1

1

August 5, 2012

Purple Martin Festival


Last night I went to the Purple Martin Festival downtown with some friends.  We ate dinner at a great Cuban restaurant and then crossed the street to wait for the birds to return to their roost.


Since 2006, thousands of Purple Martins congregate at the Farmers Market in downtown Richmond, VA.  They gather here for about a month before their migration to Brazil.  During the day, they fly out over the James River and return every evening around 8:00.  They roost in the Bradford Pear trees that you see on the left side of this photo.  The whole process is perfectly choreographed.  First you see a small flock of tiny specks in the sky.  After a while it becomes very large and then they dive down to the trees.  This happens several times before they are all settled for the night.  Watching them in the sky was like seeing a giant kaleidoscope as they changed formation.


I'd like to thank all of you who left comments on my post about Arabelle.  I appreciate the advice and want you to know that I have one possibility right now for a new home for her.  I will keep you posted!


3 comments:

  1. Please keep us posted. Have a great Sunday.
    Best wishes Molly

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for sharing the purple martins return! Glad you may be at the end of your journey with Arabelle. xxoo Nancy

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is one of the most beautiful dog photos I have ever seen. Corgis are so cute! Love your header. I read about your problem with Arabelle. We have had 2 dogs for years. Our older dog had to be put down in March. That was very hard. She had a stroke and could no longer walk. So we adopted a dog from Texas and we love her so much already. She is subservient to our other dog and knows her place in the pack which makes things easier for everyone. Both my daughters adopted dogs this Spring also and our older dog keeps the "peace" by growling and barking at them until they settle down. She wouldn't hurt them, though. God bless. Linda

    ReplyDelete