Backyard Birding (extra program for 2025): Purple Martins (2-part program)

Presenters: Ken Wiersema and Dow Lambert

Saturday, July 12, 2024

(Part I) 10 a.m. at Rainshadow Hall, Dungeness River Nature Center

Suggested donation: $5.00

(Part II) 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Tide Flats adjacent to 3 Crabs Road, Sequim. Limited to 12 participants.

Registration and signed liability form required for the field trip to 3 Crabs. Registration required.

Please Note: The field trip is weather sensitive; if it’s raining or high winds exist or are forecasted, we will postpone the field trip, as it’s unsafe to send one of our volunteer team up a ladder in winds exceeding 10-15 mph. Check the website the day before, or the day of the program for updated information on the weather. We’ll also announce needed adjustments to the field trip as part of the in-class program.

Our current Backyard Birding series for the ‘24-’25 year ends with this extra program focused on North America’s largest swallow, the Purple Martin. A new series of programs will begin in September. Due to habitat loss and nesting competition with human-introduced species, Purple Martins are nearing “threatened” status in Washington State. Since 1998 the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society has dedicated work and resources to a project that provides safe and species-specific nesting cavities for Purple Martins to help them nest and reproduce successfully and remain a part of our state’s vibrant array of birds.

Part I of this program will be a classroom orientation at the River Center, including background information on Purple Martin migration, nesting requirements, and diet, as well as 25 years of local data on the Purple Martin’s progress in adapting to our human-made nesting cavities.

Part II of the program will be a field trip of a quarter-mile walk along the tide flats adjacent to 3 Crabs Road (Google Map). We will show you the nesting colony of the birds, look inside their nest boxes with an endoscope camera to count eggs or young birds, and observe the behavior of the adult bird feeding and defending their nests. Please dress for the weather and wear waterproof shoes or boots that extend to at least above your ankles, preferably to mid-calf. Also, bring your binoculars and or your scopes for up-close views!

We encourage participants to attend both the indoor class and the tideflats field trip segments. However, participants may choose to attend either the indoor or outdoor segment. Although admission to the class is free, we suggest that you consider a donation of $5 per person to support our ongoing education and bird conservation programs.

Liability Form: We ask field trip participants to sign a liability release form on or before the day of the trip. This signed form will be good for future OPAS field trips. You can review, download, and print the form in advance by visiting the Field Trips page on the OPAS website or clicking here. You can also eSign the liability release form by clicking here.

Note: A waitlist has been enabled for this trip. If you need to cancel your reservation, please email webmaster@olympicpeninsulaaudubon.org.

OPAS Backyard Birding: Purple Martins (2-part program)