A Welcome Home and Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

My apologies - I'm a bit behind this year with my reporting, since I've been on work travel to Germany.  But now that I'm back, it's time to get back into the swing of things and nothing makes me feel more rooted again than getting outside and preparing all the bluebird, tree swallow and purple martin housing.  Spring has come so early this year and has definitely caught me off guard!
On Sunday, February 28th, while still in Germany, I received an email from my husband.  It was 7 AM his time and a single adult male purple martin had just arrived at my site!  This is the first time a martin has arrived at my site in February.  The earliest arrival ever was March 12th.  Thank goodness I had uncovered my Trendsetter before I left on the trip!  Bob quickly added some pine needles to help provide some warmth at night, when the temps were still dipping down into the low 30's.

Many of my martins are already pairing up.

Two days after the purple martin arrived, on March 1st - the first tree swallow of the year also appeared.  As of yesterday, I now have over 20 martins.  I guess the one thing I can say about hosting purple martins - every year is different!

First Tree Swallow of the season. As of 3/20/2016, there are now over 17 TRES here.

This year, I've made some changes to my PMCA Deluxe Racks so they will be better protected from my local Great Horned Owl.  I'll be posting about that exercise in a couple of weeks! I haven't seen him/her this year but back in late December, I did get to watch this Barred Owl hunting in the north Savanna early morning fog for about an hour.

One of my friends made this very cool rendering of one of the photos I made.  Pretty neat! Hopefully, he/she won't also decide purple martins are on the menu this summer. :(

While getting back in the swing of things, I noticed my list of Missouri landlords has grown to 73!  I'll be writing more about our small, growing community and some of its members later this spring, but I wanted to first write about a very special landlord who was also a very dear, cool friend.
Bob Peterson was one of the first people we met when we moved to Licking 10 years ago.  He owned C-Hwy Garage north of town and my father-in-law introduced us when we were trying to find a part for an old used tractor we had. As I became more educated about hosting purple martins, I began to take notice of his purple martin house.  It was a very old S&K house and he had 3 pairs of HOSP and 1 pair of martins in it during summer of 2009.  I asked him if he enjoyed hosting purple martins and he said, "Yes, if only I could get rid of those "chippies".  I asked him if he'd like some help, which of course he accepted and that started my friendship with him.  After 4 days, we had trapped and eliminated over 55 English House Sparrows.  We cleaned out his house and that summer, he hosted 3 pairs of martins and he fledged 9 young.
After learning more about starlings and house sparrows, and doing nest checks, Bob was hooked.  He came to all of my open houses and presentations and quickly became an advocate for purple martins also, obtaining 10 copies of my newsletter and distributing it to everyone he knew each month. In spring of 2011, Bob, being his usual creative self, tore down his old house and using supplies he found around his junk yard and the knowledge I had gathered for him on the internet, built a gourd rack out of 3" steel pipe and an old satellite dish.  After 3 days, it was ready to go and I went over to celebrate its christening with 8 new Troyer Vertical gourds.  That first year, Bob had 8 pair of martins.

When it came to banding time, Bob didn't want to miss out on the event.  He was here every time and he helped keep the nestlings moving and me organized.  He loved it and he loved learning.  

On July 3, 2013, I was so thrilled for him when he called and told me he thought he had a banded bird at his colony.  What were the odds that someone from 6 miles away who had probably handled that same bird as a nestling, would attract one of them to his site?  We confirmed that day, PUMA band # A675 (an adult male purple martin banded at my site on July 6, 2011) at his site and that bird was still at his colony last year as he hosted 22 pair. Bob had a quick and clever mind.  And I don't think I've ever met a more dependable friend - you could call and before you finished your question, he had already come up with a solution for whatever it was you were asking about. When my husband needed to find a disc to tear up some ground for a new orchard, Bob arrived that weekend with his old tractor and disc and he and my husband had it ready with a few hours.

He was a master gardener and it especially thrilled him to introduce young children to the joy of growing their own vegetables.  Bob would call and laugh as he told me how 'his' purple martins would fly low over his head and try to scare him off as he lowered the rack to do nest checks.  He was preparing to put up a second gourd rack this year before the season started.  On Saturday, March 5th, he walked through my mind as I thought about calling him and asking him if he was ready to put it up yet but, I didn't make that call.  On Monday, March 7th, I was deeply saddened to find out he had died on Friday, March 4th.  Bob was 60 years old.
I'm not sure yet what will happen to Bob's colony or if A675 will return this year.  I haven't been able to bring myself to go over to visit his family and find out what will happen to his colony yet.  I'm sure if his rack is taken down, his family will be erecting it near their own homes as they love purple martins as much as Bob did.  But one thing is for sure - Bob will be missed.  I will miss his quirkiness and his quick-witted retorts, but most of all, his martins will most certainly miss him. 

