Sharing the Passion

Old Paul and his wife Sharon live here in Missouri and they are hopelessly in love with purple martins.  They are part of my group of proteges that I mentor here in Missouri.  Of course, according to Paul's latest update, he doesn't need mentoring anymore.  He is now doing some mentoring of his own.

I was delighted to receive Paul's pictures a couple of days ago, but I was even more delighted to see that he is sharing his love and passion for these birds with these beautiful girls.

Paul wrote:
"Took our neighbor girls, Allie and Libby,  to the cabin to see the baby Purple Martins. They were elated to get to hold a baby. It was a nice experience for them.

I am very pleased with our population this year. We have 16 nesting pairs, an increase from last year's six nesting pairs. We will do one more nest check this weekend to get a final count of babies. Please note the open glide area and pond. They love to drop down to get their drinks. Come fledging time it's going to get pretty busy and noisy at our colony. The photo only shows one gourd rack, just to the west is another pole with two metal houses with 2-room condos and four gourds below those houses.

If you get these photo OK, you are welcome to use them in your "Birds & Bees".

I have enjoyed our PMs more this year than ever before.

Old Paul and Sharon"

Check out the smiles!

Future purple martin landlords!

Teach them the importance and benefit of a winch system!  :)

Beautiful site, beautiful girls and a wise Old Paul.

It's hard to tell who is happier in this picture!

Thanks Paul & Sharon for the wonderful pictures and sharing your colony with 2 lovely girls!