Nancy’s Almanac, April 7, 2015: Purple martins are back!

[Omaha Steve]

X post in Birder



JAMES R. BURNETT

A young purple martin.

http://www.omaha.com/weather/nancys_almanac/nancy-s-almanac-april-purple-martins-are-back/article_1f44bb8d-42ca-58f1-b11e-2e9c0c96c32e.html

POSTED: TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2015 1:00 AM | UPDATED: 10:41 AM, TUE APR 7, 2015.
By Nancy Gaarder / World-Herald staff writer

Purple martins, those beloved backyard acrobats, are returning.

The first sightings in Nebraska and Iowa occurred March 22, and since then sightings have increased. On Sunday and Monday, four Omaha metro area reports were filed with the Purple Martin Conservation Association.

Not too many years ago, reporters at The World-Herald would have received a phone call by now from Dennis Devine, the self-proclaimed Purple Martin Man. Devine, who died in 2011, was passionate about the bird and wanted to remind martin enthusiasts to get their martin houses cleaned and ready for the birds to begin families.

Martins are popular for a variety of reasons — they’re fun to watch in flight, and they can be lured to a yard year after year by providing carefully tended birdhouses.

FULL story at link.

[longship]

1. Gotta love those avian dinosaurs!! Then there's chickadees!

I have them here all year. Hold your hand out with some cracked corn in it. Hold still like a statue and the chickadee will quickly land and eat out of your hand. I love to do this with the guard chickadee, the lookout standing off on a bush who alerts the rest to approaching danger while they are all eating at the feeder. And when he leaves, another takes his place. (At least that's how I interpret the behavior.) He quickly swoops down, perches on your fingertips, picks up some munchies and is gone. But he will come back over and over if you are patient.

They are very cool animals.

Happy Spring, OS!



DEE-DEE-DEE!