My Blue Moon Martins

I still have 2 pair of purple martins here with their young.  Two nests with 5 nestlings each, chirping away, preparing for flight.  Thanks to all the rain through July, there is a veritable bounty of dragonflies, butterflies, bees, and many, many more insects flying these days, so there is plenty of food for them.
I passed by my native wildflower specimen garden yesterday and as I quietly watched all the insects, flitting about, I thought, "hey, make a movie to show this and you can set it to music"!  Then, it suddenly occurred to me - I had all the background music that I needed and as I listened, it made me grin, ear-to-ear as I compared them to human parents trying to get their stubborn teenagers to do something they didn't want to do.  HA!  Even birds have to deal with teenagers!
My 2 pair of adults were flying about, screeching to their kids to come fly with them and they even made a couple of cameo appearances in my movie below.  "It's time to go!" they seemed to say with a great deal of urgency.  Their many different vocalizations made me laugh and snort while taking the flower garden video.  They sounded like they were trying to be very stern and convincing, attempting to get the youngsters to launch.  It's surprising how loud they were - it was even more surprising how loud their kiddos were as they chirped back to their parents, demanding another bug. 
It worked for one gourd as all the young from one of them finally fledged yesterday.  Today, I only see the one remaining pair, persistently trying to coax their young out.  There are regularly 8-10 visitors here every morning, but for such a social bird, they are surely desperate to leave and join the larger flocks at some of the roosts.
Enjoy the video - both the visual beauty of the insects, but also the beautiful audio.  I think it's one that I'll listen to several times over the winter months, until the next season begins.

Everything is Out of Sorts Today

We have gotten a lot of rain in the last couple of weeks - most of it in the last 2 days.  Today, I feel like everything is out of sorts, as my Grandmother used to say.  Nothing feels right.  After almost 2 years of drought, I thought we were going to lose all our fish in our ever-shrinking pond this summer.  But now it's overflowing its banks - way out of bounds.  I now have to worry that our bass and bluegill will end up in our neighbor's pond as our overflow has backed up and it drains into his pond.  Get back in your own pond.

The pond is well over 15' out of its banks - we normally ride our 4-wheelers down this path that is now filled with water.

Somehow, with so much rain, grass is growing in our driveway - way out of bounds.  I should celebrate the ladino clover in the middle of it that magically, somehow appeared.  You can't mow this stuff too much either.  After 5 or 6 mowings already, it is still blooming!

Everything is so doggone wet!  Along with 3 launch failures this morning.  They are wet & stinky.  They're not happy about this turn of events.  Neither am I.

3 new failed launches this morning

I swear, even the ticks are parachuting off the door trims and landing on my head.  I don't know where they're all coming from.  I may choose to borrow Nikki's Frontline.
Even Olivia seems out of sorts - all wet and cranky.  As I was filming her playing hide-n-seek, she stopped on the open deck and turned toward me.  As she gazed at my toes, I suddenly realized just how vulnerable my bare feet were.  I decided it was time to start acting like I knew how to River dance and I kept my feet moving until I was safely back inside the enclosed porch.

But at its root, I know why I'm out of sorts today.  After checking on my colony every 10-15 minutes last night, I was alarmed when my GHO flew out from under my deck.  I hadn't seen her come in and when I went to check the videos, I found that she had attacked the Trendsetter in between one of my checks, in a spot where a new fledge had been trying for an hour to get into a cavity.  Check out the video below - she comes in from the left and hangs on to the Trendsetter for an eternity.  In the video, the fledge flies past the camera during the attack, so fortunately, he lives to tell the tale.  Other martins flushed from the other racks too.  Silly birds....stay put!!  Worst of all, my stupid game camera (seen in the video below) is only 12-13 feet away, didn't capture any of it.  I checked it today - 99% battery.  In the heat & humidity, I was tempted to boot it across the field.  Instead, I rebooted it the standard way - hopefully, it won't have anything to capture tonight, but will be able to if needed.

