Last night Denise Dailey, Julia Heskett and I met in the Highland Mall/ACC
Highland Campus area to try to find where the Purple Martins are roosting
this summer. Denise and Julia had visited the area earlier in the week and
were confident that the birds weren't in the usual area north of the old
mall. We finally tracked them to the roost site. They are roosting at
Capital Plaza Shopping Center, 5400 block of North Interstate Highway 35!
This is approximately 1.2 miles from where they roosted last year as the
crow flies. I think in the early 1980's the roost was somewhere along 51st
St, near Capital Plaza, at an apartment complex courtyard. Needless to say,
the apartment complex management did NOT like having the birds there.
Hopefully the shopping center management will be more excited.
The birds are roosting in a group of Live Oak trees near Shepler's Western
Wear. Turn in the main entrance just before the Target and go all the way
to the end of the drive. That's where the trees are. From the guano on the
ground, we were confident that they had been roosting in these trees for a
few nights at least.
We estimated 5000 birds last night. At least four Common Nighthawks were
putting on a show too.
Travis Audubon will be hosting Purple Martin Parties Friday and Saturday
nights in July (not July 4 weekend). Come out and join us! More details can
be found at travisaudubon.org.
Shelia Hargis
Austin
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