"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
Showing posts with label Missouri purple martins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Missouri purple martins. Show all posts
Well, it's more nuanced than that. After finally having some frost, we've reached the perfect weather window in Missouri where I can start cleaning out my purple martin gourds and storing them.
Since
we live in Missouri, where we often get snow & ice in February
& March each year (right at the time the purple martins are arriving), I cannot
wait until then to clean my gourds. So, I do it every Fall, after the
first frost. This year, I thought of my past militant attitude towards cleaning out my gourds - **sparkling clean and NO spots!**, and decided that I wanted to share some thoughts on how I now clean my gourds and clarify some nuancedthoughts on *why* I clean them.
My required gourd-cleaning protection (click on picture for an enlarged view)
For the last 2 years, I'm finding that I'm not quite as concerned as I used to be about getting my gourds sparkling clean. I AM focused, however, on killing the mites, fleas, etc. and their eggs. But, it's not ONLY for the benefit of the health of the purple martins that will nest there next year. It's also a concern for where I store the gourds. I store them in our shop where I have other things that I would like to keep mite-free. Things like our side-by-side and my native wildflower seed storage bins. A bout of warm weather would result in those eggs hatching and not be a good thing for me (or Mr. Freeze) to encounter.
A couple of years ago, I bought this 100-gallon livestock tank (100-gallon livestock tank - True Value) and I love it! I can soak 14 to 16 gourds at a time
in it at a time. Put them in to soak one day, then wash them out the next -
and I don't have to kill myself trying to clean all 84 gourds in one
day.
100-gallon Livestock Tank from True Value. 16 gourds in the tank
Many people just pull out the old nest material and rinse & dry their gourds / housing. And if you store your gourds in a place where you don't care if there are future outbreaks of such insects, you probably don't need to worry about the Bleach soak. But if you do care, then here is what I do:
Remove all the old nesting material.
Rinse out the remaining loose material.
Add water and bleach (enough bleach to make a 10% bleach-to-water solution).
Shove all the gourds into the tank and ensure all the air bubbles are removed.
The longer the gourds soak, the easier they'll be to clean out.
I'm finally done for this season, just in time for the freezing winter weather. I do have a few repairs to make this winter to some of my gourds (broken tunnels, torn treads, etc.), but I can take my time with those.
I have been keeping a log book of all my purple martin arrivals and nest checks since time began. Okay, well really since I became a landlord in 2007 with my first pair. I love writing in it each season with my mechanical .09 pencil. Something about writing with a pencil that I just love. I start each season by writing on a new page, "Season 20XX". Then, I start writing when the first purple martin arrives.
This year, my notations began on March 4th with the first ASY male arrival. The only others so far:
Mar. 12th - 3 martins here;
Mar. 14th - 6 martins here - supplemental feeding;
Mar. 20th - 11 martins here - supplemental feeding;
Mar. 21st - rain;
Mar. 22 & 23rd - 68 & 70 degrees - over 25 martins here.
Apr. 1st - too many to count....over 50 at least.
As I scanned through my notebook to see what was happening on these same dates in past years, I wondered if my son or my grandsons would someday find my Purple Martin notebook and be curious enough to read through it. I'm sure the grandsons would get a good laugh reading some of my notes, knowing how bird-crazy their grandmother was. I wonder if they would marvel at the handwriting and feel a warmth of familiarity and that will open up a flood of memories? The same way I loved to read the notes that my grandmother wrote in her letters and especially in her Bible? I've been feeling rather down about aging and thinking about my own mortality lately and the best way for me to work through stuff is to write about it. Not today, but soon. Moving on.....
Today, there are more than I can count but I'm sure I have over 50 martins now.
Yesterday evening during my walk, I saw my martins zooming just over the tops of my native wild plum grove. There are thousands of these moths swarming the fragrant, snow white blooms. I ran to the house and grabbed my camera and of course, by the time I returned, most of the martins were headed to bed, but I did manage to catch a few on video catching a snack for bedtime. I LOVE seeing this - it's one of the many reasons I love to talk about native plants and how many insects they host. And those insects are now feeding many of the birds here today. Now you can see why I preach, "GROW NATIVE"!
Here's a short video where I managed to capture a few purple martins & tree swallows snagging a moth before bedtime.
Not only are the purple martins swarming in, so are the tree swallows. I have a LOT more tree swallows than I have nest boxes for them. Check out how many TRES are twittering around my fields right now in the video above.
