I found a Purple Martin Roost in Concord, NC!

[Kathy in VA]

I found a Purple Martin Roost in Concord, NC! I am including many details to help you locate it and be able to get a good view of it, if you want to go see it. I have informed PMCA about this roost and sent some pictures and videos to them, and they found it on radar and confirmed it. Soon I will be filling out the official Roost Reporting submission forms to document everything (and this info. in a similar format to their forms), so they can look over it and publish it on the Project MartinRoost web page. But my email server is currently down, so I’m waiting until that is working, to report this roost, so they can reach me if they have questions. But I wanted to go ahead and post the info here, in case anyone wants to go see this roost now…since time is getting short, for viewing roosts!

ROOST LOCATION: Concord, NC, USA (Cabarrus County)

COORDINATES: 35.369387, -80.713805

ACTIVE: Yes

NUMBER OF MARTINS USING THIS ROOST: Thousands!

SPECIES COMPOSITION:
Thousands of Purple Martins roost here, along with starlings and other birds. It appeared that starlings and some other species fly into the trees earlier in the evening than the martins. So if you visit the roost, the birds you first see landing in the trees and skimming over the treetops may not be martins…the martins may still be circling higher in the skies when other species are coming in. I saw some murmurations of birds swooping around in the sky, which may have been starlings. Many starlings inhabit this area, and the morning after I watched the roost, many starlings remained in the area, perched on power lines and in other parts of the city, long after martins had left the area to find food.

PUBLIC ACCESS:
People cannot walk close to the trees where the martins roost, because the clump of trees is in a restricted area near an interstate and dangerous city street traffic. But there are so many martins circling overhead, you can easily see them and watch them descending into the roost trees—even without binoculars—from the parking lots of several nearby restaurants.

ROOST LOCATION:
Concord, NC, beside I-85, Exit 49, at the intersection of I-85 and Bruton Smith Blvd. It is near Concord Mills Outlet Mall, which is northeast of Charlotte, NC. The birds roost in a cluster of dense trees inside the cloverleaf loop where cars enter I-85 from Bruton Smith Blvd.

To see the location on a map, go to this link (the teardrop/pin marker shows the location of the roost):
https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2 ... ?entry=ttu

Or go to www.google.com and paste this into the Search box: 35.369387, -80.713805 and tap “Enter.”
Click on the map; set to satellite view, and collapse the side panel.

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT:
Martins and other species of birds are roosting in a large cluster of dense trees beside Interstate 85.

HISTORY:
I do not know how long martins have been roosting at this site. I (Kathy Laine) discovered this roost on July 18, 2024, and later found it on radar. I sent photos, videos, and the location to PMCA, who evaluated them, found the roost on radar, and confirmed that it was a martin roost.

TIMEFRAME OF ROOST:
I’m guessing this roost may start forming by early July thru mid-August…but that is an estimate, based on timing of some of the reports of roosts in surrounding areas. I know it was very active on July 18, 2024!

THREATS AND PROBLEMS:
Cars, loud traffic noise, and bright street lights do NOT bother the birds. However, since this roost is right beside a major interstate, this property may be owned by the government. As city populations grow, roads are often widened and re-routed to improve traffic flow. If road construction begins in this area and the roosting trees are cut down, the roost will be destroyed.
I do not know if any martins are being hit by cars as they enter the roost at night or leave the roost in the early morning, but it is probable, since there are many very busy roads very close to this roost.
I recommend visiting this roost on nights other than Friday or Saturday. Traffic is very heavy in this area, and driving is very intense—especially on those nights. If going to the roost, especially on those nights, if you are not an aggressive driver, you may want to invite someone who IS, to drive you there. I DID!—and was very glad I only had to navigate and watch the birds! If you go early in the morning to see the birds leaving the roost, traffic is not heavy.

