This fall, the club made a donation to support the work Mary McKitrick, Theresa Gessing took on, along with the help of former HBC Board Member, Jim Lafley (and others) to clean out the gourds at Fort River.
You may recall that in 2022 Purple Martins visited these gourds, however they were far less present in 2023. Many of the gourds were filled with nesting material from other birds, which was likely a contributing factor to the lack of Purple Martin visits.
The work that Mary and Theresa initiated to clean should make these gourds far more inviting to the Purple Martins in 2024. The hope is that we might see a breeding pair at the gourds in the coming year!
Thank you to everyone involved for the work you did!