After seeing a video from 12:10 AM on 6/30, it became obvious that Ellie Mae is going to have to visit the unemployment lines.  Absolutely useless.  As have been most of the other methods that people have suggested.  I am out of ideas - it is check.mate.  She will always be here.  Nothing scares her.
Lights - tried it - failed.
Radio - tried it - failed.
Lights + radio - tried it - failed.
Motion detection lights - tried it - failed.
Scarecrow - tried it - failed.
Let's face it; the only protection that works 100% of the time are the owl cages.  I have plenty of alternate food here - rabbits, feral cats, moles, voles, mice, snakes, etc.  Yet, my owl prefers an easy-to-get meal.  Well, she won't get one here as long as they stay behind the cages.  Otherwise I can't guarantee anything. But I won't kill her.  Another one will only take her place.  We will just do the best we can with *preventative* measures and accept that I have a beautiful, very smart owl.  I just need to be smarter.
I will enjoy the positive things.  At least the Compass Plant - after 6 years of waiting - is finally blooming.  This makes me happy today.  Mag.freaking.nificent!!! Beautiful, isn't it?  Definitely worth the wait.

Compass Plant - 6 years old, finally blooming.

So, what do you do when you have such an off-kilter, out-of-sorts day?  Well, you suck it up.  Thaw out some crickets, soak them in some bird-vitamin solution and stuff the wet kids full of food.  Leave them in a bucket until they're dry and put them back out in a dry gourd on the rack from whence they came. 
You stop and enjoy the clasping milkweed that has grown out of bounds - where no seed has been planted (not by you, anyway).

Clasping Milkweed (thanks for ID info to Louise Chambers)

You stop and watch your happy, chattering purple martins chasing down the bug hatches in the field, because despite my owl's best efforts, they are clearly undeterred in their mission to feed their kids, and get them flying.

You herd the fish back into the main body of the pond, by splashing about in your muck boots.  You stop and enjoy the common milkweed that is now spreading out into the yard and tell Mr. Freeze he no longer needs to mow there.

Then you park your butt on the porch with a good book, a glass of wine, a pair of binoculars and your muck boots (just in case you have more launch failures) and watch your colony for the rest of the day.  After all, it is still MY little piece of heaven, and despite all the challenges, I am diggin' it here at Gobbler's Knob.

Ellie Mae Gets a Makeover for Her 2015 Deployment

I woke up at 3:40 AM Monday morning and decided while I was up anyway, I would check on my purple martins before snuggling back in.  With our new extremely bright LED spotlights shining on the colony, I could see every rack very clearly.  Lo and behold, there was the mighty Giselda, sitting tall and pretty, very proud of herself, on my West Gourd rack.  I watched her for a couple of minutes, then went out to scare her away.  When I checked the videos from the game cards and my Foscam camera Monday afternoon, I found that she had been here quite a while - from around 12:35 AM until I ran her off at 3:40 AM.

I had quite a few of what I thought were 'false triggers' on my game cameras, but in viewing the video from the Foscam camera, I now know why.  Giselda had been a very busy girl for those 3+ hours.  On Sunday, since I have many nestlings that will be fledging over the next week or so, the hawk attacks are increasing, I deployed a lot more decoys.  When my GHO came to hunt, apparently, she thought the decoys were making the noises she was drawn to, and she was attacking them, just out of range of my game cameras.  The 'false triggers' weren't false at all - she was just too fast for the cameras to capture her as she launched her assaults.
In this video, she had just tried a grab on the decoys by my game cameras, failed and landed up there to reevaluate her prey.

Then I found a video that made my stomach turn over and my heart skip a beat.  I watched it over & over to make sure I wasn't making it all up in my head, since the quality is not that great.  She was now attacking my housing and gourds from underneath.  After hitting the house - in the video below, it appears she tried to unsuccessfully land on the predator guard on that pole.  She flapped about, but could not gain footing on it, then fell into the yard.  She roamed around on the ground for about 4-5 minutes, then, after moving about 10' away from the East gourd rack (rack on the far left), she launched an assault under the rods that protect the gourds and attempted to grab one of the gourds.

Luckily, I let my gourds swing freely - moving back & forth with the wind, so, along with the rods interfering with her flapping wings, she could not get a grip on the swinging gourd and attempt to tear off the tunnel.  Even if the martins inside had flushed at that moment, she was still in such a precarious position that she could not grab one of them.  Still....it had to be sheer terror for the martins inside.

