Purple Martin Forum

Congratulations on your success in Saskatchewan, Jerry! I wonder if my two visitors last Saturday morning stopped here for a mid-morning breather on their trip to Brazil. They were a pair of ASY martins. It was enjoyable, though unusual for any martins to be at my colony site this late in the summer...

Thanks, Emil, for your reply. I was concerned the babies would get anxious by neighborhood fireworks around July 4, but none of them seemed too concerned. If anything, more babies than usual stuck their beaks out the gourd entrances to see what the commotion was about. What you noted about fledgelin...

I agree that martin colonies are sometimes difficult to establish in certain areas, but if you give up you will never know! When we lived not far from we are now, the neighbor put up a wooden house and had several pairs his first year of trying. We were impressed and thought we'd like martins in our...

Emil, I want to pick your brain about something I've never experienced before. I have a small colony here in Northern Illinois where martins aren't in abundance. It has taken many years to nurture my colony along with a minimum of ASY birds and I'm observing a behavior different from my experience o...

The hot weather certainly has caused an increase in boat traffic on the river near our colony site, so our martins are staying closer to home for their food supply. But things are looking good today for my learning curve to get a big boost today, and I am not complaining! It is loads of fun to watch...

Sharon, I have also seen lots of dragon flies too, and I cannot understand why so many of them hang out near my Martin colony site. It is like they have a death wish! Now that most of the babies have fledged, it is little wonder why so many martins stay so close to their birth site to feed. I hope y...

While listening and enjoying the chatter today, I discovered that there are more martins in our colony than previously noted. I had a good seat in the shade and the skies were somewhat cloudy. As I noted recently, my physical health has prevented me from seeing to the regular duties of a typical PM ...

. . .to raise a . . . (you fill in the rest). In 2015 I had high hopes, just as in past years, except that I've become more of a spectator than a landlord for our martin colony. Not to bore anyone with the details, let me just say that it is true that getting older is indeed an adventure! Flash forw...

I nominate "Lincoln" as the name for your new arrival. That is a name that all we Illinois landlords can be happy with, right In any case I hope he is the new "Fred" and can meet your expectations.

After a much longer than usual wait, the Purple Martin scouts finally showed up here in the farthest northern area of Illinois. Did I get dismayed? You're darn tootin' I did; but on April 29, things improved :lol: and here I am on May 5, with lots of newcomers. The floodgates aren't completely open,...

Thanks MAK :!: I was getting worried that the Beloit (WI) area "no fly zone" had extended across the state line. This area, for some reason, seems to have bad luck in keeping successful colonies going. But we keep trying every year. Today, while cleaning out HOSP nests from four gourds, a new group ...

Russell: Do you suppose the purple martin clan in the wild hide from the rain? I keep my songbird magnet in a clear plastic bag, plugged into an outdoor outlet under my deck. This morning was like so many others, except that yesterday I was overjoyed to report my first scout of 2015, and this mornin...

To skw159 et al, After waiting nearly 20 years, my colony site finally attracted martins that stayed and produced babies in 2011. So you must decide for yourself but, speaking for myself, I think it was worth the wait. It is good to see another Illinois resident interested in this hobby, and this Fo...

We had a good percentage fledge although I cannot tell you the exact numbers because some of our colony is in the neighbor's yard and hard to count. But something is fishy as to numbers here in our area. For example, one colony in the next county north of us (in Wisconsin) had a similar weather anom...

This is an open question for landlords in northern Illinois, specifically in or near Winnebago County. We have had a budding colony of purple martins for the past few years, but none have shown up (yet) this year. It is not unusual to notice weather anomalies hereabouts, and we seem to have another ...

Not to worry(much) . When we moved here, we planted several small trees and hoped they were far enough away not to conflict with our endeavors to attract martins to our yard. The years have passed and the trees have grown taller than the gourd racks; but we have finally attracted martins and everyt...

Now I really have to get busy, for my friend Larry reports seeing a martin this morning (March 31) a few miles from here

Good news, Larry You beat me again. I got my poles the same heights yesterday but did not expect martins here for another week.
Bill

My frustrations put me in a tough spot, what with health problems over the winter, but I had a "carpe diem" moment these past few days; I decided to try to make my colony site less problematic this year. I have dealt with a tough situation ever since I installed my SS-24 gourd rack two years ago. Pr...

I don't want to hijack this thread, but a person who has an extra Spar-O-Door can get new life for it by a simple retrofit, using a Bo-9 gourd to mount it on. I had good luck with mine last summer.