[va-richmond-general] Shockoe Bottom martin roost, 7/31/09

After running an errand downtown I was treated to a double rainbow and
perhaps a couple of thousand purple martins entering the trees.  Hard to say
why they put up with the loud music from Friday Night Cheers, the trains,
and the ambulance sirens, but they do.  About 150 were already there at 7:03
when I arrived, and the numbers increased steadily.  Hard to count still,
but I did see that early in the evening they are going into the trees and
leaving again possibly to encourage the many starlings and grackles to move
on to their roost at 2nd and Byrd.  The only problem is that thousands of
those birds seem to hopscotch across the city from tree to tree on the way,
so one flock clears out, the martins begin to enter, and more starlings and
grackles move in.  I do not remember seeing this many starlings in the
past-good chance for someone to learn the difference between distant flocks
of starlings and martins.  With a light sprinkle of rain beginning, all
martins were in by 8:20 with no raptors seen.  The cheese fries at River
City Diner were excellent!

 

Jan

Richmond

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