But, as I sat in my office one morning I saw a buzzard flying in from the North, bobbing up and down and weaving as if he / she were drunk. It was weaving and coming in so low in fact, I thought it was going to crash into my office window. Hot on its tail were my murder of crows.
A few days later, Bob was taking Nikki for a walk around the property. The Great Horned Owl flushed and flew a couple hundred feet into a nearby tree, with the crows in pursuit, constantly cawing and harassing her. At that point, it dawned on me I should figure out how I could use these noisy, wonderful troublemakers to my advantage. It has been amusing to watch them chase the Red Tails, Northern Harriers, Cooper's, and the Red-Shouldered hawks as they hunt across the fields. Unfortunately, it always seemed to be happening when I am without one of my cameras.
So, to keep the crows around and the owls distracted, the south east field is now prepped to draw their attention away from my purple martins. We scattered over 35 lbs of chicken scratch (containing cracked corn and milo) here - what doesn't get eaten will grow...and that's ok too.
Last Friday, Mar. 23rd, I had counted 18 purple martins when they came in for the evening. This past Saturday however, there was a noticeable difference in their chatter & activities and I watched my gourd racks as purple martins rained down from the sky. It was windy and 65 degrees. This video was taken around 11 AM - there are a lot in the air behind me as I was filming them coming in and claiming their gourds....and the way they navigate the owl cages - they've obviously been here before.
(click on the video below, then the "YouTube" link to embiggen the screen)
As I stood outside Saturday evening, Mar. 24th, I expected to count 18-20 again. At first, I only counted 12 returning home as the sun began to set and I thought the rest had either moved on, or I had been mistaken on Friday. As the sky darkened though, I heard martins behind me and above - seeming to suddenly materialize out of the clouds. I spun round & round, trying to spot and count them, as more small groups appeared from every direction. Way up high, a familiar shape circled the quarter moon. By the time every martin had descended and was safely tucked in a gourd, I had counted 35 martins. Yes, 35 martins. On March 24th. The only year that number was exceeded was in 2014 - and that ended up being a horrible year where I had to feed them ... a LOT. In fact, here are my counts from previous years:
- March 26, 2008 - 1 ASY male purple martin arrived
- March 24, 2009 - 1 ASY male & 1 ASY female arrived
- March 15, 2010 - 1 ASY female martin arrived (by 3/24 - there were 4 here)
- March 7, 2011 - 1 ASY female martin arrived (by 3/24 - there were 12 here)
- March 13, 2012 - 2 ASY male martins arrived (by 3/24 - there were 24 here)
- March 9, 2013 - 1 ASY female arrived (by 3/24 - there were 22 here)
- March 10, 2014 - 1 ASY male arrived (by 3/24 - there were 100 - 110 here)
- March 15, 2015 - 1 ASY male arrived
- February 28, 2016 - 1 ASY female arrived (by 3/24 - there were 25-30 here)
- March 4, 2017 - 1 ASY female and male arrived (by 3/24 - there were 25-30 here)
- February 19, 2018 - 1 ASY male arrived (by 3/24- there are 35+ here)
Much to my delight, I received another visit from my Barred Owl (who has NOT been spotted attacking my purple martin racks) on March 28th at 10:15 AM. I can't help myself - I could watch her all day. This nestbox is less than 150' from my office window and wouldn't ya know it - she always shows up when I'm on a work conference call.
I can't help but wonder how any of my cavity-nesters - bluebirds, chickadees, tufted titmice, or tree swallows would ever feel comfortable using this nestbox for the season. Yet, I've never seen her chasing any of my birds - in fact, the purple martins were out chattering on the racks on the opposite side of the house at the same time this video was taken. When the GHO was spotted during daylight a few days ago, the first sign that a predator was around was the loud warning calls of the Cardinals and Blue Jays that were flitting about where she had decided to roost. Oddly enough, those same birds do not seem to react in the same manner when the Barred owl is around. Since I've seen her on this post a lot using it as a hunting perch, she must be having success to keep coming back to it. I was actually happy to see her. I had read that GHOs would either kill or drive a Barred owl out of its territory, so I was glad to see she was still alive. As I frequently discover, the 'rules' don't always apply here at Gobbler's Knob.
The New England Asters, Bee Balm and other native wildflowers are starting to sprout in my garden already. The dandelions and Bradford pear trees are blooming and providing some much-needed food for the honey bee hive I found in my wood duck box.
All the signs are clear - so, come on Spring - the martins are ready, the plants are ready and now I'm ready - let's get to it!
