ML620472366

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

While observing the pair of Martins at gourd #9 a flock of birds flew in, landing on various gourds. It was with stunned delight that I realized they were all Martins! The birds investigated the gourds for several minutes before flying and circling around the area. Vocalizations were loud and clear. Randy and his wife, Dee, were watching at the same time. Due to the lighting we struggled with sexing and aging of the birds. Five of the birds flew off, leaving the #9 pair in their gourd. The Martins would come and go throughout the rest of my stay, sometimes being gone for as long as twenty minutes. The pair from #9 would occasionally leave, but mainly stayed at or in the gourd. A pair of the newcomers took a liking to gourd #10, chased the TRES out and were in and out of that gourd, not leaving as often as the other Martins. Dave and Kim had arrived just as the Martins were doing one of their returns. They observed the birds with me for sometime, agreeing that all were likely subadults. All 7 were present at the gourds when I left at 5:48. PLEASE note - There are no juveniles or first year Martins at the Refuge at this time of year. With continued luck we do hope for fledglings over the summer.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS REBEL T5i

ISO

200

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Dimensions

1830 pixels x 1464 pixels

Original file size

232.61 KB