In 2021, a bluebird and tree swallow pair nested in this same paired configuration and last year, I had 2 tree swallow pairs nesting back-to-back in those same houses. According to the 'rule' book, when setting up tree swallow grid, they need about 100' between their nest boxes, but we love to break the rules here.
This past weekend, I decided to take my last two spare nest boxes out of the
garage and pair them with a couple of nest boxes on other posts.The new nest boxes certainly weren't doing anyone any good in the garage, so why not find out if lightning will strike 3 or 4 times on Gobbler's Knob?
In the past 2 days, I've also discovered that I have 2 pairs of nesting bluebirds! After the Polar Vortex of 2021, our local bluebird population was devastated. Where I had had 3 - 4 pairs of nesting bluebirds every year prior, I had none in 2021 and only 1 pair last year. I was thrilled to find 5 blue eggs in one nest and 2 eggs in another nest yesterday, and I encountered a male bluebird guarding another nestbox north of my house. Keeping my fingers crossed this is the year they rebound!
Fellow purple martin landlord extraordinaire, John Miller (St. Louis) found the cute picture below and recently shared it on the PMCA Forum. It was just the motivation I needed to get back to writing on my blog. Well, that and a couple of messages from long-time readers.
I took some time off from writing for a bit to focus on some other things. But, as time has gone on, I've realized how much I've missed it and how cathartic writing is for me. What better topic to kick my blog off again than the imminent Purple Martin 2023 season in Missouri!
Reports are coming in from many southern states that they many sites are actually spotting them much earlier than in prior seasons. Knowing that information, yesterday, Feb. 25th, it was 60 degrees here and winds were blowing from the south - literally, the exact conditions that have predicted their return every year. I thought for sure I would see one but thankfully, I didn't.
Checking my records, my earliest arrival happened on February 28th, 2016. As I looked at the forecast for the rest of this week, I'm a little concerned they may think it's a great time to mosey their way on up to Gobbler's Knob and confirm their reservations. While it is always exciting and heartwarming to see them arrive, Missouri weather is so danged unpredictable and while I have my colony trained to accept supplemental feeding, it's not my favorite thing to have to do.
Speaking of supplemental feeding, I checked my favorite supplier last week - Rainbowmealworms.com, and they are once again OUT of my favorite cricket size (1"). So annoying. It seems we are still suffering the stupid side affects of Covid - 3 years later.
I haven't seen a tree swallow yet either - normally I see one or two of them arrive with a purple martin in tow. I like to imagine that they met somewhere over the Gulf and teamed up to make the journey north to my site.
My wonderful husband has made sure that I have plenty of housing on hand. How cute is this house??
TRES nest box with slot entrance and bird spikes to prevent owls from landing on the box.
What IS bringing me joy right now is the fact that our local bluebird population appears to be rebounding from the devastating impact of the Polar Vortex of 2021. Remember that? I didn't see any bluebirds that year, and had only one breeding pair last year. From the numbers of them frequenting my yard this year so far, it looks like we will have a much better bluebird year.
So, Dear Missouri Landlords, I hope you're preparing your sites! They're on their way and they are in a hurry!
Don't forget to check out the PMCA Scout Arrival site to watch their progression northwards!
For those of you trying to attract purple martins to your site, NOW is the prime time in Missouri!
On April 29th, 2021, I reported a male sub-adult (SY - second year) arrival at my colony. Sub-adults, or "SY" (second-year) birds are the birds that were hatched last season that are just now reaching our borders during migration.
I also spotted 3 sub-adult females, but the PMCA asks that we report the sub-adult males, since they're a wee bit easier to identify. Well, "easier" is subjective. Some sub-adult males are easy to identify because they have large groupings of purple feathers (the indicators of a male martin) speckled about their chest & throat. For others, it can be more subtle.
When I first started out as a landlord, I spent hours taking pictures and following a bird that I suspected was a sub-adult male, only to realize it was a sub-adult female. It takes awhile - especially, because the purple feathers that you're searching for can be few and far between or so many that it's obvious. When I absolutely couldn't identify him using his feather markings, I would just wait for him to make the typical male 'clicking' sound and THAT was the indicator that sealed the ID game!
In this photo, the SY-Male on the left is checking out an ASY-Female on the right. There are a couple of small purple feathers on his chest that are glowing in the sunlight, another one under his left wing and a couple behind his legs.
In this photo below, this SY-Male has several purple feathers on his upper chest that makes him a little easier to spot.
In the photo below, the SY-Male has several small purple feathers under his chin. He is standing guard over his SY-Female (R).
This SY-male in the photo below was super-easy. He already has almost the full adult head covered with dark purple feathers.
