Purple Martin Forum

The last picture shows a barn swallow flying by close to the camera. That may explain why he looks so big.

Here are some pictures I took at our pond last night. We have a pond with lots of cattails, and the barn swallows and martins are roosting in them. The pictures don't do the scene justice, because the air was thick with birds. They circled and by dark were all in the cattails. There were more barn s...

Here in South Central Missouri we seem to have had an explosion of Barn Swallows this year. We always have a couple of nests in the barn, but this year we have six. I love watching them fly around over the barn and pond. It does make it kind of interesting to get hay out of the barn for the horses w...

A man named Dwight Haskell moved to our county several years ago. He must have a great love for purple martins, because he set up gourd racks for several people around town. My husband talked to him one day and he offered to set one up on our farm. He gave us the sleeve for the pole and asked us to ...

The first time that happened to me, I was shocked. She was just sitting there looking at me, and not the least bit frightened. Neat experience.

love it. they look healthy and ready to fly

The dragon flies are really thick down around the barn and pond. That may be part of the attraction

We have a small pond filled with cattails near our barn, about 100 yards or so from my martin housing. The last two nights there have been about 200 birds roosting in the cattails. I will try to get a closer look tonight, but I could see many martins and also barn swallows last night. I always have ...

My martin housing is right next to the garden, so I am out there all the time. I had a pair of martins start dive bombing me last week. I would be in the garden and hear a "whoosh" as they went by my head. A little unsettling to say the least. I have never had this behavior before. I know they had a...

I'll bet they will be back. I have barn swallows that nest in the barn (go figure) every year. One pair always nests on top of an electric junction box.

I like firefox because I it blocks all of the ads. Does Google Chrome do that too?

We certainly have the cicadas. At times the noise drowns out all else. Since my martins don't have babies yet, I haven't been able to see if the martins are eating the cicadas. I have noticed them feeding right at the tree tops, which is unusual, so perhaps they are eating them. I sure hope so.

The pictures coming out of Joplin are unbelievable. The tornado hit right in the middle of town. I live in south central Missouri and our cell phone service is out as a result of the storms. I will be keeping the people of Joplin and all of the responders and health care workers in my prayers.

I love to watch bats dart around just before dark. They keep the mosquitoes under control here on our farm. We haven't ever put up a bat house, don't really know where they roost at night. My brother in law had a problem with them in his attic. He was advised to block their entrance to the attic as ...

Best of luck to you in the move. Having family near is great, especially when grandchildren are involved.

I too have SREH with no porches, and I always seem to get one starling that is small enough to enter and try to nest. After I get my husband (a better shot than I) to get rid of the one or two that can enter the gourds, I don't have any more trouble. Good luck

Keeping my fingers crossed. I hope the pair is back today.

Nest check yesterday. I am always amazed at the variety in the types of nest built by the martins. I have 14 nests right now. Some have a few twigs and green leaves haphazardly thrown in, and others look like a well decorated room complete with a layer of green leaves and a tidy little nest bowl. No...

I have four pairs of barn swallows (in the barn, of course). The barn is about 50 yards from the martin housing, but I never see the barnies on the martin perches or gourds. I often see the barnies and martins flying over the pond together, feeding and getting water.

Wonderful site. I will check back often.