[Tweeters] Purple Martins, and Purple Martin Conservation Day

[Diane Yorgason-Quinn via Tweeters]

Yes, Happy Purple Martin Conservation Day!

I am happy to report on Gig Harbor's PUMAs.  Up until about 5 years ago, Martins were only rarely seen in the harbor, but thanks to several people who live on the water, especially John Voigt and John McMillan, boxes were built and posted all around the harbor, since these guys knew most of the people with piers.  They add more boxes every year, and the number of Martins has just exploded.  Right now there is a cam in one of the nestboxes at the Eddon Boat Park which can be accessed inside the Gig Harbor Boatshop showing the last 2 young in the box getting ready to go.  These guys have also conducted boat tours around the harbor showing the many boxes.

Pierce County has many other Martin hot spots as well, such as Point Defiance and Titlow Park beach.  Things are looking up for Martins in the south Sound!

Diane Yorgason-Quinn
Gig Harbor, WA
Avosetta at hotmail.com
________________________________
From: Tweeters <tweeters-bounces at mailman11.u.washington.edu> on behalf of Elaine Chuang via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2024 11:10 AM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] Purple Martins, and Purple Martin Conservation Day

Tweet, tweet, and regards to all,  Many of you in the Seattle area will have seen in the Seattle Times, July 28, 2024 the excellent article by Kate Perez on Purple Martins in our region, and the mounting challenges they face.  Here’s the link: https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seattletimes.com%2Fseattle-news%2Fbirds-that-migrate-from-brazil-to-seattle-each-summer-face-new-threat%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7C5bca83ea82904df3ed1e08dcb967c058%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638589102475029877%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=PIxlDag619ec801AARUYoLan32I0ZaagtDY4ZSEtnb8%3D&reserved=0<https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/birds-that-migrate-from-brazil-to-seattle-each-summer-face-new-threat/>

Some of us lucky enough to live at this northern portion of the Purple Martin's range look forward annually to enjoying their return from Brazil.  What joy to hear those gorgeous bubbly sounds, observe them in flight and appreciate stages of nesting as they raise young in communal settings, now almost entirely in human-made structures.

We have Kim Stark, Jean Power, Carl Bevis, Kris Baker and WDFW’s Chris Anderson to thank for the vast majority of maintenance of PUMA homes and strategic planning on their behalf.  Ten years ago this group created a distinctly informative poster on the Purple Martins in King County and conservation efforts  07POSTER-2014-04-30-Stark-Purple-Martins-King-County-shorelines  Most of it is still applicable - much work remains to be done.

Recently, August 10 was officially designated as Purple Martin Conservation Day, thanks to efforts put forth by the Purple Martin Conservation Association and allies!  Stay tuned for more ways to help our  Martins!

Elaine Chuang
elc at uw dot edu
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