If your old enough to remember the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds, than you can imagine the scene at the Mauricetown bridge in Dorchester, just west of Route 47. The birds in this real time movie are Purple Martins, by the 1,000’s. More than 60,000 by expert witnesses’ accounts.
My family was gracious enough to grant me a night out on the town Friday night. So I rushed home and we saddled up and road into South Jersey for the Purple Martin migration party. What a trip, the birds did not disappoint. We arrived around 6 p.m. and was greeted by volunteers from Citizens United and staff from New Jersey Audubon Society. My wife and two daughters were a little skeptical, the only birds in the sky were European starlings. I promised them an experience of extraordinary proportions, a sky full of gorgeous, sleek, and some say magical Purple Martins.
As the sunset the Purple Martins (Progne subis) came streaming overhead, one at time and than by the dozens. The show stopper was after 10,000’s arrived on the phragmities and would lift into the air as one massive cloud. The sky looked like a big scoop of Turkey Hill’s cookies n cream ice cream.
If you get a chance to go, tonight is the last night of the festival on the Maurice river but the birds will most likely be in the area for a few more weeks before the migration to South America begins.
It was a magical experience. The oohh's and ahhh's of the crowd were amazing. We also caught a peek of a family of Clapper Rails. The are said to be "illusive," but we had front row seats to their show.
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