Re: [MDOsprey] Purple Martins on the move
stamps@sea-east.com
Tue, 17 Aug 1999 23:23:51 -0400
Les,
If you follow those Purple Martins, you will likely find their nighttime
roost. It can be quite impressive, we had one here in Salisbury in the
mid-'80s that had upwards of 30,000-50,000 birds. Typically the birds will
mill around the roost site until almost dark and then in a period of only
a few minutes swoop into the roost.
On one occasion at the Salisbury roost, the birds didn't even appear in
the roost area until 15-20 minutes before dark! This was very unusual.
We thought the birds had left for the season, but they showed up. The
birds will likely stick around the roost until the last week of August.
Some birds might even stay until mid-September.
>While at my daughter's soccer practice tonight at the National Guard
>Armory fields in Havre de Grace, there was a constant stream of Purple
>Martins heading south from 5:30 - 7:30 PM. They ranged from single birds
>to loose groups of 15-20. Rarely were there even a few seconds when none
>were in sight. Several thousand must have gone over in those 2 hours
>and they were still coming when we left.
>
>Les
>
>======================
>Les Eastman
>les_eastman@netfox.net
>Havre de Grace, MD
>Visit the Harford Bird Club Web Page at http://birdclub.harfordhasit.com
>
Charles Vaughn
1306 Frederick Avenue
Salisbury, MD 21801
stamps@sea-east.com
410-742-7221