ML642616461

Observation details

I arrived at the end of River Lane (near Palmyra) by UT Lake at 14:45. As soon as I turned on my Merlin sound app (14:50), it recorded a rare Purple Martin's call, which I didn't have, so the hunt was on... Soon, I became aware (up through the surrounding trees) that there were no less than 25-30 Purple Martins (large swallows) soaring overhead & constantly calling loudly. This continued for about 10-15 minutes. I quickly viewed all the pics in Merlin, & verified the flying profile to indeed be Purple Martins. At 15:08 I finally saw & heard 1 female (or immature male) Purple Martin repeatedly calling in tree close by, but over the river. She was dark above, and whitish underneath, had a shorter pointed bill, & a medium length forked tail. The flock overhead hung around flying, but not calling as much. A few minutes later I heard more calls from another landed purple Martin, and then the whole flock was calling again, just not as loud. There were also a few Goldfinches, Barn Swallows, and a few other song birds recorded by Merlin as well. Around 15:30 I also saw & heard a hand full of the larger Caspian Tern's up flying near the Purple Martins, and appeared to be attempting to try and chase them off... I finally left at 15:45, so that was quite a display of a never-before-seen (by me) flock of Purple Martins, who were just passing through on their migration to South America for the winter, and had stopped here to refuel. I came birding at a strange time because I was already out this way. Sometimes I guess it truly is better to be lucky than good!! BTW, A separate Purple Martin sighting was also reported in eBird Alerts in this location on Sept. 9th. I was only equipped at the time with my iPhone, and no proper camera. I was also so enthralled with the event that I failed to try and take any pictures of them flying. I was too intent on recording their calls.