Coast residents Arnold Skei and Penny Hall will enlighten the community about the purple martin recovery program at the next meeting of the Sunshine Coast Natural History Society (SCNHS).
The meeting takes place at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt on Friday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m.
Skei, who has birded on the Coast for some 30 years, will speak about the program, one he initiated in 2000, by setting up nest boxes at Porpoise Bay, Port Stalashen Lagoon and later, at Ruby Lake.
He will describe how the Sunshine Coast purple martin population has increased in this area and spread in B.C., by using banding return evidence. The original birdhouses were constructed from wood, but the current improved ones are made from PVC plastic sewer pipes, which last longer and are easier to make.
Hall, who was born in Davis Bay, has become a very active birder and excellent bird photographer. She is the assistant steward of the purple martin recovery program and very active in the SCNHS as editor of the monthly newsletter, Marsh Wrenderings, and co-organizer of the bird walk program. Hall will accompany Skei by showing photographs connected with the recovery program.
All are invited to attend the meeting.
- Submitted
