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Please join us in celebrating Earth Day at Calpine’s annual Earth Day event on Saturday April 26. Friends of Boggs Mountain will be hosting a booth with a variety of merchandise for sale including 75th anniversary commemorative maps, trail maps, T-shirts and more. We will also be raffling off an REI gift card so be sure to stop by and see us. All proceeds benefit Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest through trail building and maintenance, trail signage, trail maps, and support of recreation in the Forest.
PURPLE MARTINS![]()
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Friends of Boggs Mountain members have recently taken on the installation of a Purple Martin nest box on Mac’s Trail. The Purple Martin (Progne subis), is the largest member of the swallow family in the world. They are uncommon spring and summer visitors to Lake County, and we have been fortunate to have them nesting in Boggs Mountain State Forest. Their typical nesting sites are natural tree cavities or abandoned woodpecker holes. However, throughout the United States the Martins are more and more breeding in human-made Martin houses. So, several members decided to see if they could entice the Martins to do so in BMSF. Darlene Hecomovich donated a nest house with four nesting compartments; Joe Fusek provided the expertise of mounting the heavy box on PVC piping to bring it to the desired height of 12 feet above ground level; and Peg Landini and David Thiessen rendered the yeoman’s work of helping Joe install it. This nest site was selected because the Martins have used tree cavities in this area in previous years. ![]()
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The Violet-green Swallows as well as other passerines such as the Western Bluebird are also cavity nesters and may Tind the Purple Martin nest box desirable. What we don’t want to see is an appropriation of the nest box by either House Sparrows or European Starlings, both highly invasive species that would take over the Martin’s sites, destroy eggs, and kill nestlings. ![]()
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So, Friends of Boggs Mountain extends an invitation to all of you to take a hike up Mac’s Trail and in approximately three-Tifths of a mile up the trail on the left-hand (west) side you will have a view of the nest, and hopefully, some Purple Martins!!!