Believe it or not, Purple Martins, those large dark swallows with a purple sheen to their plumage, have already been spotted in our fair state. One martin scout was reported as being seen on February 9 in Godwin, NC.

I wish the best of luck to all of those birds represented on the map as purple dots (above link), we still have plenty of winter remaining. The temperature drops as I sit here typing. It will be in the twenties tonight and we’ll be lucky to reach 40 tomorrow, not weather conducive to flying insect (martin food) activity.