In the photo below, the sub-adult female on the left is probably paired up with the ASY (adult) male on the right.
If you're a new landlord this season and awaiting purple martins, now would be a good time to start playing the dawnsong at your site. You can play it on a portable CD player, from your car's CD player with the doors open, from your house with the windows open or from your cell phone. It should be played in the wee hours of the morning (starting about 5 AM through until about 9 or 10 AM). Then start playing the daytime chatter. Purple martins like to be around other purple martins and that will help draw their attention to your new sites.
If you're still not sure of your ID skills, just watch for a bird
behaving like an out-of-control, hormonal teenager. That would be the SY
male.
My first purple martin 'scout' of this new season arrived on March 8th, 2021. It was 65 degrees and winds were out of the southwest - great migration weather. The awful polar vortex that hit the southern states just as migration began created a worrisome start this year with thousands of birds dying, including untold numbers of purple martins that had just literally landed at their home sites.
But it appears that some things are returning to normal and it was such a joy to see her circling my colony Monday afternoon. I still haven't seen any bluebirds since I found 3 dead in a nestbox on Feb. 13th. I also usually have tree swallows that arrive with my first purple martin, but I still have not seen one of those yet.
Missouri landlords should be raising their houses now - you can check out the Purple Martin Scout Arrival map live at this link to see if there are any reports submitted near your area. If you would like to report your own arrivals, you can use this link and create an account if you need to to enter your data.
With the final mass gourd cleanup completed and 2 coats of Pig Snot (my favorite car / motorcycle wax) applied to my predator baffles (which makes them super-slick!), I can now say that the Purple Martin Season of 2020 is officially closed.
We had a great Purple Martin year - 80 pair with over 305 young fledged. This year, everything seemed to get started about 2-3 weeks later than usual. On average in past years, we would normally only have 2-3 pair still trying to fledge their young around the first or second week of August. This year however, I still had around 25 pair up until August 18th. A very late season.
We had 4 confirmed kills by the Great Horned Owl - a 75% decrease over the last 6 years and that is definitely something I can live with. Last Fall, we opened up the East field even more by cutting down a few Eastern red cedar trees, and it worked - the hawk attacks were also greatly reduced. I was so relieved this year to have fewer successful attacks. While the trees were well over 150' away from the colony, in the prior years, the speedy little Sharpie and the Cooper's hawks had learned to use the trees for cover on their approach to the colony.
With a lot less stress this year from hawks & owls, it was much more fun to watch the martins fledge their young - they haven't a clue about Covid-19 and what the world is suffering through right now. But they do have their own worries - owls, hawks, bug supply, and climate change, just to name a few.
Bob and I notice that when my purple martins are here, along with the nesting bluebirds, tree swallows, chickadees, tufted titmice and others, we hardly ever see any bugs flying through the yard. The birds seem to keep the population of flying insects very controlled.
It is only after the nesting season ends and the purple martins have left for Brazil that I start to see more bugs around my yard again. Thousands of dragonflies appear, the Pennsylvania Leatherwings cover the Bidens and multiple wasp species descend on the Goldenrod.
Check out the video below, taken A view into some of the September & October bugs:
After all the other native wildflowers have gone to seed, the New England Asters, goldenrod (did you know that Missouri has over 23 species of goldenrod?) and bidens bloom & continue to provide food for the bees: And the fields light up with a sea of yellow and purple flowers. Yes, life is good here on Gobbler's Knob.
Pennsylvania Leatherwings on Missouri Bidens
Bumblebee with filled pollen basket on Goldenrod
A Wasp party on Goldenrod
Bidens, Indian grass, Goldenrod and Pickerel weed provide cover and food for insects, quail and all the other wildlife that choose to live on Gobbler's Knob.
This Guest post was written by my good friend in Corpus Christi, Mr.
John Barrow - purple martin landlord expert and all-around good-guy-extraordinaire. Thanks for sharing, John!
Winnowing Definition: (referring to a group of things, people, animals) to reduce something's size by separating the ones that are
useful or relevant from the ones that are not.
I have been
contemplating the effects of the post-fledge natural winnowing process on a
colony this season and, I am becoming convinced that a great deal (or majority)
of hatch year (HY) loss occurs in the week or two after fledging occurs.
At
my colony we had moderate drought in 2008, severe drought in 2009, and a banner
year in 2010. In 2008 we had numerous jumpers--at one point we were rehabbing a
dozen nestlings. In 2009, we had severe brood reduction due to weather related
events--nearly all in the nature of fewer eggs produced; many that were not incubated.
