Purple martin banding part III

Bruce getting mobbed by a bunch of martins
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A few Greater Yellowlegs dropped by
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Jason did much of the heavy lifting…under Clyde’s watchful gaze
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together with John Bennett
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Charlene and Julia did much of the banding
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Julia being REALLY careful
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Many hands make light work
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Some local residents added colour
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Lots of ladder moving
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More local residents adding more colour…we attracted a few interested passers-by
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And lots of martin squabbling
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It turned out to be another long day for the Nanaimo banding crew. But Bruce always manages a smile
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A nice adult male
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Purple martin banding part III
by Andrew Bryant, 9 Aug 2014.

Scheduling conflicts prevented our Young Naturalists from attending this event.  But a few members (thanks Clyde Burton!) stepped up to the plate and provided some on-the-ground support. As usual I snapped a few images.

Thanks as always to Bruce Cousens and Charlene Lee of Nanaimo, and their technician Julia Kadera, who did all the banding.  Thanks also to the Bennett family (John, Erin and Janice), Trevor at Relay Rentals for the free ladder rental, and especially to John Bennett and Jason Roberts for helping to move the ladders around.  I REALLY appreciated your brawn, confidence and grins.

I had NO idea that BC will  likely come close to 1000 breeding pairs this year.  All because of volunteers who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get involved.

Charlene reports that a total of 30 nest boxes were checked (3 came down over the winter). 29 boxes were used by Purple Martins and swallows (likely Violet-green) nested in 1 box. There were 12 fledged martin nests, 1 lined nest, 1 with 3 nestlings too young to band, 1 with a 20-day old bird that wasn’t banded, 11 boxes with nestlings (24) that were banded and 3 boxes with dead young (4).  There were also 3 birds that fledged unbanded.

You can learn more about the ecological context, history, and progress of the recovery program for Western Purple Martins here.