With the continued splendor provided by the Purple Martins visiting in midtown Omaha, the evening of July 2nd, was spent enjoying their wondrous antics. About four hundred gathered to perch on the power lines on 41st Street between Farnam and Dodge Streets, which is where the following images were taken, and digitally altered to present an artistic interpretation to enhance and add a personal flair to the pictures which were, by the way, just fine in their original state.
Clouds so Fine it was a Dramatic Sight
Wired Martins With Starlings.
Wired Martins Cloudscape.
Wired Martins Splash.
Later, at the roost site off to the west, there were more martins that gathered with the hundreds of Common Grackles and European Starlings. It was a restless gathering as a group of pedestrians going past decided to yell at the birds in an obvious attempt to bother them. And, when they went past under a couple of roost trees, the human miscreants clapped there hands enough to set the birds to flight.
Add in the fireworks, and the disturbance was quite pervasive. There were at least two times when the loud explosions to the north were sufficient enough to cause the birds to set flight into the cerulean and white dusky sky. Although any disturbance would have been preferable, it did provide an opportunity to get a better count of the martins — with about 750 determined to be present — and to watch their flight behavior. There is a lot more interaction between the birds at this time, than noted when they were visiting last autumn. It is quite fine to watch a couple of the birds swoop around and seemingly play with each other while flitting around town.
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