Click on photos for a larger images
Upon reading about a Purple Martin roost in
Ravenswood, WV in the August 10th edition of the Charleston Daily Mail, we went
up there Friday night to check it out.
We went to the parking lot of the Praise Cathedral on Elwood Rd about 7:00 -
7:30 pm - - no birds at all, so we left for a while. We came back about 8:00 pm
to find three other cars waiting in the parking lot and quite a few starlings.
Those other folks in the parking lot said "Just wait"!!
Here are some photos, but they are not very
good, and do not do justice to the experience.
| About 8:15 pm the
Martins started to mix with the Starlings, then a while later more
Martins started coming in. The Starlings began to leave. |
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| The Martins just kept coming and circling in waves. |
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| I can not begin to say how many there were, but they numbered in the thousands. |
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| By 9:00 pm they
had all settled into some trees nearby. Close to the trees it
sounded like the roar of a waterfall. The whole thing was an incredible experience. |
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| To get there: Take the I 77 exit 146, WV-2 / US-33, West toward Ravenswood Turn right onto US-33 / WV-68 North toward Ravenswood Take WV-68 North through town, just past the shopping mall, and turn right onto Elwood Road Go about 4 blocks to Praise Cathedral on the right
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See
Purplemartin.org on the web for information on WV Purple Martin Roosts.