Purple Martin Forum

I see them swooping down and drinking from Lake Ontario all the time.

A follow up to my Previous post. I took the long and expensive way to get a setup I was happy with. I started up with the 6 bargain bo9’s and bought a S&K 2-3/8” round pole fountain rack and sent it back. The lack of quality was extremely disappointing and I ended up eating over $100.00 shipping for...

My site is on the shores of Lake Ontario and subject to crazy high winds and storms. I bought a Troyer deluxe 12 gourd rack and couldn't be happier. The rack in high winds does great and have had no issues. I started out with the 6 pack of Bo9's from Tractor Supply and bought the tunnels, cooling ca...

Well I ended up back out at the lake cottage yesterday and got lucky. I was there to see the last baby fledge the nest. Really great experience to witness!
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Second year with my setup on Lake Ontario has been fun but unfortunately ending soon. I have 2 families with 4 babies in each gourd. The second family is about ready to fledge so I shot a few pictures yesterday with my smart phone held up to a telescope. I don't live there and they will most likely ...

Has anyone had success with The new Bo Nine Plus gourds. They are very light and have a black interior which I feel are good features. They are Bo plus, not Bo 9 plus. Nothing similar to the 2 layer with air space Bo 11 plus. The Bo plus has a black inner layer laminated directly to the inside with...

2020eggs25.jpg I did a nest check a few days ago and have 2 nests this season. One with 4 eggs, the other with 3 eggs. I was hoping for more after all the crazy activity while the martins were pairing up. Looking forward to the eggs hatching! On another topic, a neighbor had 6 bo9's he painted yell...

Cool series of events, amazing!

Jhcox, The S&K screw on access adapters @ $2.00 each does a great job of solving the issues with the snap on covers. Otherwise, the bo9 price starts to add up when you customize them with cooling caps, tunnels, and access port adapters. This adds $7.00 to each gourd in addition to the cost of the go...

Update: even with the cold rainy weather we had, it’s going well here on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. The weather is great and I have 5 gourds with paired off birds, arranging their nest getting ready to lay eggs. The Martins seem plentiful around here as the 4 nearby cottages all have Martin...

Good luck this season. Have you ever had martins before in that set up? The only reason I ask is that I started out with S&K gourds myself and tried them for many year, Big Bo's and Bo 9's. I never had any takers in them. In the beginning that is all I had on my gourd rack along side a T14. In the ...

Last week I was out at my cottage on the south shore of lake Ontario in New York for a few days. My scouts usually arrive around 5/10, however I feel they will arrive early. While I was out there I decide to set up my Deluxe 12 Grourd rack. The gourds are S&K Bo9's with tunnels, cooling caps, and sc...

.... Wow ,,,, I thought I was the only one still waiting for that first arrival... This time of year is nerve racking,, Sometimes the weather is not good this time of year, and the early Martins always come when you don’t expect them.. Good luck everyone... Were all in the same boat... Hurry up and...

I personally have found that the cooling caps (that cost very little and improves ventilation) along with the clinger tunnels allow for nice dry nests. Keith Thanks, Keith. I'm happy to hear that. I've ordered the vent caps that spin but am still waiting for them. Got a message this morning that my...

I use Bo 9's with tunnels (top edge silicone when assembled) and cooling caps. My gourds stay dry and I feel the cooling caps help prevent water from getting in through the square hanging holes.

I would assume that Troyer's tunnels fit both their horizontal and vertical gourds. It only makes sense from a manufacturing standpoint. The part number for the Conley ll tunnel is TTC. You may want to call Troyer at 800.872.0103 to confirm

Nice upgrade for the Bo 9's. I'm a beginner with 6 Bo 9's and the snap on covers are kind of a pain. Do the gourds hang straight with the extra weight on one side?

Welcome, Martinboy. Wow, you way up there against the Canadian border. Hope you get lots of martins. be patient though, it's quite a ways to get up there. We are on the south shore (USA) of Lake Ontario in New York. Canada is approx. 35 miles north across the lake and our martins start to arrive th...

Yes, I'm lucky that the area along the shoreline is already established. Now that I'm getting serious, I'll be able to assist in helping the martins thrive even more. With the new rack I installed last year, it was the first time I had a system that I could lower and do nest checks. It was amazing f...

Thanks for the warm welcome! The rack isn't as close to the tree as it looks in the picture. My site is only 50' wide so I installed the new pole in the same location as the original octagon house was. Not perfect but no concerns on my end. GFB, Thanks for the info regarding the NY Purple Martin Pro...