But the most surprising video of the night?  The one where she launched herself from the top of a gourd rack, flew past my camera and into the porch area where the new, bright LED lights had attracted a bazillion bugs.  I'm not sharing the video here as it's blurry when she flies by both times and of no use here.  She spent over 5 minutes under there - my guess is she was chasing a mouse or some of the large bugs, but the video only shows her entering and leaving the area.  Nope - this girl is not bashful of any lights!
Ellie Mae is now officially back on duty.  Stuffed with balloons to make her lighter and hanging on my shepherd's hook.  I attached a helium-filled balloon to also help drag her around and keep her moving on the hook, and that's working really well.  I'm moving her around the yard, so my GHO doesn't get too comfortable.

So far, no sightings since 3:40 AM Monday morning.  I'm hoping we can get through the next couple of weeks with this simple tactic.  Much to my husband's dismay, after seeing the grainy video and the low-quality video of her fly-in to the porch, I started talking about another camera.  He's praying the owl will leave before I solidify that plan.  Me too.

Purple Martins in Missouri - a Mid Season Update

I'm scheduled to do a nest check today, but with the temperatures hovering in the low 60's and sprinkles / mist / rain, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to.  Last weekend, my nest check revealed that I have 68 pairs, 37 nestlings and 316 eggs.
With all the rains and cooler weather we've been experiencing in the last week, honestly, I'm a bit afraid to do the nest check.  I've been reading about all the rain they're having in the southern states and the numerous losses of chicks due to a lack of food.  Check out this sad report from Tulsa, OK:  http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30313&start=0
It's not just the coolness or the wet weather that can kill them with hypothermia.  Insects can't fly in constant rain and that will have a significant impact on colonies that are trying to feed nestlings.  Similar, sad stories are also being played out in Texas and Louisiana where the rain is almost constant these last few weeks.
Check this out from the PMCA:

Four types of weather conditions can adversely affect insect availability, causing Purple Martins to starve:  constant temperatures below 50 degrees, steady rain or drizzle, strong
winds, and dense fog.  The average martin will survive for about 4-5 days without food, but will become weakened after 2-3 days, so it is best to begin feeding before they become too weak to fly.  Feeding is even more beneficial when martins have nestlings to feed, as nestlings may only survive one or two days without food.

I heard martins chirping on my porch rail this morning.  It was 59 degrees and more drizzle, so I dumped out a couple of bags of crickets.  To my amazement, they didn't just eat the crickets themselves; they were carrying them back to their gourds to feed their babies.  Things must be more desperate right now than I realized.

One thing I found this morning - it's really hard to track a bird in flight, while trying to capture them on video and keep a solid footing yourself.  I noticed this female and her mate in G25 making multiple trips to the feeder and back to their gourd.  What a good mommy and daddy.  This female is also banded, her band number is E818 - she was captured and banded and nested in the same gourd - G25, in 2014. 

I noticed yesterday that the tree swallows were swooping low over my blooming cone flowers and it suddenly dawned on me that they were catching all the bees that were swarming the pink and yellow blooms!  Well, I planted the flowers to draw more insects to feed the birds, so my plan is working.

I only found 2 bumble bees flying in my meadow today.

The lanceleaf coreopsis is looking very vibrant after all the rain we've had.

What few bees are flying are being caught by the tree swallows that are trying to keep their young fed also.

In other news, snakes are on the move - please make sure you have predator guards on your poles!  There are lots of reports of snakes being caught in the netting placed on poles to keep them from reaching the top.  Snake netting will help stop snakes by ensnaring them.  If fluffed out properly, the snake will try to weave itself through the mesh and become entwined in it.  But this mesh will not stop racoons, so some type of baffle - store bought or homemade is mandatory to protect your birds!  (See how to make your own here).
By placing your netting above the predator baffle, you will only have to deal with cutting out the snakes that make it past your predator guard - which means a lot less hassle and fewer injuries to any beneficial snakes.

Snake caught in netting - photo by Greg Ballard

Purple Martins at Oleo Acres - The Cheaper Spread

Wayne Smith, the owner of Oleo Acres subtitles his farm as, "The Cheaper Spread" because, that's what they used to call the oleo margarine during World War II, when there was a shortage of butter in the U.S.  I met Wayne in my first Missouri Department of Conservation presentation last year.  He's a flirtatious widower and a delightful, curious gentleman who has been hosting a few pairs of martins every year in his old, Trio Grandpa house in Summersville, MO.  He visited my site a couple of times in the fall of 2014 to check out my gourd racks and get pointers on how to trap and eliminate starlings and house sparrows.  He really liked my Super System 24 and the Troyer Vertical gourds and finally decided to order one of his own.
He ordered and setup his new system this past February.
Yesterday, I went to see Wayne, check out his colony and do a nest check with him.  He was giddy as he met me half way down his driveway in his electric golf cart.  I had stopped to greet the dancing, prancing, little bucking goats as they raced my car along the fence line next to the road.  Baaaaa! Baaaaa!  I had to take their pictures and chat with them.

