FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Re: mobs of martins

[Bill Pulliam <bb551@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Purple Martins gather in large post-breeding roosts this time of  
year.  You can actually see these birds on the weather radar at dawn  
as they disperse from the roosts, showing up as very impressive  
rapidly-expanding doughnuts.  If you are up before 6:30 or 7:00 in  
the morning try this link for a good radar loop that has been showing  
several martin roosts recently, especially a huge one east of  
Florence AL along the Tennessee River:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge/radar_lite.php? 
rid=ohx&product=N0R&loop=yes

A sample radar image from North Carolina is here:

http://www.purplemartinroost.com/images/doppler.jpg

General information on martin roosts is here:

http://www.purplemartin.org/roost/

Bill Pulliam
Hohenwald TN




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