Purple Haze Showing...

On Thursday, January 9th, CMNA hosted the screening of Zach Steinhauser’s film, “Purple Haze”. The screening was shown at the Charleston Main library on Calhoun St.

A little over 50 participants got to see Zach’s documentary on Purple Martins. This film shows Zach’s journey across state lines and international borders to understand “the mess we’ve put these birds in”, find a natural nesting pair of purple martins, and rekindle the dying relationship between humans and Purple Martins.

Zach’s journey starts on Lake Murry, where he grew up with Purple Martins who would stop there in the summer before migrating South for the summer. He goes from Hanahan SC, where a local citizen has over 100 purple nesting boxes/gourdes, to Brazil where scientists are testing the Purple Martins for mercury poisoning, which is thought to be the reason why Purple Martins are not thriving as they used to in the Amazon. They are also attaching modus tags to track their migration patterns.

Then his travels take him to Orlando, where he hopes to find Purple Martins nesting in the wild in dead trees – but finds only Starlings, which are a nemesis to Purple Martins because they drive them out of their nesting habitat.

Zach, not to be discouraged, goes to Erie PA, where there is a citizen science project called Project Martin. They band the birds and track numbers of birds that arrive as well as the fledglings – and they interact with people who come by and help educate them on the birds.

Zach then finds out about the world’s largest nesting colony in Rainsville AL. Jerral Johnson and his grandson have over 200 nesting gourds and every year they throw a Purple Martin jamboree to invite people from all over the country to see and learn about the birds.

Next, its on to Bonn Island SC, which is the largest pre-migratory roost site in North America, and possibly, in the world.

Finally, Zach goes to Tucson AZ, which had reports of Purple Martins nesting in the wild – and there, Zach finally completes his mission. He finds the Martins nesting in Saguaro cactus – which gives him joy and hope for the species.

After the film ended, there was a panel discussion with Zach, Mary Pringle and Jenn Tyrrell with Q & A from the audience.

You can find Zach’s film “Purple Haze” here