Buckdog, I did the same thing this year. I had the original house up from last year that had two nesting pair and that fledged 10 chicks. This year 15 foot from that house I put up a T14 prior to when the scouts arrived the second week of April. The Adults from the previous year went to the original...

One other thing I forgot to mention was that I was assuming that you were still going to put up The S&K barn and place the new house a few yards from it,which would be your best option. If it is being replaced, what I think you are saying it still should be OK but a little less certain. I would plac...

Now that you have a chance of having your adult birds returning early, a few weeks before the sub adults arrive, scouting for the best compartments at your colony. I would have the house on the pole but lowered and even block off the compartments with some pieces of pool noodle until the second week...

Kegger, It should be fine, I would add 4ft fiberglass perches along the bottom of the roof line or even through the roof or when you get your dozens of birds they would have a place to perch. I got mine at tractor supply. If you really want to add that little bonus to attract them you could have fou...

One other thing I forgot to mention is the gourdes are troyer horizontals with tunnels and SREH's. If the martins would stay in the houses or gourdes they would be safe but I heard that the GHO beats its wings on the sides and flushes the martins out.

It's a little different than the garage door sensor that has a signal between two sensors that has to be broken. The driveway sensor only has one module that reflects The signal back but but you could be correct that the owl might have to be straight in front of it. I was thinking that I could aim i...

OK, Thanks for the information. Now that I'm retired I'll be able to monitor my colony more closely. If it happens again this year I'll post a picture of the feathers, maybe someone could tell me what bird they belong to.

Late Summer while mowing the lawn I spotted an OWL feather around 20 or 30 foot from my Martin houses and some long narrow black feathers scattered, not next to the martin houses but next to my house under some large pine trees a couple hundred feet from the bird houses. I believe it happened later ...

Kegger: When you were fishing in Pultneyville you were only 4 miles from my house. I should have had my purple martin sanctuary sign out to draw you in to check out our colony but it would have been off season. I'm trying to make the area were my houses are look like a little park with some nice lan...

Hi Mike, The solar cooling and heating system I use for the houses isn't something you can buy, I tinkered around and made it. I have it running everyday checking the longevity of the boxer fan, going on 3 years now. The parts needed are 2 peltier modules that are available at most electronic supply...

We had a late pair that fledged 5 two weeks ago here in Ontario NY, on the south side of lake Ontario. The weather has been fantastic around here so we have small groups of visitors everyday stay the day and go on their way. I'm assuming they might be from Canada. I believe due to the cold spring we...

I've been using schedule 40 galvanized pipe that was delivered from my local hardware store. Its 21 foot long, survived 60 MPH gusts and I never have problem with twisting of the houses. Check (DIY winch) post that that came out around February to see a picture. My houses are around 80 pounds and I ...

Congratulations! You probably missed a lot of activity, last year I also had two pairs of nestlings fledge and I had our birds and from other colonies coaxing by fluttering in front of the nestlings. As soon as one got enough nerve to take off it was being harassed by the subbies with the parents fo...

This is my second year with this colony, I just checked my charts and realized some of our chicks are 26 days old, I can't wait to see what 70 fledglings is going to look like. I'm also getting a little sad knowing I only have a few days left sitting out on the patio every morning with my coffee wat...

Last year the first time my birds fledged when they came back for the night each fledgling tried to get their own compartment but that only lasted that first night. After that for some reason they went back to the compartment that they were raised in. They must have been told they can't do that by t...

It never gets old! Grouchy momma wants the whole place to herself. It looks like you are going to have many years of enjoyment. Thanks for the video, keep them coming.

Sugarcreek, I see your numbers and I believe I could have a similar amount of birds if I were to put up another house. I think 40 to 50 compartments would be manageable. I wanted to put up another pole for a feeder tray anyway so why not put a house on it? The most difficult time is early spring kno...

You still have half your housing to fill up yet. Only about 40% of fledged chicks survive migration & return as SY's. Not all will return to your site. You also need to consider how many pair you can properly care for now & in the future. Nest changes, supplemental feeding, etc., all take time & fu...

I have one T14's a half of a T14 with 6 gourds underneath with a total of 28 cavities with 15 active nests. I started with 74 hatchlings and due to a HOSP I'm down to 68. The closest colony I know of is around 5 miles away. I'm thinking of all the the birds I could have next year with all the new SY...

Dave, Now that you mentioned that SY males will mess with an existing nest with hatchlings, I did see a female chase a male with a vengeance and actually kick is butt.