OPPORTUNITIES AND VIEWING LOCATIONS:
Go to the link of the map, above, shown in “ROOST LOCATION.”
When viewing the map, some locations SEEM like they would give a good view of the roost trees, but unfortunately, once you are on the ground, some areas are situated at the base of upward sloping banks where the entrance/exit ramps have been built up, blocking your view….or there are other trees in the way that prevent you from seeing the roost trees. But here are some good places to view the roost, with pros and cons….

1. “Olive Garden,” near the Olive Garden sign at the right front corner of their parking lot (walk thru the trees/bushes, over to the fence.) You can see the birds dropping down, but you cannot see ALL of the trees where they are landing, because the patch of roost trees slopes downhill, away from you. However, it seemed I could hear the noisy martin chatter much better (which was thrilling!) from this side of I-85 than the other side (the Texas Roadhouse side), probably due to the interstate traffic noise. Before you go here, you may want to drive down Bruton Smith Blvd. and follow the roads to go into the back of the Texas Roadhouse parking lot, and look across the interstate, to see what the whole patch of trees looks like, where the birds will be landing. Then you can drive back to Olive Garden and watch the martins actually flying down into the trees.

2. “Texas Roadhouse,” right rear corner of parking lot, near the brown block wall dumpster enclosure. Recommend Monday or Tuesday nights for this location—not Friday or Saturday—the parking lot is chaotic on Friday and Saturday nights, with restaurant staff taking names from drivers of cars as they enter the lot, putting them on the wait list. But this location is good for seeing the birds actually landing in the treetops, because you are facing the clump of trees, which are sloping downhill toward you, toward I-85. From here, you can sometimes see groups of birds swirling around, skimming over the treetops just above the foliage, deciding where they want to settle. You will be facing the setting sun, but the sun had pretty much gone down by the time waves of martins actually began descending into the trees. You cannot hear the martins as loudly from this side of I-85, probably because the interstate noise is between you and the birds, and it echoes and is amplified, down in the “canyon.”

3. “On the Border” Mexican Grill & Cantina, which is on the perimeter of the Concord Mills Outlet Mall at the far end of the Best Buy parking lot. Stand facing the brightly lit Hilton Garden Inn hotel sign, and look to the right of the Bruton Smith Blvd. traffic lights, on your side of I-85. The birds roost in the clump of dense trees that surround a very tall light pole, just beyond the backside of the large interstate directional signs above the road, inside the cloverleaf loop where cars are entering I-85 S.

4. Concord Mills Outlet Mall, Best Buy parking lot (the highest part of the parking lot.) You will have a great view of the martins flying overhead, but you may not be able to see the roosting trees where the birds actually land. There is plenty of room to park, here; Best Buy closes by 8:00pm so there are very few shoppers’ cars there. Lots of space to set up chairs and camera tripods for photography of martins overhead, provided Best Buy or Mall officials do not object.

To find the correct clump of trees where the birds will land, once you are there (assuming they don’t re-locate!)…
According to Google Maps, there is a clump of trees and a tall light pole at each of the four corners of the intersection where Bruton Smith Blvd. crosses over I-85 at Exit 49. But there is only one cloverleaf loop road. Look for the tall light pole and trees that are inside a cloverleaf loop. The other light poles and trees are not surrounded by a loop road; they have only long, straight ramps beside them.

Before dusk, you can see the birds flying high in the sky from any nearby open parking lot in this area, but to see the birds actually landing in the roost trees, you may need to walk thru trees/hedges at the perimeter of parking lots until you reach fences. Please do not cross fences or walk across entrance/exit ramps to go inside the cloverleaf loop/interstate right-of-way. Please do not park on the shoulder of I-85 or Bruton Smith Blvd, or stand on the overpass/bridge, to get closer to the birds. This is a VERY congested, high-traffic area, and doing so is probably illegal—as well as very dangerous and could get you killed. And we birders do not want to get into trouble with the federal, state or local governments for parking illegally, trespassing into restricted areas, or causing a traffic accident. Unfortunately, police will not consider bird-watching a vehicle or medical emergency!