I recall we had only one jumper, but had 62 nest starts from 45 pairs. This
year (2010) we had laying and incubation of large clutches of eggs, with only
one jumper that was returned to fledge.
Fledging
each year, occurred in most cases over several days. That scenario, which is
probably typical, results in separation of the family unit as adults take their
new fledges to a presumably safe location and, starting individually, teach
them to find and catch food. Prior to fledging adults have already reduced
feeding of nestlings to encourage fledging, and as the post-fledging training
occurs, those left in the nest lose weight, often to critical levels. This is
what, in most instances absent mites, etc., I believe, causes jumpers. Not an
easy problem to deal with. You can stuff the jumper with food and stick it back
in the compartment you believe it belongs in. But that doesn't increase the feeding
by its parents. These late fledges are really in a battle against time to get
out of the nest, fly capably, and remain with their family group, in order to
survive.
Add
to this other typical behavior like the adults returning to the cavities with newly
fledged young--a form of post fledging memory stamping--and the ensuing
confusion as these newly fledged young are attacked, chased and threatened when
trying to reenter what is often someone else's turf, you almost certainly have
more family unit separation and confusion.
There
has been little study done of the effects of this post fledge winnowing period,
and I suspect study would be difficult and for the most part subjective. But it
is something I have been reflecting on. Did my adult pairs of martins that
fledged 3 young/per pair in 2009, and were probably better equipped to train
that lesser number and keep the family unit intact, have a substantially lesser
effect on the overall population, then those pairs in 2010 that fledged 6 or 7
per nest; but, that had more difficulty in training the individual fledges,
locating and preserving a safe and secure locale for staging that provided
areliable food source; and finally, in
keeping the entire family unit intact for the requisite training period to allow
the young to become independent? I think there are signals that the overall
population fluctuation of a certain area in a good year, may not be
significantly different than in a marginal year.
What
does it matter? Assuming there are substantial losses during this post fledging
period, what can be done to reduce it? Winnowing in this light is defined as
reducing the number of birds in a species until only the best ones are left. It
is natural selection at its purest.
It
is not maintaining a colony so large that it becomes a magnet for predators,
not only endangering adults during the nesting process, but more so, becoming
an attack zone for recently fledged hatch year birds whose survival is
dependent on their having a safe and secure training area to learn basic
survival skills as part of a family unit. It is not offering housing that
serves to maximize the confusion of family units returning to housing as part
of post fledging memory stamping at the colony, be it housing that is too
closely configured, or stacked row on top of row; it is not building a colony
of the size or in an area beyond the capacity of the immediate food supply.
Per the PMCA, pole-mounted predator guards are an important part of being a conscientious and successful landlord, yet at the beginning of each Purple Martin season, as sure as the sun rises
in the East and sets in the West, the inevitable debates regarding
whether landlords should use predator guards or not begin on the multiple
online forums. Yet, I
have never met a purple martin landlord that wanted to set up purple
martin housing so they could offer 'free food' to a raccoon or a snake.
Screenshot taken from video by Dan Pancamo (Full video linked below). The bulge in the snake's head is from the first 8-day old nestling he just consumed.
So many Purple Martins are lost each year to snake and raccoon attacks. It makes me sad every season to read about the losses - sad for the landlords who worked so hard to attract them, sad for the purple martins who died needlessly, and even more sad for the loss of what could have been a productive site contributing to the overall population and well-being of the species. We need MORE purple landlords hosting these magnificent birds - but not just throwing up a pole and a house / gourds and ignoring it, because, that's where the predators will take advantage. What we need are MORE purple landlords that know how to make their sites safe AND productive - the very pleasant side effect of that is the landlord has an even more enjoyable season.
After all, who wants to pull a snake out of their purple martin housing, or clean up the blood & mess after a raccoon attack? That's not 'enjoyable' to me. Who wants the stress of not knowing whether the surviving martins will return in the next season?
A landlord removed the predator guards for one night and found this snake in the cavity the next morning - full of 3 nestlings.
Many experienced landlords are well aware that after a predator attack, the surviving martins may never return - in fact, many sites remain empty for years afterward. People don't go out and buy chickens & ducks and then not protect them from the resident coyotes, raccoons & owls, so why are our purple martins - a resource that is so much more precious - treated as expendable?
A fourth nestling was found on the porch and had been squeezed to death by the same snake in the picture above.
The impact of a predator attack is well documented by the PMCA and by landlords who have experienced the regrettable losses firsthand - they will be the first people to tell you - "Don't let it happen to you". Check out the link below to see what is the number ONE reason for why people lose their martins.
