Photos of Purple Martin Roost, Ravenswood, WV

[zboggess]

I am posting photos I snapped this evening of Purple Martins coming in to roost in Ravenswood, WV. Ravenswood is a small town along the Ohio River about 14 miles from Ripley where I live.

I am documenting the roost for Ron Dixon of Evans who observed the roost last night and reported it to PMCA today.

While snapping the pictures, some residents of Ravenswood asked what they were. They were sure covering the neighborhoods which are located in a park like setting.

Have more photos!

[The Olsons]

Amazing Thank you so much for posting these pictures.
Astrid

[John Miller]

Thanks for posting this. I tend to think of W VA as being so hilly it might have fewer martins -- but looks like you and other folks fledged a bunch!

John Miller

[Guest]

Martin Friends, the first person to introduce me to the Purple Martin was my friend Roger Hamilton aka Coby Dillion. Live about 5 miles from my old place. His wife died some 12 years ago & he married a woman from Ravenswood where he makes his 2nd home. After losing his colony he moved all his trio houses up there to Ravenswood. He told me last year on the phone all his houses were full & were thousands of martins there. Wanted me come for a visit. Have not made it there yet.

Ron, From WV

[The Olsons]

Ron,

If in any way possible, you should go it will be a special and invaluable experience for you

Astrid

[bk]

my trips to Martin roosts sure were memorable. Hope likewise for you.

[The Olsons]

bk,

I have never been to an official roost, just a sort of "pre-roost" here in town. However, there were about at least 5000 martins or more, and it just takes your breath away.....I also got very emotional seeing all these guys and hoping that as many as possible are going to be ok on that long round trip.....

Astrid

[Guest]

Thank you so much for posting that!!!!

I saw that roost ring on radar last week, and was hoping somebody down that way could go verify it.
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8630

It looks like the belpre ohio roost has moved south a bit this year.

Where is it exactly?

[zboggess]

The roost located North of the center of Ravenswood off Rt 68 N into the neighborhood trees.

If you drive there get off I-77 at the Ravenswood exit and go into town.

Turn right at the stoplight up Rt. 68 N past the Post Office on left, then turn right into a small street at a little car wash. I don't have the street names. A friend who owns Casto Funeral Home on the same side as the Post Office, called and described the view from his parking lot as unbelieveable.

He said the sky turned dark with Purple Martins....thousands and thousands.

You can park at the Praise Cathedral Church parking lot and watch them come in of the evening.

Be there by 7:30 PM.

If you have a wide angle camera and other zoom equipment, be sure to take it. All I had was a Cannon Power Shot digital[/b]

[Guest]

I think Ill take the family down tonight if the weather is good. So I can park in the church parking lot and see it? I should be able to find that.


Again thanks for sharing those pictures, I thought there was a roost down there this year, but I wasnt going to drive down there on a hunch.

I linked to this thread to the wv bird listserve, so I wouldnt be suprised if Ravenswood dosent become a pretty popular place for bird watchers in the coming weeks.

[zboggess]

Yes, thanks!

There are plenty of parking spaces at that church and another nearby church.

There are also other parking areas not used that time of the evening.

[Guest]

That was simply amazing. I saw what seemed to be 10000+ martins. Quite amazing when you think about the fact that they all came from houses/gourds just like mine. They started coming in around 7:30, then around 8pm it was nonstop birds until dark.

I did see starlings and grackles in the mix, but it looked like 85 to 90% martins. Do they normally roost together like that?

I took the whole family down and it was definately worth the trip.

[Guest]

You lucky dog WV Martineer. Living fairly close to Ravenswood to see all those Martins. Did you invite any to come & see your site while you was there? Those 20 some birds you seen a few days ago about your colony probably was some of these birds that finally gather for the reunion at Ravenswood. Look out for next year, you might just get swarmed with them. This roost there is just putting WV on the map a little bit more! Well lets see now. These birds must be coming down from eastern Ohio & most of western Pa. & some parts of Canada. Must be a lot of landlords from these areas, most we do not know about. Bet some are Jamie Hill's birds. What do you think?

Ron, From the lower end of WV

[Guest]

Hey Ron, I know it probably dosent matter, and birds came in from all directions, but the main bulk of these birds came in from the southwest, directly across the river from Ohio.

I watched the radar very closely last year for roosts, and never saw one in Ravenswood. I did see one in belpre ohio, and one in cambridge ohio, but I have not seen either one of these roosts develop yet this year. I suppose its possible that this roost is from birds of those two.

[Guest]

Mountaineer,

Do you have any information on the roost in Cambridge, Ohio?

Thanks,
Garry

[Guest]

http://purplemartin.org/roost/roostdetail.php?roost=251

I think this is the one I saw last year on radar. I saw what looked like the start of a roost this morning, with one wave coming off at daylight. Ill check it again tomorrow morning.

Here is the radar from yesterday. Notice the wave north of Zanesville. Looking at an Ohio map, it appears to be either on the Muskingum River, or maybe Wills Creek Lake or where Wills Creek dumps into the Muskingum.

http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar/d ... duration=4

You should probably start another thread for this topic.

[Guest]

I emailed WSAZ news in Huntington and they want to do a story on the roost. Pretty cool eh? Who can I let them talk to from the PMCA? And what is the best way to get them in contact with the PMCA?

[Louise Chambers]

WV, that is great! They can call PMCA's main office in Erie and speak with exec. director John Tautin. If he's not in, research assistant Emily Pifer can talk with them, or I can give them a call. Roosts can offer a good opportunity to do some public education and PR on behalf of the martins - thanks to you and others involved with locating this roost for following up with it.

Louise

[Guest]

I went back to the roost again tonight, and word travels fast as ther was 10 people there to view the martins tonight. One lady said it was better than fireworks. I felt myself get dizzy staring up into the birds. It was like a natural high.

Ok experts time to educate me.....
I went to talk to the neighbors and asked him about the birds. He said that he hates the birds. I told him I was sorry that they picked his yard, but I also told him how significant the roost is, and that they were purple martins. He asked me if I knew a way to make them go away and I said "I am so sorry for the inconvience". I felt bad for him.

He said that the birds do not quiet down at night, and that they stay until late september. There are also starlings and grackles roosting in the same area, could the martins leave and the other birds stay? How long do the martins stay? I think the starlings are making most of the noise, are martins quiet on the roost at night? Do they normally roost together like this with starlings and grackles?

[Guest]

Pictures sent to me by Bob S.