The Times-Dispatch dispatched a non-bird watcher to see what the Purple Martin hysteria is all about down in Shockoe Bottom in advance of the festival this Saturday and she found it pretty amazing!
In case you don’t know, 25,000 or more of them are setting up camp in the Bradford pear trees along 17th Street until later this month. That’s when some magical sign from nature will remind them that it’s time to pack up and head to South America for the winter.
We don’t know when it’ll happen or what that sign will be. Only the birds know.
We also don’t know why these birds are here. A busy urban setting is not their ideal living arrangement. In fact, Richmond is one of only two places in the country where large flocks of purple martins can be seen from dry land. (The other is a shopping mall in Austin, Texas.)
It’s a great article with some excellent tips for getting a good vantage point, where to go for a Purple Martini, and facts about the little guests of honor themselves.
