Today the babies have definitely fledged. The took up a temporary residence on top of the same tall pine that the Swallow-Tailed kite gets his snacks from. (I have seen the Kite predate a nest a couple of times in that tree)  All the visiting martins were going to the tree to lend moral support.

Several weeks ago I posted a request for prayers for rain. Well. it worked. Now I just want an afternoon break to see the roost. The article from the Sun-Sentinal came out today and they mentioned my blog. Pretty cool. I posted the link for the article over on the right. Hope any new visitors like what you read. While you all enjoy reading my blog I hope you check out some of my links. The link for the photo-gallery has lots of pictures of my martins. SO, for any not familiar with what a Purple Martin looks like, check out www.mypurplemartinblog.com/gallery2  I will shortly be adding the last photos I took of the nestlings. On the last nest check I got a few pics of the babies in my hands. Such a humbling experience.

I have commissioned some Purple Martin graphics from an awesome graphic artist out of Georgia. I have seen some of the preliminary work and it is fantastic and will make a great addition to the choices at our catalog, www.purplemartins-r-us.com. I expect some of those items to come on line within the week. (Hope you check back for those)

I am starting to think that for the titles on my blog, I should go for something more descriptive and eloquent than just the date…something like “6/17/08 The lonely mother” Sounds so much more dramatic! NO, Not me. I’m not lonely. Are you kidding. My kids are so far up my kiester…  It’s the last female martin momma that is still feeding her babies. It seems like she is alone  most of the time. Her male was here yesterday. I did not see him today at all. She has become very protective, even dive-bombing me on the pool deck. Either that or she really, really likes me! She is definitely ready for these babies to fledge. She spends alot of time away from the nest. Gone for hours at a time. But then she shows up with the babies chirping wildly. They know its her from a mile away.

It is so quiet. Only a short time of low activity this AM. Maybe 15 birds or so. I told my husband that I will be going to the roost on Friday. Got to see it.

WOW, Purple Martins are clearing out of the area in a mass exodus. From one day to the next the number of visiting martins is dropping like crazy. 2 days ago there were anywhere from 30 to well over 50 martins at any one time. These were passing martins and they did not stay for any long period of time but there were tons of martins pretty much all morning from sunrise till about 1 PM.

 Today there were, at max, 15 martins at any given time. There would be periods of no activity (except for the feeding parents) for an hour at a time.

I can’t wait till this weekend to drive to Davie for the roost!