[va-richmond-general] Bottom's birds return in force (RTD-Rex Springston)
- From: deannamail@xxxxxxx
- To: va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:27:04 -0400
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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Photo
Video
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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