of Kevin and the Shilshole martins.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/142862746 at N02/albums/72177720315011242/

Since Kevin passed, his friends have happily bought new gourds and supplies every year out-of-pocket. But we could really use assistance
with the cost of buying new racks and gourds (they aren’t cheap) to provide housing at new locations as well as at the existing colonies. And if anyone would physically like to help us continue Kevin’s purple passion, please get in touch—we always need help
as it’s a BIG effort each year to get housing in ship-shape condition and ready for the martins. This usually takes place in April and it’s dependent on low tides at Shilshole and high tide in the Duwamish River (WDFW has been fabulous providing a boat and
staff for landlord activities at the Duwamish River colonies). We started a GoFundMe at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-continue-kevin-lis-purple-martin-legacy and
really appreciate (as in REALLY) the very generous donations received so far. If you’d like to help with the maintenance (cleaning and swapping out new gourds), please e-mail me at
glaciersea at comcast.net.

--Kim Stark