Tim,
You might want to see if you can find some hand warmers to stick under the pine needles
Dave

Hello PHLDave- sure hope the Martin's find and stay at your place in 2020! Meanwhile you know you're welcome to help out again this season at PM Lake satellite site. I greatly appreciated your help last season! If you happen to be visiting early and spot an early arrival martin please let me know. ...

I only wish we could get the younger generation as excited about our Purple Martins, as some of them are on the environment and nature in general. My hopes are that those of us that are lucky enough to have colonies, can expose enough younger folks to these amazing creatures, to get them excited abo...

On CBS Sunday morning Harrison Ford made the comment that nature doesn’t need man, man needs nature. I know he meant well, but we all know that if man doesn’t remember nature, many species on this planet are in real trouble. Including our beloved Purple Martins that are so dependent on us.
Dave

I just heard mention of an easy mount system for a t-14 house that requires no bolts. The name of Hostetler was also mentioned as the inventor. I'm always interested in a better way of doing things. Maybe I can use this system for future houses I build. Can you fill me in on how it works, or someone...

A pellet enema is a sure cure for those starlings that are persistent. Sorry, i just had to say it!

Hi Gun, I hate to burst your bubble, but you may want to put your porches closer to the bottom of the entrance holes. I had to move mine up to keep the foxy starlings out. If you have them down to far they learn how to squat, wiggle and turn sideways to get in. If you put them almost at the bottom o...

sent you an email

Susan,
If you are going to go that route, try to find something with compartments closer to 12" deep.
Dave

Susan, Sounds like you have inherited a gold mine. My hopes are, some of us that live near by, can come to your aid. If they can get your system up to snuff, so that it's easy for you to take care of your wonderful colony, you'll have years of enjoyment. I'd give anything to be in your shoes. Take i...

I had the real pleasure of helping Tim with the colony several times last season, and look forward to it this year if he’ll have me. It was an amazing opportunity to gain some experience if the day comes when I am allowed to host my own colony at home.
Dave

Gun,
This design is very similar to the one I designed myself and build.

Dave

I wish we understood better what really stirs their blood to start moving north. I always believed it must have something to do with the position of the sun in the sky. Now this year, when they have started to show up already, weather patterns must play a much greater part in what gets them going. G...

Mike, There are several of us up here in Iowa doing well, it's just that the area around Des Moines was pretty sparse until the past few years. With that being said, we are slowly increasing the population in this area, and I hope it will eventually pay off for me soon. I helped another landlord who...

The waterfowl were sure milling around up here in Iowa on Christmas day with the 60 degree weather we had. They were all confused. I was thinking to myself, come on look at the height of the sun, its not even January yet. It will be interesting to see what the martins do down south.

Dave, like you mentioned, so long as the starlings don't figure out how to go in sideways it should keep them out. You also know with their long legs they have trouble squatting, so the lower level entrance would give the startling's more trouble. They would have an easier time getting in the 2nd le...

On a similar note. There was a particular interesting behavior I noted at my site this past year. I decided to place a couple decoys with their heads in the tunnel of a couple compartments with their tails sticking out of the openings a couple inches. This caught the attention of one SY male. I obse...

They've discovered why waste your time catching little teeny skeeters, when you can have big plump dragonfly's. No brainer there!

Sure wish I had them up here at my place. Mama's warm tummy would feel pretty good to them at night. It's still comfortable here, almost cool.

Dave

sure wish we could come up with a way of redistributing these birds that don't know where there are available vacancies.