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 car at our Sommerheim location,our largest colony site located on the bay of Lake Erie, I heard a familiar sound flying above me. An adult male martin flew circles around the houses chirping and chattering before flying out again over the lake and disappearing. Minutes later, he came back with a female. They flew over me for a moment and returned to the sky to fill up on insects. I opened a couple more compartments and placed dried mealworms on the inside of the entrances. The weather over the next couple of days was not going to be pleasant.
At our Rotary Pavilion site, located on Presque Isle State Park, I sat outside for a while, listening and watching the sky. I played the Dawnsong (click here to learn more about the Dawnsong and other Purple Martin vocalizations) loudly and there was no sign of martins. I was about to return to the car when I heard a chirp in the sky. Five martins flew in and landed on the houses. They sat for a few minutes before flying away to feed. I again opened a couple more compartments and put a few dried mealworms inside the entrances for the cold days ahead.
We are excited to have a few of our martins back at the PMCA. They all seemed to take advantage of the warmer weather and foraged for insects. The cold weather this week looks like it will be broken up by warmer days where the martins may be able to find food. We will check in on them frequently and open compartments as more martins arrive.
Mercedes
PMCA Field Biologist