Some additional details regarding the martin roost on the Pamunkey
River. The area of activity, where martins were seen at various points
during our observations, is centered around three large, adjacent
marshes: Cousiak, Sweet Hall and Hill Marshes, running west to east in
that order. The roost appears to be centered on Hill Marsh in New Kent
County, roughly 30 miles east of the Richmond roost. Prior to flying
off over Sweet Hall and Hill marshes, the martins were gathering along
the transmission towers and lines that cross the river at the
northeastern tip of Cousiak Marsh and run the eastern length of that
marsh. Although we did not attempt to estimate the number of birds, it
should be possible to do so given that they line up nicely along the
transmission lines. There is no doubt that over 10,000 birds were
present, as they could be seen along the lines connecting 4-5 towers, as
well as along the higher trestles of at least 3 of these towers. The
roost location appears to have shifted by roughly a mile from last year,
when Jimmy Fitzgerald documented the roost in the southeast portion of
Sweet Hall Marsh. It is unknown whether the roost location is shifting
within years.
Sergio
Sergio Harding
Nongame Bird Conservation Biologist
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
4010 West Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23230
(804)367-0143
fax (804)367-2427
________________________________
From: va-bird-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:va-bird-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of JANICE FRYE
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 2:20 PM
To: fitzgerald3herb@xxxxxxx; va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx;
va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Va-bird] Purple Marin Roost on the Pamunkey River
Just a guess about their timing. In Richmond, repeatedly we have seen
them wait to move large numbers of birds into the trees until their 3
main/known predators have been accounted for and are occupied for at
least a few minutes. Owls, raccoons, and opossums they cannot do much
about after dark, but if there are numerous hawks and falcons routinely
showing up out there, maybe they wait till the last possible second to
give themselves an advantage over that group. We never get full dark in
the Bottom, but they also only have the 3 raptors to deal with. Could
even one bird be caught long enough to put a device on it that would
pinpoint the location?
Jan
Richmond
________________________________
From: va-bird-bounces+jjfdc=clearwire.net@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:va-bird-bounces+jjfdc=clearwire.net@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
fitzgerald3herb@xxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 12:35 PM
To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Va-bird] Purple Marin Roost on the Pamunkey River
Yesterday afternoon around five thirty PM I met with a couple of
Biologist at the ramp in West Point on the Mattaponi River to go up the
Pamunkey River to the area around Sweet Hall Marsh to study a Purple
Martin premigratory roost site that exists somewhere in that area. This
is the second trip that I have made to that area trying to pin down the
exact location of this roost. The roost location is very inaccessible to
the public and it is about a thirty to forty minute ride to the general
area from West Point.
The area where this roost exists is in what appears to be in one of
two very large marshes that combined are about 1200 hundred acres in
size and because of the Hugh loops the river makes in that area it makes
it hard to pin the birds roost site down. We went up the river past the
suspected area of the roost to a transmission line that crosses the
Pamunkey River just to the west of Sweet Hall Marsh. There was thousands
of birds at this location and is called a staging area from which they
gather prior to going to the roost site. Even the expert Biologists
could not estimate what I believe was well over ten thousand birds and
that did not include the hundreds perhaps thousands of birds that were
seen flying all over the two Marshes.
These birds set up to go to roost ten to fifteen minutes later at
this site than they do at the Farmers Market site in Richmond for what
reason I do not know and when they finally decide to leave the power
line it is so close to dark you do not any time to follow them before
total darkness sets in. Last night we did get a glimpse of the typical
vortex they form when going to roost over Hill Marsh but lost it in the
darkness before we could get close enough to pin down a definite GPS
location.
It is my belief that this roost is considerably larger than the
Farmers Market Roost but because of the difficulty in getting near the
site when the birds arrive that is only my opinion. This excursion up
the Pamunkey is one pretty and exciting adventure and anybody that does
not mind traveling in a boat at night will enjoy making this trip. You
will not only see Purple Martins but also many other species that use
and roost in this area. The best place to view the birds before eight
o'clock is at the Transmission line after that take the cut through in
Sweet Hall Marsh and set up almost straight out from the cut through
between Sweet Hall Marsh and Hill Marsh. Anybody that can pin this roost
down better than we have today please let me know so I can update the
site on the PMCA web site and report it to Sergio Harding with DGIF by
email at sergio.harding@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Jimmy Fitzgerald
________________________________
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