A porch is not going to keep them from coming in. They are not picky and will try to take over any cavity/house they can fit into.

How many pair did you have last year and in past years? If you just had a couple pair and your colony is young there is no guarantee that the martins you had last year will make it back. So you could just be seeing visitors passing through. At my old colony almost every year when my first martins wo...

Banding studies show a small percentage sometimes return to the site where the fledged. Most will return to that general area, maybe within a 30-50 mile range. I think most assume they don't return to the same site to avoid in-breeding. Hopefully you have other colonies close by and you will start g...

I know in my neck of the woods if you drive around for an hour you'll see 30 of them leaning over with HOSP nest sticking out of them. I'm sure you could find someone local that would give you one.

It seems the first ASY that makes it at your place is the key. They can really draw a crowd. At my first place I had a SY male spend the season in a cavity and never attracted a mate. The next year he came back to the same cavity and I had 5 pair that year. 2 years ago I had some SY’s and last year ...

If I remember correctly the max range is 100 foot from the sync module. That is a small device that you link to your WiFi and then the cameras talk to the module. Yes a raccoon or other predator would set it off, I have had possums and small cats set mine off at night.

It seems facebook is slowing the traffic on a lot of forums. I feel like one of the last holdouts who doesn't like or ever even get on facebook.....

Just curious, did you just keep it off and then turn on the live view from time to time? I can't imagine having it set to motion and getting text messages everytime a bird moves. Just curious what settings you use and how you utilize it.

I wish I could find the study, I can't remember if it was in one of the PMCA magazines or somewhere else but it stated that on average you need to have 6 pair to ensure you will have returning birds the next year. As always with mother nature, something drastic could happen and wipe out a whole floc...

That first few years getting them to return can be frustrating. Like others have said, assuming they survive the migration they will come back to your site. I can't remember the percentages but a big percentage of birds do not survive the long trip. That is part of the reason that each pair of marti...

James
I guess I didn't realize you still had some ties in FL. I knew you had moved and were starting over. Do you still winter in FL or do you just have family or friends at your old site that report back to you? Either way congrats

Like I said, they are great for security purposes, I got them early on and have turned many people on to them. I have had mine up for 2 years now on the original batteries. However they only turn on once a month or so and that is for 20 seconds at a time. You can set the clip length for longer if yo...

I kind of thought that too but never witnessed anything. Some years I would have full nests on a Friday and by Monday morning they were gone with only a few visits after that. I had the adults return each year so I didn't figure they were being harassed. That was when I had between 5 and 12 pair tho...

I have those cameras myself for home security. The battery rating is accurate for normal home security use. However if you have it set up where there is constant activity and it is constantly recording (especially at night) or if you are watching them in real time they battery will go dead in no tim...

Don’t get hung up on the term scout, that’s what the early arriving Martins are offended referred to but they are no different then any other returning Martins. As was said above they have strong site fidelity so if you have adult Martins staying at your site more then likely there was/is a problem ...

When I built my T 14 I made it so my porches sit a little higher then the floor on the inside. My thought was that the crscent could be closer to the porch on the outside helping to keep starlings out, but from the inside the bottom of the crescent would be higher making it a little easier for the M...

mjfog, You might have mentioned and I missed it, how many cavities do you have for this year? If you had 6 pair last year it would not be unheard of to end up with 15-20 pair this year if you have room. My first colony I went from 5 pair to 12 the second year. This location I ended up with 15 pair m...

Again, "scout" is just an old time term. There is no difference between a "scout" and all the other martins. Birds that were at your colony last year will most likely return to your colony. Even though you had a low fledge rate I would anticipate those adults that survived the migration to return. D...

A good quality pellet gun capable of consistently shooting a target the size of a sparrow at any distance is pretty costly. They are smart little critters, like others have said if you shoot once and mis they will then take off every time you open a door or a window. If you want to put in the money ...

I think having a colony that close will definitely help you but unless their housing is completely run down or suffering predator attacks you are more likely to benefit from their SY birds then you are to likely to steal their ASY's. I have seen some pretty run down housing and some pretty tree encr...