Programs & Classes

Backyard Birding (extra program for 2024): Purple Martins (2-part program)

Presenters: Ken Wiersema and Dow Lambert 

Monday, July 8, 2024

(Part I) 10 a.m.  Rainshadow Hall at Dungeness River Nature Center

Suggested donation: $5.00

(Part II) 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Tide Flats adjacent to 3 Crabs Road, Sequim. Limited to 12 participants.

Registration and signed liability form required for the field trip to 3 Crabs.

Our current Backyard Birding series ends with this extra program focused on North America’s largest swallow, the Purple Martin. As a result of habitat loss and nesting competition with human-introduced species, this bird is nearing “threatened” status in Washington State. Since 1998 the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society has dedicated work and resources to a project that provides safe and species-specific nesting cavities for Purple Martins to help them nest and reproduce successfully and remain a part of our state’s vibrant array of birds.

Part I of the program will be an indoor orientation (at the River Center), including background information on migration, nesting requirements, and diet as well as 20 years of local data on the Purple Martin’s progress in adapting to our human-made nesting cavities.

Part II of the program will involve a field trip of a quarter-mile walk along the tide flats adjacent to 3 Crabs Road (Google Map). We will show you the nesting colony of the birds, look inside their nest boxes to count eggs or young birds, and observe the behavior of the adult bird feeding and defending their nests. Please dress for the weather and wear waterproof shoes or boots that extend to mid-calf. Also, bring your binoculars and or your scopes, for up-close views!

We encourage participants to attend both the indoor class and the tideflats field trip segments. However, participants may choose to attend either the indoor or outdoor segment. Admission to the class is free. However, we suggest you consider a donation of $5.00 per person to support our ongoing education and bird conservation programs.

Liability Form: We ask field trip participants to sign a liability release form on or before the day of the trip. This signed form will be good for future field trips. You can review, download, and print the form in advance by visiting the Field Trips page on the OPAS website or clicking here. You can also eSign the liability release form by clicking here.

To register for the field trip portion of the program go to the OPAS website by clicking here.

Purple Martins by Dow Lambert