By the time the martins get here, they have already had to deal with a
multitude of obstacles and aerial predators. The PMCA estimates 50-60%
of purple martins are lost during migration both to and from Brazil.
With such challenges and losses already, it becomes even more critical
to protect them when they get here. I am a firm believer that we should NOT create a free 'all-you-can-eat
buffet' for any predator by giving them free reign and unhindered access
to our nesting sites.
The Basics- Recommended Predator Guards (from the PMCA):
Pole Guards—Also called predator baffles, pole
guards are cylindrical or conical in shape and help prevent raccoons or
snakes from climbing up the pole. No matter if your pole is 12 or 20 ft
tall, round or square, metal or wood, it can easily be climbed by
snakes or raccoons. Pole guards are commercially available (PMCA recommends a quick release pole guard for ease of use) or you can make
your own. Per the PMCA, they should be installed at least 4 ft above the ground (higher if possible), 8 inches in diameter, and 2 ft long.
Netting—For those in areas with large snakes 1/2 - 3/4" bird netting can be used as a secondary line of defense.
Netting should be placed above the predator baffle in puffy layers,
ensuring there is no space for the snake to climb between the netting
and pole, or over the netting.
Electric Fence Guards - If you have an electrical outlet nearby, or can connect to a fence charger, this is a great way to protect your poles from any climbing critters. The only drawback to this method is, unless you have your fencing also plugged into a backup power source, then a power outage would leave your poles open to a predator attack. Even a fence charger can fail though, so backup guards are still needed, in form of baffle and netting.
The combination of a cylinder / pole guard with the netting mounted
above the guard will predator-proof your poles and protect your nesting
martins.
You can purchase a 'quick release' predator baffle here: https://www.purplemartin.org/shop/
...or you can make your own. Here's a link on how to make your own predator baffle / cylinder guard: https://www.purplemartin.org/uploads/media/8-2-predatorbaffles-496.pdf
**Note: A good coat of Carnuba car wax helps prevent your metal baffle from weathering and helps keep it smooth & slick so a predator cannot grasp it and bypass it. (See the bottom of this post for my DIY ideas for predator baffles).
For mounting my netting above my predator baffle, I use the following materials.
My 'frame' to hold the netting - a piece of fencing - cut so that there are 'arms (wires)' to support the netting and hold it out
approx. 8" from the pole.
The top of my predator baffle is mounted up as high as I can comfortably reach. I then set the netting frame on top of the baffle and zip tie it together around the post. I can then just cut the zip ties and lower the system for nest checks later, then re-secure the frame with new zip ties.
Electric Fence Guards: Some landlords prefer this method and if you know anything about electricity, then this is the absolute best way to go. You'll want something insulating your pole to ensure your pole itself is not electrified. The landlord below uses a four-foot tall piece of PVC pipe around his pole, then wraps that with approximately 24" tall hardware cloth. The hardware cloth is then attached to the 'live' wire. The few inches open at the bottom are left in case a bird comes in contact with the pole, he / she won't be electrocuted.
Photo provided by Malcolm Stephens, an experienced landlord who takes the protection of his very large purple martin colony very seriously.
You can either purchase a solar-powered fence charger or buy one such as the one below and enclose it in a weather-proof container.
Photo provided by Malcolm Stephens, an experienced landlord who takes the protection of his very large purple martin colony very seriously.
I am not an expert in this area, so if you'd like to try this method,
you can either: Login to either of the most popular Facebook Purple
Martin Forums (Purple Martin Fanatics or the Purple Martin Conservation Association) and ask for assistance with setting this up, or if you don't have Facebook, send me an email at purplemartin@centurytel.net and I will put you in contact with an expert who can advise you.
Snakes - Large & Small
Friends have shared their pictures with me of successful 'captures' of the snakes that never made it into their housing:
Snake ID: Texas Rat Snake
To remove any captured snake, hold the snake by the head
while wearing heavy gloves and use scissors to cut the netting away from
the body. Snakes should be removed unharmed and released a few miles
away from the colony. Netting does not prevent raccoons from climbing
the pole and should always be used along with a baffle. Netting is a
trap, rather than a guard and like all traps it needs to be closely
monitored to ensure that any species caught by the trap are removed and
released unharmed. **PLEASE NOTE: we should value our native predators and NOT kill them - they serve a purpose in our environment.
Snake ID: Texas Rat Snake
Don't let anyone tell you a snake cannot climb a pole - there are multiple recorded events showing they really can.
Photo provided by Greg Ballard - a southern purple martin landlord, where the rat snakes are HUGE!
