Last week, Erie had a glimpse of spring, the sun was shining and the temperature reached 70 degrees. It was the perfect weather for the martins to finish their journey home to the PMCA. The next morning I went out to our colony sites to look for scouts. Within seconds of getting out of the…
Martin season has finally arrived! Here at the PMCA, we have been busy preparing our research colonies for their arrival. This has involved repairs on the housing from the harsh winter months (Erie, PA has received a record 192 inches of snow this winter), blocking entrances to prevent other species from nesting, and providing fresh…
My Purple Martins have been gathering hundreds of green leaves from all our trees for the last 2 weeks. No tree has been spared - the cherry, poplar, sugar maple, and river birch trees have all had their topmost, newest, most tender new leaves stripped as male and female martins alike, attack them in frenzy. …
January is slipping right by us and February is almost here! Last year, I had the earliest ever recorded arrival on Feb. 28th, and since I was on work assignment in Germany, I was ill-prepared. Coincidentally, I again have to head to Germany the last week of February, so I’m jump-starting my preparations now. I…
As many landlords are now in the process of cleaning up their housing and storing it away, a question is quietly (or maybe loudly) bubbling in the deep recesses of their minds – should I add more housing next year? A second and third question may also be bubbling there – what will happen next…
