Purple Martin Monitoring
AAS monitors 40 nest gourds, 24 at Lake Elberta Park and 16 at Lake Henrietta Park. Check this page every Thursday for updates about the status of the eggs and Purple Martin young.
Purple Martin volunteer monitors, Talia Smith-Sickler and Kathleen Carr
We love that the first six eggs of the season hatched on Earth Day, April 22, and we’re pleased to announce that they all grew up as nestlings and fledged by May 20. See photos below.
As of June 3, for both parks, 46 young are still in nests and 90 have fledged—left the nest gourd.
June 3, 2026
Lake Elberta Park: 12 Active Nests (of 24)
Young Hatched: 88
Young Fledged: 56
Lake Henrietta Park: 7 active nests (of 16)
Young Hatched: 62
Young fledged: 34
June 3 Photos
One of two surprises the nest monitors encountered at Lake Elberta Park. Thought to have been abandoned after eggs laid in April never hatched, Gourd 4 suddenly had four 1-day-old hatchlings! A female took over the nest sometime in May and laid a new clutch of eggs.
The second surprise at Lake Elberta Park was finding a clutch of four 5-day-old young in a nest that had been abandoned after a clutch of eggs was laid in April, but never hatched..
Lake Henrietta Park. Five young in Gourd 9, 26 days old and ready to fledge!
May 27 Photos
Lake Henrietta Park: SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE! There were originally six eggs in what we had identified as an abandoned nest in gourd H-03. This week’s check revealed a total of NINE eggs! Even though it’s getting late in the breeding season, apparently a female decided to lay some eggs here over the past week. Only time will tell if her effort will result in nestlings. We don’t expect the original 6 eggs to hatch.
Lake Elberta Park: Happy Hatch Day! This newly hatched chick is the first of five eggs to hatch from Gourd 19. This was on the array arm that fell off and had to be reinstalled. Although eggs were lost from that unfortunate event, it’s gratifying to see the birds re-nest and start a new brood.
Lake Henrietta Park, five 10-day-old young (count the yellow beaks) in gourd H-04
Lake Henrietta Park: These two young in gourd H-06 are ready to fledge! Two of their nest-mates have fledged already.
Earth Day Hatchlings
Lake Elberta Park, Gourd 2, May 13, 2026: The three remaining young in this photo are ready to fledge.
Lake Elberta Park, Gourd 2, May 6, 2026. The six young are 15 days old, and the first to hatch in 2026,
Lake Elberta Park, Gourd 2, April 22, 2026. The first hatchlings of of the 2026 nesting season—Earth Day!
More photos of young Purple Martins and Eggs
