In 2016, Pat Moynahan suggested to the York County Audubon board that we should investigate putting Purple Martin housing up near the Mousam River. Joe McGovern and his family had maintained an active Purple Martin house on Great Hill Rd since the1990’s. The only colony in York County could disappear if the McGovern family stopped maintaining that house. So, the board decided that it would be a worthwhile project to try to expand the existing colony in the marsh near the Mousam River. It’s generally fairly difficult to establish a new Purple Martin nesting site. Positioning one within sight of an existing one generally has the best chance of success.
We talked to Dennis Skillman, Sue McGrath and others from NH Audubon who had successfully put-up Purple Martin gourds in the marsh in Seabrook, New Hampshire. They invited us down to their site to see their setup and share their expertise and they came up to Kennebunk to check out our proposed location. We worked with Gordon Collins from Kennebunk Land Trust to get permission to install the housing in the marsh on KLT land. The site is on the marsh near the Madelyn Marx trail. NH Audubon also recommended that we get in touch with the Purple Martin Conservation Association for information on Purple Martin housing set-ups.
In the fall of 2016, we installed the Purple Martin housing base pole in the marsh. We wanted to see how it would survive the winter since the marsh floods during very high tides. Then, in April of 2017, a group of YCA and KLT members installed the rest of the martin housing out in the marsh. Deirdre Fleming of the Portland Press Herald and Greg Rec, a photographer who lives in Kennebunk, attended, and this is the story from the Press Herald – https://www.pressherald.com/2017/04/23/birders-try-to-stem-the-decline-of-purple-martins
The first year we checked the gourds every few days. When Tree Sparrows attempted the nest in the gourds, it was recommended that we block the gourds and put up 2 bluebird houses nearby. This worked to dissuade the swallows, but we had no martins in the gourds the first year.
That first year, Martins returned to the existing house on Great Hill Rd on schedule in mid-April. Great Hill Road’s colony was successful as usual with about 15-20 birds.
Adult Purple Martins are the first to arrive in the spring. They take the preferred nesting sites and mates. Second year birds arrive a couple weeks later. We were expecting it would be second year birds who would nest in the gourds for the first year. Then, in subsequent years the adults that used the gourds before would prefer them to the Great Hill Rd house.
Each year we would put up the gourds in April adding a layer of pine needles. Blocking the cavities until the Tree Swallows started to use the Bluebird houses seemed to solve the Tree Sparrow issue. We could then open the gourds up in time for the sub-adult’s arrival. I would play the Purple Martin dawn song early in the morning a couple times a week to draw the martins’ attention to the gourds. But I was never able to figure out how to have the dawn song play daily automatically out in the marsh in that environment without electricity.
The martins migrate south in mid-August. We would wait until the fall to take down the gourds and store them for the winter. Each year we were disappointed but kept trying.
Over the past 7 years, we have occasionally seen martins on the gourds checking them out. Once, I saw a martin bring nesting material into a gourd, but we never had Purple Marins actually nest in them. The Great Hill Road site was still active but seemed to have fewer martins each year.
On May 25th, 2024, Magil Weber reported that there were martins at the gourds. I had been out there a few days earlier and had seen no activity. The next morning, I went to check and there were 10 martins actively using the gourds. It was a great sight to see!
As of July, it appears that all six gourds have nesting Purple Martins. The Great Hill Rd housing also has at least six nests. Because the pulley system on the pole needs maintenance, we weren’t able to lower the gourd system to count eggs and chicks. So, these numbers are guesses but there were about 20 Martins in and around the gourds last Saturday. Also, Purple Martin sightings in the area are up this year.
Next year, we plan to fix the pulley system so we can lower the gourds to monitor the martin activity throughout the season. The Tree Swallow houses need to be replaced. We can also add 6 more gourds to the current pole. We can report our monitoring results to the PMCA project adding to the citizen science.