I would say you can put it away Billie, my son did see a small flock of martins fly over 2 days ago, but they were heading south, our birds have not been around for 2 weeks now. I think fall migration is well under way, good luck next year!!

For us the barnswallows do a great job of sounding the alarm if a hawk is near, probably because we have 30 pair or more and they are the first to spot the hawk and start dive bombing it!!

Our 2 young martins both flew out this morning and sucsessfully landed in the cottonwood trees near our house. We had 4 hatch but lost 2 in the hot weather in july, the eggs hatched on july 4th. These were the first martins to nest here since the mid 90s. We also had a sy male here most days for the...

Billie, you can get oyster shells at fleet farm, probably farm and fleet in your area, but they sell them in 50 # bags for 10.00. However, we put out shells for our one pair but they never looked at them, for that matter, we've not seen them touch the egg shells either,not sure why.

no, we don;t have black flies here that i'm aware of, my guess is stil it was heat related.

They had been dead for several days, they were already decaying.

Our late asy pair hatched four eggs and all seemed to be going well. I did a nest change this afternoon and found 2 of the young had died. There were no blowflies or parasites of any kind, my only guess is they were overcome by the heat? we had several days in the 90s with high humidity. They hatche...

they are purple martins, probably done nesting from a nearby colony checking out your site.
jim

Our late asy pair laid 4 eggs, all 4 hatched yesterday and are doing fine!! This pair showed up june 5th, 30 days later they have young!!! We also have a sy male still visiting every day, hopefully he will return next year and find a mate, good luck to all who still have martins to fledge, it's been...

Hi Billie, so sorry to hear of your loss, wish we were a little closer to monroe so we could give you a hand, we're near oshkosh. I would keep playing the dawnsong if you want, it may make your visitor feel more at home. Do you know if it is a sy male, he may attatch to your site and return next yea...

our asy pair have 2 eggs so far!!! hoping this is the start of a successful colony!!

our late asy pair appears to have finished their nest, they were taking in green leaves yesterday and a few today, how soon should we look for the first egg to be laid?
jim

no, just none here on our farm

we had a asy pair show up on june 5' i'm guessing from some other colony, these were the first martins we have seen this year at our site. today they began nest building, after a lot of indecision by the female, she finally chose a horizontal troyer gourd and began picking up dry grass and taking it...

Correction, they are back this morning and it's an asy pair, I didn't get a good look yesterday. being this late in the season I would think this pair was displaced from a nearby colony for some reason, hoping they stay and start anew here!!
Jim

We had an sy pair visit today, the first martins we've seen this year! They stayed for a couple hours this morning, then left and returned briefly in the afternoon, still hoping!!!
Jim

Hi Billie, we are just south of oshkosh, most of the colonies near me are around lake winnebago.
Jim

We now have pretty much everything back here in wi. Lots of tree swallows, barn swallows, white crowned sparrows, orioles, indigo buntings, grosbeaks, goldfinches, but no martins. we've been playing the dawnsong, got decoys out, sparrows and starlings all killed, variety of housing available, no mar...

Snakes are not an issue here in wi. , however, raccoons can climb pretty much any type of pole, a gaurd for them is needed.
Jim

I had a starling getting in my connely 2 entrance, it had built a nest and seemed to be getting in and out easily, she's dead now but i'm not sure the conelys are a good choice.
Jim