The First Annual Purple Martin Roost Festival was held at the Roanoke Island Festival Park in Manteo, NC on August 6, 2005 from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM. For a first time event, it was a huge success as 407 people attended. It was an idea by Alisa Eposito of Columbia, NC to bring attention to the Purple Martin Roost at the William B. Umstead Bridge in Manteo, NC. The roost hosts 100,000+ Purple Martins and many thousands are being killed as the come in to, and leave from, the roost in the mornings and afternoon. The roost has been in existence for at least 20 years. This Festival was held to show the state of North Carolina, Dare County, and Manteo, NC what a special thing they have, and that installing fencing along the bridge should protect the birds, as well as motorists. So far, the NC DOT has put up flashing signs warning of low flying birds and that motorists should reduce speed. The event was sponsored by Roanoke Island Festival Park, Outer Banks Birdwatchers, Wild Birds Unlimited of Kitty Hawk, Carolina Country, and Lasseters Landing.
The Purple Martin Roost Project is a partnership of Audubon North Carolina, Defenders of Wildlife, Federal Highway Administration, North Banks Bird Club, North Carolina Aquariums-Roanoke Island, NC Department of Transportation, NC Wildlife Resources Commission, Purple Martin Conservation Association, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Alisa Eposito gave a presentation on ?Attracting and Managing a Purple Martin Colony?
There were exhibits and a Kid?s Art show.
Sandy Bunn and Tim Francis gave a demo on ?Gourds to Birdhouse?. Sandy showed how to mount access ports, vents, CPVC pipe tunnel for hanging, and SREH. Sandy showed how to cut a crescent into a gourd, and also, how to mount a tunneled WDC entrance which had a 6? wide porch.
The American Wildlife Refuge had a show of some beautiful live ?Birds of Prey?.
John Tautin, of the PMCA, gave a presentation on ?Locating and Protecting Purple Martin Roosts?.
There were many items raffled off, including, but not limited to, an EZ Lift Pole and Gourd Rack by S&K MFG., tickets to the NC Aquarium, a birdfeeder, a homemade Purple Martin plate, subscriptions to Carolina Country magazine, 8 compartment Nature House martin house and pole, and several other items. I am sorry, but I know that I left some items and those who donated them, but during the raffle, I was busy doing other things. S&K Mfg. also donated several bird feeders that were raffled off every half hour.
There were many booths setup. Some included, and I know I left some out so I apologize, The PMCA, a booth about the restoration of wolves into the area by the Red Wolf Coalition, Jeff Lewis nature photography, a booth by Alisa about the Purple Martin and the Roost, the NC Birding Trail, The Conservation Fund, a booth by the US Fish And Wildlife Service about Migratory Birds, Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, North Banks Bird Club, Entrances By Sandy, as well as a few others.
The day was then topped off by some who took a boat ride to the roost for a close up view. The boat got us within 200 feet of the roost. It was awesome. The boat was provided by Outer Banks Cruises.
If you would more information about the roost, please visit http://www.purplemartinroost.com/ This is a website set up by Alisa Eposito.
Here is a link to some pictures that were taken by Tony Molica. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/flagtony/ ... DBtH6hm8Q7 If you decide to publish this article, you can use any of these pictures you want or the link, but please be sure to give Tony credit for taking them.
We have many exciting goals to accomplish in the future to continue drawing attention to and celebrating the martin roost in Manns Harbor, including development of a martin observation area at the foot of the bridge, meeting further public awareness campaign and roost protection goals, and annual festivals.
I would appreciate it, if any North Carolina landlord or wannabies would contact me; as Alisa Esposito, Tim Francis, and myself are trying to start a North Carolina Purple Martin group or network. Even if you don?t want to participate in the group, we would like to talk with you about numbers of pairs, numbers of fledglings, type of housing, number of cavities offered, etc. We are going to try and see if we can get a handle on how many active landlords and what the Purple Martin population may be in North Carolina.
I can be contacted at mailto:sbunn1@cox.net or
Sandy Bunn
3837 Old Wilson Road
Rocky Mount, NC 27801
252-442-2681
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