Purple martins are at their most vulnerable when sleeping inside their nest cavities at night and have very little chance of escaping if a wily racoon or a snake comes calling.
From the PMCA: Once a snake has digested its meal and left, there are no signs that a predator has visited a site, other than missing eggs and birds.
The next video is hard to watch (spoiler alert - the female, thankfully, escapes). But, I can't imagine putting my purple martins through this kind of terror. (Video credit: Dan Pancamo)
A landlord removed his predator guard for only ONE NIGHT. The snake in the picture below took advantage and wiped out all 4 nestlings overnight by eating 3 of them and the 4th was found dead on the house porch. How would you like to open a nest compartment and see THAT staring you in the face?
Snake ID: Texas Rat Snake
Snake ID: Black Rat Snake (Missouri)
A new landlord here in Missouri added the netting to her pole right after her first 2 purple martins arrived at her colony. She really didn't think anything would go after only 2 birds, but a few days after mounting the netting, she caught this snake before it destroyed what would have been her first and only pair of nesting purple martins.
The "Other" Ground Predator - Raccoons
Raccoons can be found
natively throughout most of the US and Canada, as well as in parts of
Latin America, from Mexico extending down to the northernmost regions of
South America. Raccoons are agile climbers, handling both wood and metal poles easily. Signs of a raccoon attack are finding severed martin wings on the ground, blood, fur and feathers on the martin housing and ground, and claw marks on wooden poles. Nesting material maybe hanging from entrance holes and doors may be pulled off.
A landlord reported that nesting material had been torn out of each nesting cavity on this Trendsetter house. The torn-off wings and feathers were left on top of the house - a classic indication of a raccoon attack.
Feathers and a bent owl guard were clear signs of a raccoon attack.
Landlord Testimonial (northern Missouri): We left for a 4-day weekend and when we returned all three of our gourd racks (72 gourds) were totally empty. It was only early June (too early for the martins to have left already), so we knew something was wrong. After talking with Kathy and then lowering the housing and viewing the ground below the racks, we discovered that a local raccoon family had likely raided our gourd racks over the weekend. It was a bloody slaughter - feathers and torn off wings on the ground beneath the racks. We had seen the family of 5 raccoons in our nearby woods, but we did not have guards on our poles since we had no idea they (raccoons) could climb the poles. **Note: It has been over 3 years since this attack, and no purple martins have returned to this site.
I always have at least 4 or 5 raccoons in a family here on Gobbler's Knob too. Last year, while monitoring my housing with a security camera to see what my resident Great Horned Owl was up to, I caught one of the raccoons on camera as he waddled across my yard and tested each guard to see if he could ascend and have a meal of purple martins. (He's hard to see, but click on the YouTube link after you hover over the video, then enlarge it - he enters from the left - watch for the movement).
With a decline in the number of landlords across the country offering housing, it becomes imperative that we offer safe housing to the birds we host. And, for the new landlords that are attracted to this hobby, it's really the responsibility of the experienced landlords to teach and help them provide safe housing. Really. It's not that hard, and with all the experienced landlords on the various forums, help is at your fingertips.
Our purple martins exhibit a lot of trust & faith in us by returning to our sites. It's up to us to not betray that trust by providing them with the needed protection.
A very special thanks to Louise Chambers for her most patient help with
editing and providing some very helpful guidance in writing this post.
My bluebirds are a bunch of Divas. For about 5 months of each year, they pretty much have this whole 23 acres, along with 14 nestboxes to themselves. But when the first Tree Swallows arrive in Spring, the bluebirds become a bunch of whiny babies and fly from nestbox-to-nestbox, trying to dominate each one and bully the Tree Swallows away from *their* site.
My friend Jeff in Rogersville, Keith in Ava and myself always have a small competition going each year regarding who will get their martins back first. On Saturday, Feb. 29th, I had already rolled out 2 gourds since I just *KNEW* all three of us would be getting our martins back on the same day. It was a classic weather pattern for my arrivals - winds from the south and 60 degrees.
When I searched the skies first thing in the morning, the first tell tale sign was a little teal-colored, "orca of the skies" zooming around my backyard. In years past, my tree swallows have always been the first to arrive here on Gobbler's Knob, usually followed closely by a purple martin...or three.
Several of us that host tree swallows along with purple martins have nicknamed them "Orcas of the Skies"; one obvious reason is their coloring, but the biggest reason is how ferocious and brave these little birds can be when a hawk enters their territory. They are fierce and are a great bird to host along with purple martins - all they need is a nest box - similar to a bluebird's nestbox.
