[va-richmond-general] Bottom's birds return in force (RTD-Rex Springston)

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-07-15-0016.html






Bottom's birds return in force


Unwanted last year, the purple martins will be the subject of a festival this 
year


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Tuesday, Jul 15, 2008 - 12:08 AM?





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A flock of purple martins numbering about 4,000 has begun spending its nights 
in Shockoe Bottom. The flock population is expected to increase to as many as 
10,000 or more by the time the birds fly south in August. Photo By: JOE 
MAHONEY/TIMES-DISPATCH



























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By REX SPRINGSTON


TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER








An unusual flock of purple birds has returned to Shockoe Bottom, and this time 
they are getting the red carpet.


City officials, business people and bird lovers plan to celebrate the purple 
martins' return by holding a "Gone to the Birds" festival July 26 from about 6 
p.m. to 9 p.m.


"This could be the start of a great annual event," said city spokesman Linwood 
Norman.


When the martins showed up by the thousands last year, many people were 
fascinated, but others complained about their droppings. City officials even 
considered cutting the trees the birds roost in, saying the Bradford pears were 
getting old.


Now, Norman said, the city is holding off on cutting the trees. And city 
workers will periodically wash the droppings from sidewalks under the trees.


Steve Osberger of Henrico County, a purple-martin aficionado who helped 
organize the festival, hopes the birds can attract people to the Bottom the way 
flights of bats draw tourists to Austin, Texas.


"I really think most people are going to love them," Osberger said. "I want to 
show it off. It's a cool thing."


. . . 


The gregarious birds fly around eating insects by day; then at dusk they form a 
whirling mass over the Bottom before swooping down to roost in the line of pear 
trees on 17th Street, one block north of the Farmers Market.


The martins fly in just above -- and sometimes right beside -- people's heads, 
prompting comparisons to Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds."


The mystery is why the martins chose the busy Bottom as the equivalent of a 
motel along Interstate 95.


Such a spectacle is extremely rare in a city district bustling with cars, 
trains and partying people.


"We've got a very unique neighborhood down here, and this just makes it a 
little more unique," said David Napier, owner of the Old City Bar on East Main 
Street and president of the Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association.


During the festival, people can eat a meal, enjoy some free purple -- well, 
raspberry -- sherbet, talk to martin experts, then watch the birds wing in at 
sunset.


Some bars will even serve bird-themed drinks such as a "purple martini."


The festival will follow the Shockoe Chef Showdown, a culinary competition that 
runs from 11 a.m. 4 to p.m.


The martins, which are preparing to migrate, started arriving in the Bottom in 
late June. They will build their numbers, probably peaking in late July or 
early August, before heading to South America in late summer.


Small crowds are already gathering to watch the birds.


Gwenlyn Williamson of Henrico, an executive assistant for a prison ministry, 
was leaving a restaurant Friday when she noticed people peering at the martins 
high in the sky and decided to join the watchers.


"Wow! I've never seen anything like that," Williamson said when about 3,000 
martins began flying into the trees in waves. "That's what I call a family 
reunion."


On Saturday night, about 3,900 martins flew in, according to Mike Wilson, a 
College of William and Mary bird expert, who clicked off an estimate with a 
hand-held counter.


"The numbers seem to be increasing very quickly," Wilson said. At festival 
time, he said, "There could be 10,000 birds."


A red-tailed hawk picked off two martins and ate one atop a utility pole in 
front of the martin-watchers. "That's right in our face," said Wilson, smiling.


North Richmond retiree Vicki Ragland came at the suggestion of businesswoman 
Janet Howell. "She called me and said Capistrano had moved to Richmond, in 
Shockoe Bottom." (San Juan Capistrano, Calif., is noted for the annual 
migration and return of a flock of swallows.)


It's unclear when the flights to Richmond began, but nobody noticed large 
numbers of birds until last summer.


"I hunt and fish all the time, and I never would look for a flock of birds on 
17th Street," said retiree Robert Lammey Jr. of Varina.


Napier said the martins could decide some day to go somewhere else.


"It's amazing to watch, and every year might be the last year, so don't put it 
off." 

Contact Rex Springston at (804) 649-6453 or rspringston@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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