2012 | Purple Martin Colony
In February of 2012, Purple Martin Propagators installed a tower with 24 nesting gourds in the open area near the sand volleyball court. The following month, Austin Parks Foundation suggested the tower should be relocated away from the multi-purpose field. The new location was determined to be better for park users and allowed for some low plantings around the base of the tower (which were installed in 2013).
Soon after in March, the Purple Martin tower was relocated to the location it occupies now, which is near the eastern edge of the park along Arroyo Seco. Danny Sinclair of Purple Martin Propagators conducted the moving and reinstallation of the tower, and the gourds were cleaned to prepare for the Purple Martins’ return.
On April 1st, 2012, family, friends, and neighbors attended a dedication ceremony in the park in memory of neighbor Renald Ferrovecchio. Renald lived on Payne Avenue when he was tragically killed a few months prior in a natural gas explosion at his home on January 9. There is also bench dedicated to Renald that sits beneath a nearby oak tree and looks upon the Purple Martin house.
The Purple Martin house has been tended to and cared for by neighbors ever since, with weekly maintenance required when the Purple Martin migration brings them to Central Texas. They typically arrive in late January to mid-February and are here until the end of September when they venture on to their southerly migration to South America. Once a Purple Martin colony is established, the same birds typically come back year after year.
Since 2015, Denise Dailey has cared for the gourds and visits the colony each week to keep the gourds clean and from being taken over by other birds like Starlings or Sparrows. These invasive birds are aggressive and will break Purple Martin eggs, take over their tidy leaf and twig nests, and will even corner and kill adult Purple Martins. Weekly maintenance is critical. Every season, Denise and her volunteers count the number of nests built, the number of eggs laid, the number of hatched babies, and the resulting number of fledglings, including the dates of each visit and inventory. Denise has become our local Purple Martin ornithologist!
Get out to the park in the morning and enjoy their enchanting chirps, chatter, clicks, and cheerful birdsong.