Regrettably, when I first discovered this roost, I did not have a spotting scope or good zoom camera—I had gone to Charlotte to visit family and only had binoculars and a cell phone camera. And since I live 2.5 hours away from this roost, I have not been able to go back again. So I was not able to get great photos and did not have time to find all of the possible viewing locations. But I did find several good spots. As stated, I’m not sure if the roost trees are visible from the parking lot of Best Buy in the Concord Mills Outlet Mall, but even if they are not, that parking lot would be a great place for an evening Martin Night Out Gathering Spot or Purple Martin Festival, during roosting season, for martin education and to promote ecotourism, since the martins circling in the sky can be seen easlily from that large, open area. The Best Buy store closes by 8:00pm, and the birds don’t start descending into the trees until after that time; and the perimeter of the “On the Border” restaurant where you CAN actually see the birds landing, is within easy walking distance of the Best Buy parking lot.

TIMING TO SEE BIRDS COME IN TO ROOST IN THE EVENING:
When I was there in mid-July, I was seeing and hearing a few martins in the sky by about 7:40pm. By 8:00pm, many black birds were perching on high power lines behind Hampton Inn & Suites, but without a scope, I could not determine if they were martins and that was a staging area—or if they were starlings. Birds of various other species were flying away from the roost, perhaps toward those powerlines. Other species of black birds began landing in the roost trees while the Purple Martins were still circling at a higher altitude. Around 8:30pm, the martins gradually began circling lower and lower. By 8:35pm, despite the very loud traffic noise, I could hear many martin calls. Martins began diving down into the trees in waves! Wave after wave dropped down from the sky; some groups of martins landed on the branches, while others skimmed above the treetops, or landed and then flew up again, as if trying to decide where they were going to spend the night. Maybe they were looking for an area that had enough space for them to land! It was thrilling to watch them descending in groups! By 9:00pm, all of the martins and other species had landed in the trees. As we drove back to our hotel, we rode across the Bruton Smith Blvd. bridge/overpass, which runs right beside the roost, with the car window rolled down, and we could clearly hear the martins chattering loudly as they perched on the branches!

These times are estimates. The times for seeing martins circling overhead and diving down into the roost trees may vary, based on weather conditions, cloud cover, and day length. As the days get shorter and it gets dark earlier, they may come in sooner.

TIMING TO SEE BIRDS LEAVE THE ROOST IN THE MORNING:
If you want to see the martins and other birds dispersing from the roost in the morning, you might want to arrive early—maybe even before 5:30am….I didn’t—and missed it. After returning home, I watched the roost on radar and sometimes saw activity in the roost area before 5:30am. So they may leave early. But later in the season, as it stays dark longer in the mornings, the dispersal may begin later.

PHOTOS AND VIDEOS FROM WHEN I WAS THERE, MID-JULY, 2024:
I asked a friend to set up a Google Drive link (since I didn’t know how to do that), so you could see a few of the pics and videos I took. If you have a Google account, this link might work, if your browser and operating systems are up-to-date and speeds are sufficient. My deepest apologies that the quality of some of the videos transferred poorly to Google Drive. The last video, IMG_3004, probably shows the best representation of the martins diving into the treetops—which quickly became covered with a blanket of birds!:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... I0ESL9mcDm

If you can visit this roost, enjoy!

[jhcox]

Do you know if this roost is still active??????

[Jones4381]

Thanks Kathy,
I drive by there all the time during work travels. Cool post and thanks for the videos.

[Kathy in VA]

jhcox,
I cannot say for sure, right now. The roost was there in full force when I visited it on two consecutive nights in mid-July, but since I live so far away, I have not been able to get back there to see it again. From looking at one of the radar websites I use, there was a roost ring in that area, this morning...but unless I'm there on the ground in-person, I can't be positive. Since I just found this roost, I don't know how long martins will keep roosting there, before all of the martins will have started their migration south...and if something disrupts/disturbs them at that site, the birds may start roosting elsewhere. I know roosts do sometimes re-locate. But if I am able to go back again, I'll post an update.

Jones 4381,
You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed reading about it! Maybe you can visit the roost sometime on your business trips. Thanks!