Walpole Island Purple Martin Project "Roost"

[Insectivore Villa]

Well, been a long time since I posted anything, and this post is for those who don't hit the PMCA Facebook page, but I believe my wife and I have had the best month of August a PM freak could ever have. I will try to keep this short and let the link below do all the talking. To preface the video, Richard and Susan Carr (Walpole Island Purple Martin Project), my wife Elaine, my two sons Jordan (drone pilot) and Jeremy (photographer and videographer) and myself spent the month of August roost hunting in a vast delta marsh area where the St. Clair river dumps into lake St. Clair. It is a giant marsh with huge phragmite islands that was showing an enormous roost ring on radar every morning. The trouble is, you have one hour to find the birds in a 5-10,000 acre area before they go down into the phragmite for the night, and then you boat out of the marsh in some serious darkness. Regardless, after a few scouting days, some evenings flying the drone where no sane person would fly a drone, and driving our boat a few hundred miles, we discovered the roost area(s). From about August 2nd to September 2nd, the amount of PMs we saw was simply incredible. This delta area must draw birds from all over the Great Lakes basin, because there is no way Ontario has this many PMs. When you hit the link, there is what looks like a gear wheel on the lower right side to change the settings, click the gear and try to watch in 780 or better yet 1080P or higher for the best quality. This is just the short version of the project, the full length video is a whopping 1 hr and 15 min epic saga Jeremy created with all the video footage we accumulated, it is just way too big to upload from our place.
Anyways, enjoy...if there is a roost near you, go see it. Words cannot describe an encounter with 200,000 martins in a 45 minute spectacular show. Where else could you see a million PMs doing what they do best?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7grOwZn ... e=youtu.be

[Kuemic]

Beautiful!

[Insectivore Villa]

Thank you Michelle, I am very glad you liked it. It was definitely some of the best summer nights we ever spent together with family and friends.

[Dave Reynolds]

Outstanding.... Super Job... I can’t imagine being there with that many birds.... Well done..

Dave

[Insectivore Villa]

Thanks Dave, if you get a chance to see a roost, do it, it is simply amazing that many birds can do what they do without hitting each other. It puts those balls of starlings to shame.

[RonDel]

Great job you guys. Puts our Point Pelee roost to shame.

[Spiderman]

Great Video.

It's amazing to see that many Purple Martins roosting in reeds. I would have never believed there were that many Martins that made the migration to Canada each year.

I know you spent a lot of time capturing &editing the footage.

[Richard Carr]

It has taken 6 years to do this so I knew what I needed and one day it came to me, it was on a Saturday. I knew Mr. & Mrs Wolting but not Jeremy, but we became very good friends. This Roost is unbelievable. Jeremy did an awesome job! Thanks Jeremy from the Walpole Island Purple Martin Project (Richard & Susan Carr). I hope everyone enjoys the video.

[sssSMOKING]

Very well done!!

[Insectivore Villa]

Thanks Smokin', Ron and of course you too Richard. It was a great summer and I find myself looking at the videos on these fall nights already. Those nights are embedded in my minds eye forever...can't wait for next summer now.

Just think, April is only 7 months away...guess I better get started now on the new improvements on my set ups

[Dave Duit]

The members for the Iowa Organization thanks you for this tremendous video and all the hard work you have done. Thanks.

[Archer]

Oh Wow Henry, how awesome it that! I want to come and see that next summer, would you take me out to see them? That would be so cool. Thanks for sharing that video.

[Insectivore Villa]

Come on down to our part of Canada, just make sure you are here around August 20-25, seems to be the peak time. Bring your fishing rod, smallmouth, largemouth, walleye, pike, channel cats, all within five minutes of the roost. That's how we spent some evenings waiting for them to show up. The video is no comparison to live viewing...it is just amazing.

[Archer]

Awesome. If I fly in, what would be the best airport? Should clarify, commercial flight.

[Dave Duit]

Great post and video. Many people don't think of the great white north as a possible location for a large roost; the the video shows otherwise. Thank you and it is good to see a large roost up north.