Another very rare species for the area has shown up and looks to be attempting to nest here. This time it is a pair of Purple Martins that were originally found by a friend of a friend when she was visiting Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River on Friday. I got a message about the birds on Saturday morning after I had already gotten to work so I would have no chance to try to see them until this morning when I got out of work. Many birders were able to relocate them on Saturday and the birds were observed bringing leaves into one of the artificial martin houses that were installed this year. I really did not think there was any chance martins would show up to use them and the installation would only provide additional nesting locations for the House Sparrows of the area. I was very happy to be wrong about that assumption. A little about the history of Purple Martins in the area. In the late 1800's through the early 1900's there were multiple colonies in western Massachusetts but after a few cold snaps and especially after severe competition from the introduced House Sparrow the species disappeared from the area as a breeder and became an increasingly unusual visitor. They were also in competition for nesting locations with another introduced species (European Starling) as well as Tree Swallows. In the more recent past the species has been less than annual and is usually seen during rainy, cool weather that concentrates groups of swallow species. I have personally seen the species in Hampshire County just three times before today with singles along the Connecticut River in Hadley in August 2015, at Winsor Dam in April 2016 and at Lake Wallace in September of 2016 (this last one was the only previous one I got photos of). The two today were fairly cooperative but spent a lot of time high in the trees along Moody Bridge Road before they would disappear for a bit (presumably to feed over one of the many nearby fields). After almost an hour of waiting the martins came in to the nesting gourds and allowed for more close study through the scope. It will be interesting if they stick around and try to nest. It will be tough with some fairly aggressive neighbors including Tree Swallows, European Starlings and House Sparrows
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