Purple Martin Forum

Great photo of a great new gourd housing unit. If I were a black widow or scorpion, that's the kind of place I would want to hang out in. Glad for you that hanging time is near. Best wishes this season.

Regardless though, with standard brake winches, whenever I have experienced jerkiness of housing upon lowering, I just make sure the cable and winch itself has adequate lubing , and most importantly, that the martin pole itself, hubs, gliders, and all surfaces that make contact with the pole have a...

Hey Steve, Reading your response to my statement that the Fulton winches are still performing flawlessly, and the problems you have had with the DL winches, brings back memories of my own. I do nest checks weekly throughout the season until the last nestling fledges. Using the DL winch was a nightma...

Hi Steve, My first post on the new forum, if it works. My Fulton winches survived another season and feel almost like new. I think you will like them a lot. That's a bunch of money and work to change out for new and better winches on a colony of your size. You are one heckuva landlord who always doe...

And we, the martin community, are grateful for you, Dick, doing all that you did yesterday, and for so many preceding years, making purple martins a welcome part of the extended Tulsa and Oklahoma community. Thank you for all of your efforts !!!

Mark, The winch should turn in both directions. Maybe the handle or another bolt is too tight. The clicking noise is heard when cranking line in--raising the gourd rack. There is no sound when letting it out, and it does not require using any special levers on the winch. Here is a number for Fulton ...

The last of our second-brood nests successfully fledged from Sandia this morning, August 10. Our first scout arrival at Sandia was on Feb 1. All second brood attempts in Sandia and Corpus Christi were successful. Hatch year birds appear to be obtaining independence in a week to ten days.

Ray, I have not used a D-L winch for several years and I have never found the Fulton winch hard to use--to me it performs about the same as the D-L, only much more smoothly. It is also weathering better IMO. My winch is mounted just above layers of bird netting to stop snakes and I have to hold the ...

Matt, My initial problems were on an SS-24 system made by creative universe. I called Diana Oberlander regarding the problem and she recommended the Fulton K650 winch. I believe she was using one then and that Daryl Lindstrom in MN was using them on all of his systems at his public colonies and firs...

Mark, I had a D-L brake winch that came with a gourd rack system I bought. Like yours it bounced around when being lowered, making nest checks difficult. I switched out to a Fulton winch and it resolved my problems. I have advised several others with the jerking problem to switch to the Fulton and t...

A photo taken July 30, 2015, of a banded ASY female involved in a second brood at my Corpus Christi, TX colony. She joins two banded females (geo tagged birds) that fledged two broods in 2013, and four banded males linked to two successful broods at this colony. In addition, a banded ASY female (for...

Jerry, I have some Troyer gourds with the built in wing entrapment guard. The inner hole the trap wire goes in is positioned in a tunnel that extends about half an inch inside the gourd from the entrance face. I reach in with my left hand and locate the extension above the wing entrapment bar and gu...

Hi Friends, This is turning into a banner year for second broods in South Texas with heavy spring rains and great feeding. These are second broods being raised by ASY pairs in cavities that previously fledged a first brood in late May and early June. Louise Chambers and I have two colonies; one near...

Tim, This is a neat observation. I hope you will keep us posted on development. In my experience, second broods will be abandoned during egg incubation; however, if the eggs hatch the fledge results will be nearly 100%. You clearly understand the dynamics of post--fledging, nest-cavity defense--one ...

It could be a second brood by the same ASY pair. Given the dynamics of cavity defense after a pair fledges a brood, I suspect it is. We are hearing of a good number of what could be second broods in the south this year. I am monitoring 8 confirmed second broods at a small colony I have west of Corpu...

This is wonderful news Daryl. We look forward to future reports showing rapid growth at your home colony.

Toy, I have had insects replaced several times. Go ahead and freeze and use what you can with those you have. Reptilefood will not ask you to return them. They have always promptly replaced my order or given me a credit on future orders if I received enough stock to buy some time. I have never commu...

Toy, Reptilefood.com is located in Ohio. I have ordered thousands of insects from them--and they have all made it to S. Texas overnight. If there is a weather issue they might not ship, but will tell you. Overnight shipping has gone up over the years. I usually buy 6-8 boxes at a time which increase...

Tim,
Do a google search: Dr. Charles Brown, University of Tulsa. I believe he still actively teaches and researches.

I have enjoyed your report Mike, as well as the other posts you have made today. We have missed your insight and the wonderful input gathered by you and your students through the years.
Glad you are back safely. Glad you had a great experience. Scratch that one off of the bucket list.