Last evening I went to check on the roost, and only saw a few birds in the air near the Doubletree Hotel. I went driving around the area and quickly found many thousands of martins in the air about a mile to the east and a little south of the hotel. The birds began pouring into a group of trees on the northeast side of the Christain Scientist Church on the northwest corner of 10th & Boulder. There had to be several hundred thousand birds again. Sunset yesterday was around 8:10 PM, and at 8:33 there were still thousands of martins overhead looking for a place to come in. Some began to land in a lone tree a little north of the main roost trees, but there were still a lot whirling overhead.
I drove around a little more, and found quite a few martins at another church property at 11th & Main. It was already very dark, but I could hear the birds and see them moving from tree to tree. They were by the First United Methodist Church's activities building, and in trees in the parking lot across the street.
Before going home, I went back by the hotel area, and there were some martins in the two trees on the south side of the Family & Childrens Services building, but not a lot. So a lot has changed since the Audubon Roost Watch event on Aug 9th. The Audubon leaders will be deciding what to do about the event for this coming Saturday. If you are thinking of coming to Tulsa for it, please check the Tulsa Audubon website at www.tulsaaudubon.org.
There were as many martins roosting in downtown last night as there were in late July/early August. My guess is that these are birds from farther north, and they may not be here very long, but it was an incredible sight!
Tulsa Roost - Huge Numbers & Another Location Shift
-
Dick Sherry
- Posts: 774
- Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2003 5:30 pm
- Location: Tulsa, OK
Tulsa Audubon is encouraging people to still eat dinner at the Doubletree if they want to support the hotel. The watch event will be in a small park, Cathedral Square, on the SE corner of 10th & Boulder. Last night the number of martins was still HUGE. It will all be winding down soon, so don't miss this spectacle of Nature.
-
DornCounty
- Posts: 2169
- Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:58 pm
- Location: Rural SE Kansas
- Martin Colony History: .
.
Trio-Jedi
thanks for your hard work keeping tabs on this Dick. Great work!!
2017 - Home & Public Colonies - 300 Cavities
-
Louise Chambers
- Site Admin
- Posts: 6208
- Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2003 1:07 pm
- Location: Corpus Christi, TX
News article about the roost change and watch: http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/sports/ ... 8e7ee.html
Hi Dick, I wanted to mention that there was a feral cat feeding on martins under the trees when we were there.
I wonder if there is more than the one and if that harassment is moving them around? Just a thought.
I did chase it off.
I wonder if there is more than the one and if that harassment is moving them around? Just a thought.
I did chase it off.
-
Dave Duit
- Posts: 2145
- Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2003 2:02 pm
- Location: Iowa / Nevada
- Martin Colony History: In 2024, 82 pair with 350 fledged youngsters. 110 total cavities available, 82 Troyer Horizontal gourds and a homemade PVC / metal 28 compartment unit, 1 fallout shelter. Hawk and owl guards included. Martin educator and speaker. President and founder of the Iowa Purple Martin Organization. Please visit Iowa Purple Martin Organization on Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1627283871068161 Emails send to daveduit@yahoo.com. Subject line include Iowa Purple Martin.
One of these years I will make a trip down to watch the roosts. It is good that the residence are fine with the roosts and welcome the martins. Nice additional article on the link Louise.
-
Dick Sherry
- Posts: 774
- Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2003 5:30 pm
- Location: Tulsa, OK
Louise, thank you for posting the newspaper story about the change in locations. We were out of town for a wedding, but I understand there were a whole lot of martins still there, and a pretty good number of people that came out to see them. The churches on both corners were very amiable about having the martins using their trees, and were glad we contacted them so they knew what the birds were. The initial reaction is that they are starlings or grackles.
Jim, I am not sure what causes the moves. Each year there seem to be a variety of predators that show up as well. Thanks for chasing the cat away - we have seen them almost every year, along with the red-tailed hawk, and I am sure owls show up during the night. My guess about the moving around is that our local martins started roosting at the hotel, but moved south with the series of fronts that came through in mid-August. When the birds from farther north showed up, they started roosting at another location since the locals weren't leading them to the hotel area. We will probably never know how they communicate, but since there was no effort made to drive them away from the hotel area, some other factors were involved to make them select another location. I plan to go see how many are still there this evening, and will post on what I find.
Dave, I hope you can come see the roost some time. Anyone who loves martins ought to see one of these major roosts at least once. I have gotten to watch them here for over 20 years, and each time it is an amazing experience.
Jim, I am not sure what causes the moves. Each year there seem to be a variety of predators that show up as well. Thanks for chasing the cat away - we have seen them almost every year, along with the red-tailed hawk, and I am sure owls show up during the night. My guess about the moving around is that our local martins started roosting at the hotel, but moved south with the series of fronts that came through in mid-August. When the birds from farther north showed up, they started roosting at another location since the locals weren't leading them to the hotel area. We will probably never know how they communicate, but since there was no effort made to drive them away from the hotel area, some other factors were involved to make them select another location. I plan to go see how many are still there this evening, and will post on what I find.
Dave, I hope you can come see the roost some time. Anyone who loves martins ought to see one of these major roosts at least once. I have gotten to watch them here for over 20 years, and each time it is an amazing experience.