Photo Credit: Xylia Serafy
Program and Workshop Presenter: John Shemilt, South Fork Natural History Museum (SOFO) Purple Martin Steward
Join us for an exceptional opportunity to see just-hatched purple martin nestlings. In this program, John Shemilt—who is the SOFO Purple Martin Steward and has been fascinated by purple martins since the age of 3—will first introduce you to the life history of these fascinating songbirds, the largest member of the swallow family in North America. After learning about the bird’s life history, you’ll go out into the field behind SOFO to see the colony of man-made gourds that house SOFO’s newest population of purple martins. You’ll help John lower the rack of gourds, and then you’ll have a chance to look into the nesting cavity and see the newly laid eggs and the just-hatched nestlings … and even get a chance to hold a nestling. After this rare experience, you can help John and the members of SOFO’s Young Birders Club collect data on this newest brood of purple martins.
Advanced reservations are required for all events. For more information, reservations, and directions to meeting places, please call: (631) 537-9735.