By Sunday, I still had no martins, so I checked the Purple Martin forum and found that Jeff and Keith BOTH had received several martins on Saturday already. I guess my purple martins are going to be slackers this year. Probably hanging out in Sikeston at Lambert's - "Home of the Throwed Roll", thinking they really meant, "Home of the Throwed Crickets".
With the weather still looking warm for last week though, I decided to go ahead and put out a few more gourds.
Since I get a lot of questions about pre-nesting gourds, I decided to make a short video to show how I do it. Please note - I use only gourds, but you can also pre-nest any housing that you provide.
It not only helps keep the martins warm by providing some insulation when they arrive in early March, it also gives your gourds / housing a more "lived-in" look and will help attract new martins, since they are "secondary cavity-nesters". Click here to read more about the tradition shift in their nesting habits.
Pre-nesting also ensures there's enough nesting material in the bottom of your housing to prevent the birds from slipping around on the flooring as well as preventing 'splayed-leg' syndrome in the nestlings.
Materials to NOT use:
- Do NOT use cedar chips / shavings. While they are purported to repel insects, they also absorb a lot of water and a wet nest is just as deadly to nestlings as are too many mites, etc.
- Do NOT use green grass - it has too much moisture in it and it will mold & rot in the nest.
Recommended Materials:
- Eastern White Pine needles - they 'shed' water and don't absorb it.
- Corn fodder - some landlords that live near corn fields have reported their martins using this for their nesting materials. It also sheds water
- Straw - use only dry straw
Here's a video I made this past weekend, while waiting for my purple martin arrivals:
An ASY male martin did arrive at my site on Saturday, March 7th. That purple dot right in the middle of the Mark Twain National Forest - that's me - in the picture below. You can report your arrivals too, to the Purple Martin Scout Arrival Study linked here:
Get ready - the purple martins are coming! If you're a new landlord this year, you still have about 4-6 weeks to get ready, so don't panic. Obviously, the sooner the better - you want to do it right the first time!
With all the rain we've had this year, the purple martins' nestlings have been feasting on dragonflies galore. Fledging began here on Thursday, June 20th with 2 nests and as of now, June 30th, about half of my nests have fledged. I had 79 pair this year (up from 76 pair last year) and currently 71 of those nests contain 313 young. That means there are approximately ~150 new fledges and 158 adults (~308 birds from my colony) filling the skies around Gobbler's Knob....and slaughtering every insect in sight. This year I will have 8 late nests - most of them hatching now and over the next couple of days, meaning they won't fledge until the end of July / early August.
My colony is 13 years old this year. This is the first season, since my 3rd or 4th year, where over half my pairs are sub-adults. It's as if there has been a 'changing of the guard' this year. While my number of pairs is up from last year, the number of young that have hatched and survived is lower and I attribute that to the much 'younger/ more inexperienced" sub-adults that I have this year. Along with that change, has come the inevitable passing down of the message, "hey, did you know there's also a Great Horned Owl that lives here?" Yes, she's still here....and she has caught at least 10 adult martins this year and now, with so many new fledges returning at night, we're moving to DEFCON 1 and many sleepless nights until our season ends.
This is a mid-day video of my colony with approximately half the adults still feeding their young during the day.
[After clicking on the video, you can then click on the YouTube link and go to full screen for the HD version].
Below is a video of 300+ purple martins coming home in the waning sunlight. The chaos caused by over 150 new fledges not knowing to which gourd they should return is pretty hilarious. The ruckus heals my heart and makes all the pain, sweat & tears of the season just melt away. Maybe that's the way nature intended it? Ending the year with this kind of party always gives me a sense of accomplishment and renewed hope. Pretty fantastic and fun!
For the first time in our 13 years of hosting Tree Swallows, they are
all producing a second brood this year. So unusual - but I'm happy about
that! Normally, they've left by now and aren't around to help with the
hawks that start trying to take the martin fledges, but this year, the
little "Orcas" are helping out and I'm loving it!
The purple martins are not the only ones who have benefited from all the rain this year. Our native wildflower field has been bustin' loose too! We have had way more coneflowers this year. And while the 'Queen Anne's Lace' is a native, it is really annoying because it too has benefited from the excessive rain and is blocking the view of some of the other natives. Nevertheless, we are thrilled with the amount of flowers and abundance of insects they're currently attracting.
This is a video from 3 different viewpoints of our most-mature native wildflower field. I love the variety and how there is always something in bloom here. I didn't realize until after I had already processed the video, that I still had 'image-stabilization' turned on for my camera, so some of the video will blur a little bit, but as I pause in various places it does clear up. I have had this video camera for several years and I still can't figure out how half the crap that I really don't need, gets turned on!! Bummer - definitely need to practice more with that!
