"I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free." ~Wendell Berry

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Purple Martins Return to Licking - 2014 Season Has Begun

On Monday, March 10th at 6:40 PM, my first purple martin arrived.  He was outside screeching on the perch and I abandoned my dinner so that I could properly welcome him home.  He took to the skies and announced his arrival across the valley.  He circled and circled, telling me all about his journey and trying to find his friends.  Within a few minutes he had established that this was his home and he found and harassed an American Kestrel until it left his newly claimed territory.

Mr. C287 - can't sit still for long!


I couldn't tell for sure at first, as I had left my binoculars inside, but I noticed that his legs looked bulkier than normal.  After grabbing my binoculars, I confirmed that Mr. C287 had returned home!  This guy was banded by MRBO as an adult when he was captured in a gourd on 6/10/2012 with 3 other adult martins.  It was absolutely the highlight of our day to pull an ASY male and female and a SY male and female out of the same gourd with 5 perfect eggs that were completely unharmed.

This gourd has been claimed.
He was re-sighted at my colony last year on 4/15/2013.  And now he's back!  And making lots & lots of noise.

My 2014 season has begun and he has already drawn another 3 martins to my site.  As of 2:30 PM today, there are 4 here.  I hope you all have some housing out as the strong southerly winds and warmer weather is quickly bringing them in!


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9 comments:

  1. Aya KatzMarch 11, 2014 at 3:51 PM

    Congratulations on this auspicious start to your purple martin season! I hope the weather stays spring-like.

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  2. jmiltonMarch 12, 2014 at 7:54 AM

    What are the chances of a purple martin finding a purple martin bird house in a 1/3 acre backyard in St. Louis county?
    jmilton

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    1. Nikkis MomMarch 12, 2014 at 8:23 AM

      Hi - thanks for your comment!
      It depends on whether you have lots of trees surrounding your 1/3 acre backyard. If you do have lots of trees, then removing them would increase your chances. The PMCA site recommends at least 40ft of clear flyway on all sides of your housing, but the more clear your site is of trees, the better.

      Delete
  3. jmiltonMarch 12, 2014 at 7:55 AM

    what are the chances of a purple martin finding a purple martin house in the backyard of a St. Louis county home?

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  4. UnknownMarch 14, 2014 at 7:13 AM

    Kathy,
    I'm curious...did he use the Troyer horizontal last year and was it in the same location on the rack? Site and house fidelity question?
    John

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    Replies
    1. Nikkis MomMarch 14, 2014 at 7:47 AM

      Hi John, good to see you on here! Thanks for commenting. He didn't use the horizontal gourd pictured (in that this one is facing east). He did however, use a horizontal gourd on this rack, just opposite of this one that is facing west. And he is going back and forth between these 2 gourds. I think his girlfriend is having a hard time choosing which one she prefers. :)

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  5. UnknownMarch 16, 2014 at 6:47 PM

    Kathy,
    I am sure that you meant to say that your 2014 season has officially begun.
    Mark.

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    Replies
    1. Nikkis MomMarch 23, 2014 at 6:46 AM

      Hi Mark, Yes, I did - don't know why I'm trying to get to the future already. :) Thanks - I've corrected it.

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