Purple Martin Forum

We are excited to finally have ANY Martin activity. Had a ASY pair lay the first of 6 eggs on the 30th. We also have a SY female that paired up with a dark, ASY male....she also has laid 6 eggs, starting a day-or-two after the first pair. Cautiously optimistic for this to be the start of our PM colo...

Looks like our final "egg" count ended-up with both pairs laying 6 eggs. If our prognosticator is accurate, should start hatching around the 19th.

Anxious/excited….and, at the risk of sounding greedy, hoping these two pair attract additional martins.

Good luck to all with the rest of the season.

Chuck…as many have doubtless commented before, the quality/clarity of your photos is worthy of National Geographic. I enjoy photography (and martins), but still fall into the rank-amateur category, when compared to your postings. What the heck are your shooting these photos with, and at what kind of...

Hey Ed….Hope your 2015 season continues to go well. Just a follow-up to my note from a week-or-two back. The 2 pair that seemed to be setting-up-shop in our gourd rack did, indeed, stay. The ASY pair, as of this morning, had 5 eggs in their nest. The other pair, compromised of a ASY male and SY fema...

We purchased one of the Blaine's sparrow trap this year, and our grand total is about 40 Redpoll's, and one very mad blue-jay. All were released unharmed (the jay had some crinkled feathers.....still don't know how he managed to even enter the trip-device of this trap). Seems the sparrow numbers aro...

Thanks, John, for the note. Being from the south originally, I'll have to go with some good ol' "southern engineering" to rememdy this one. I have some ideas, and tomorrow afternoon off. Will see what happens .

Thanks, again, for the note.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful photos, Jose. Congrats!!

Hey Rob....we, too, had first egg yesterday (2nd today). This is (hopefully) the start of our colony. Have one more pair who have been in/out of the gourds, and left partial green leaves in them. Hope they, too, nest and successfully raise young.

Continued good luck with your booming colony.

Thanks, Matt & Tim, for the info. We're rethinking the whole cage deal, and instead are going to try to buy/fabricate individual hawk/owl guards for the Troyer gourds. Would sure think someone has such a product that will fit the Troyer horizontal and vertical gourds, when affixed to the Gemini moun...

Promise I'm not being lazy; multiple searches come up with everything except what I am looking for. Where do I find the old post with the plan/photo of a wire cage to install on a Gemini rack to discourage owls from visiting? Have 24 tunneled Troyers (horizontal and vertical), and would like to stac...

Hey Ed….if they stop by again, send 'em up to our place :grin: . My wife and I've been trying with not-much-success to become successful PM landlords. This year, we have two pair….no eggs yet, but hopefully that will change soon. Continued good luck….sounds as if you may need to add a few more gourds!

Jim----we're just north of Hudson (New Richmond), and have seen more PM's this year than any previous ones. First visitor arrived here on April 20th.

This morning, several subadult males were giving the couple of pair on our Gemini rack a fit. Hope you seen some arrivals, soon.

Dan....hope your activity (and temperature) has picked-up. We've warmed back up in western WI, and the martins which seemed to disappear, have reappeared.

Best wishes for the 2015 season.

Terry & Michelle

Have 2 pair which have been here consistently, and a third which apparently has "set-up shop". One pair flew off the Gemini rack, to the top of a big popular tree, and was pulling off green leaves :grin: :grin: . Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Hope everyone is seeing activity at their sites...

Great news, Mary. Keep your spirits high, and trust your set-up will bring him (and others) back permanently.

Keep us posted.

Terry & Michelle

Dan....went from the 70's and a dozen-or-so visitors, to cold, rain and wind. Didn't see a single PM for a couple days. Warming back up, and had a couple pair back this morning.

Hope your weather improves, and PM's return soon.

Wondering how many fellow PM fanatics are in the same general region? Located in western WI (about 10 miles north of Hudson, WI), and am curious about the locale of others afflicted with this passion running rampant in our house (love PM's). Would love to make contact/share info with others in the r...

Stihl 026 was our "chain saw of choice" .

Having an open fly-way is definitely one key to having birds come check-out your new offerings (and hopefully setting-up permanent residence there).

Have the RWS Diana model in .177 caliber. It has proven extremely effective in eliminating starlings. Plenty of knock-down power, and very accurate.

Stay upbeat....been struggling for the past "bunch of years". Awoke this morning to a ruckus of joyful noise. At one point had 11 martins, all jockeying for position on the Gemini rack. Not sure how this will all play-out, but really excited. Hope everyone else has similar stories. Terry & Michelle ...