Every year the Staten Island Museum along with help of local volunteers maintains the the purple martin houses at Lemon Creek Park. Purple martins are not the most common in these parts and in an effort to bring them back these houses and look alike gourds are erected to help aid in their come back. Their major threat is by an invasive species called the starling. It was seen as an attractive bird in the past and was brought here by humans. Unfortunately they compete for the same housing and at a slightly earlier date causing problems for the purple martins. I personally call starlings ‘European pigeons’, because they are as numerous and very self-evident once you start noticing what they look like.
This is the wire mesh that is put outside the nest holes in order to keep other birds/animals out. House sparrows are another species (although native) that cause issue with these nesting sites.
Removing it is just one of the steps involved. You can find the wire mesh both inside and outside the boxes. The idea is to keep everything out and with knowledge, proper timing, and a bit of luck they are removed too coordinate with their timed return.
Some of the houses are actually multiple levels. Each level must be opened and cleaned out. Unfortunately access to each compartment isn’t so easy as you wouldn’t want just anything living in them. The hole size you see on the outside is just the same size inside connecting the compartments.
The alternate type of housing is this look-alike gourd. You might wonder why they would choose a shape of this kind to hang up. Well believe it or not the Native-Americans used to hang gourds outside of their housing developments. As the gourd began to dry the pine martins began to associate them as housing units. The tradition continues and with hope they will decided to make one of Lemon Creek’s purple martin houses home.
An awesome volunteer named Thomas came out to help us clean out the housing. He is part of my friend Seth’s (seen on right) Earth Camp that Seth helps operate and run. Thomas started out as an Earth Camper and is now taking a more active role as he gets older to help with the program. A true shining example.
There are many different types of houses. Some very large and others modest. There is a push to maybe lower the amount of colony structures setup and to concentrate on a select few to provide optimal opportunities and not just abundant ones.
To give you an idea of the nesting (purple martin or not) materials that are pulled out I took this photograph. That bundle Seth has his hands on is a long woven chain of material. I would estimate he must have taken out 3-5ft of material plus odds and ends of loose material. If this material and debris is left in it can cause bacteria or fungus to grow poisoning the next inhabitants and it also makes it very difficult for the purple martins to nest. Provided the previous materials were not its own.
They key word here is community effort. Many organizations that do this, if not all are non-profit. It is hard to get people out and off their butts to put in a few hours of their time to help. Many organizations do not ask for your money although it would go the extra mile. These organizations and efforts often go unnoticed from the headlines of some dumb celebrities new mess up or some other waste of time. These are the efforts that make a difference for us all and help to better our communities. I highly encourage you to look up your local museum, organization and see what they are doing. Maybe it is a gardening project, park/beach cleanup, or a local farmers market that needs a helping hand. The more we put in the more we will get out.
Looking out from Lemon Creek Park toward the southern end of Staten Island.
P.s. My friend and fantastic photographer Pat Ulrich has been chosen in the running for the Defenders of Wildlife Photo Contest. A true honor within itself. Now get over there and vote for him here! Voting ends at 5pm today to HURRY! 
(search the subtitles of the images for his name)
.) When I’m shooting I work from Aperture priority. Depth of field if my creative tool 98% of the time and the shutter speed follows along. Working from matrix metering and exposing up or down depending on the scene takes care of the rest. it may sound like I’m leaving something out. but I guarantee you I’m not.