I have a St. John's Wort bush in my landscape bed that has been spreading all kinds of fertile seed and I can't keep up with pulling all the small shoots that are coming up. Soooooo, if you want a St. John's Wort bush or some seed, contact me! I'll let you have all you want - but you have to dig it out. Ha! The bonus is that the bumblebees absolutely LOVE St. John's Wort. It's hard to get a good video of the bumblebees because they move so quickly - but in this video, you can see the prolific blooms on the St. John's Wort too.
Lastly, a quick tour of our savanna area - scattered oak trees with broken sunlight. We planted this area in December 2014 with the Native wildflower mix from Hamilton Native Outpost called, "Shadows & Sunbeams". This is its 5th season and it is absolutely beautiful. The birds are now scattering the grey-headed coneflower seeds and the plants are coming up all around the property.
Come with me and take a tour of my favorite spot.
QUIZ TIME! If you watched all five of my videos on this blogpost, you will find that three of them have at least 2, maybe 3 bird calls in common. Can you name them?
It seems that I finished getting my new rack up just in time. This year, to better protect my martins and make my nest checks easier, I've replaced my two Deluxe Gourd racks with a third Super System gourd rack. With drilling four extra holes on each of the Super System racks, I'm able to have 28 gourds on each system, maintaining my 84-gourd colony.
I'm thrilled that I'm not only going to be able to more easily do nest checks this year, but I also won't be fighting with the owl cages and donating a quart of blood every time I do a nest check! So far, things have been very quiet where the Great Horned Owl has been concerned. No signs of feathers or attacks yet.
On Saturday, May 4th, I was able to identify my first sub-adult male arrival for the 2019 season.
Last night, just as the last of the light was fading away, a fast-flying group of martins circled my site three times. They were tightly grouped and all their bellies were very white. I laughed as I suddenly realized they were a gang of sub-adults, coming in like gangbusters - they folded their wings and dove into my colony. They tumbled through the openings in the cages and proceeded to perch on the gourd arms.
They must have thought they would really impress the girls, arriving like a gang of thugs - reminded me of this scene from Grease 2:
All thirteen of them were sub-adults and they acted like they didn't have an established gourd yet, indicating they must have migrated & arrived here yesterday. It became very noisy in the gourds as the light dimmed and I could barely make them out trying to enter the already-occupied gourds.
Sub-adult arrivals, with a couple of ASY bachelor males.
Today, as dawn arrived and the rain continued, making it a cold, wet miserable day for humans and avian alike, I was able to see that indeed, I now have a lot of sub-adults on-board....that are getting ready to wreck chaos here on Gobbler's Knob.
Free showers today. May sub-adult arrivals.
There were definite advantages to the timing of their arrivals though.
May sub-adult arrivals.
With the weather being incredibly cold and rainy today, some of my "old-timers" who knew the routine when this weather arrived, decided to let me know today that it was time for the eggs and crickets to be served.
Thinking it was a good training opportunity for the new SY arrivals to learn how the diner works here on Gobbler's Knob, I took advantage, thawed some crickets and cooked some eggs.
After some refresher flipping training, I dumped everything on my tray and called them to the trough. In a "monkey-see, monkey-do" fashion, some of the SYs landed with the adults and watched them as they gobbled down the food.
Note the little SY female to the far left.
This little SY female was especially curious and very smart. At first, she tried to steal the food from the ASY female on the right. She knew whatever was going on was a good thing, but she didn't quite understand it yet. But she watched closely and studied hard.
She watched the ASY female closely.
After 10 minutes of watching and unable to steal the food from the ASYs, the little female decided to give it a try. I was thrilled! She will remember this routine now.
Finally, she tried it out.
A few minutes later an SY male (left of her) arrived. I'm not sure if he is HER mate, but he watched her intently and I'm sure she'll teach him the ropes. If he's nice to her that is.
SY male and SY female learning how to eat at the feeding tray.
Bob said, "you know they all probably ate yesterday, right? Now they're just being little freeloaders". "Yes," I told him, "but I never pass up a training opportunity". And sure enough it paid off.
Hoping for much better weather in the coming days - for my birds and my bees.
I saw this raccoon today toddling across my yard at 2:30 PM. His/her home must be flooded out for him to come out like this. I let him/her pass as I felt kinda sorry for it.
I have no idea yet how many purple martin eggs I have, as my yard seems to be knee-deep in water & mud. We need a break - soon.
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