Snowy & Pete were bringing up the rear.

We made our way around his new gourd rack and I was thrilled as I opened each gourd and found either nestlings or eggs.  The totals were surprising to me.  He has 23 pair in his gourd rack and 6 pair in his old Trio house.  In all the years I've been mentoring, I haven't seen a 1st-year gourd rack fill up like that.  I did notice that the gourd racks that were normally on Highway 17, 1 mile north of  Summersville were no longer there.  Wayne informed me the racks had been moved 4 miles away to the owner's children's new home.  Maybe some of the displaced martins had ended up here.  Nevertheless, Wayne said, "I'll take'em".  And he is taking very good care of them.  He was thrilled in our workshop last year to find out he can do weekly nest checks and doesn't miss a chance to lower his rig and check on his charges.  He has 44 nestlings and 60 eggs. 

Wayne is old school - no calculators here!  Just good old pencil to paper and figurin'.

A proud landlord - thrilled with his success and proud of his accomplishments.  Congratulations, Wayne!

Wayne's new gourd rack - 23 pair his first year.

I asked Wayne if he was going to put up another gourd rack next year and he laughed.  "You think I can get more?", he asked.  Yes, Wayne, I'm pretty sure of that.

DIY Birdbath

Using the lessons I learned from the last birdbath I poured, (see that project here:  http://kathyfreeze.blogspot.com/2014/08/making-it-way-you-want-it.html, and here:  http://kathyfreeze.blogspot.com/2014/08/success-is-in-eyes-of-beholder.html),
I decided to pour the second one this week.  I've been asked by a few people how I did it, so this time, I'll list the supplies and a few more details.
First, determine what shape you want.  I found my planter pot saucers at Lowe's for about $5 and the large one is just the right size for the bath that I want. 
I use this 'Quikrete' concrete mix (already has the appropriate sand and concrete blend) which can be used for paving bricks. 

 

I also add this Concrete Acrylic Fortifier - it helps increase bonding and water resistance.  For color, I like the 'Terra Cotta' color, but there are others available.  All of these things were purchased at Lowe's. 

This time, we're using sand.  Much easier to work with.  Normally, it's recommended to use "Casting Sand" when pouring concrete molds, but we're using 'Paver Sand'.  The Casting sand is not available around here and, after finding it online and seeing the price, I was quite happy to just work with the paver sand.

Bob framed up a box that is approx 4-5" bigger than my mold, to help hold it all together. 
First things, first - find a place that is in the shade all day, so you can work comfortably, and also has a source of water nearby.  You will also want your freshly-poured birdbath to be in the shade for at least 48 hours, so that it doesn't dry out too quickly.
Since I'm making a total of 3 bird baths and I want the water to flow from one to the other, I also added pour spouts on each of mine.  The bottom one will pour into a 5 gallon reservoir, in which I'll place a water pump to pump the water back up to the top bath.  If you're just making a simple, single bird bath, you don't need a pour spout.
Place your chosen tray upside down in your box, then pour in your sand.  Wet the sand thoroughly.  You will need something with flat sides with which to pack the sand (I used the small stick in the picture to pack it with), then hollow out every place you want concrete to flow into.  I found a trim tile piece to use for the shape of my spout.  Make sure you wrap it with Saran Wrap, or you will have a heck of a time getting it unstuck from the concrete.

My planter tray, turned upside down, the piece over which I'll pour the concrete for the spout, the stick I use to pack the sand down, and the wooden spoon that I scrape around the outer edges to shape the sides of the bath.

A closeup of the tile piece I use to shape my spout.  This was exactly the shape & size I needed for my spout.  Wrap it in a non-stick material, so you can remove it after the concrete hardens.

I used a wooden spoon to pull out the sand around the edges of my mold as it was just the right thickness for my bath - about 1.5" wide and I could ensure my sides would be even.  You can adjust your bath to be more shallow by leaving more sand around the edges of your mold (the trough area), but for me, it was easier to just adjust the depth of it by making my spout higher or lower on the side of the pan.  Now is a good time to place any decorations for your bath on top of the mold and in the trough areas.  Last year, I used leaves from my sycamore tree and cucumber plants.  Remember - you have to think 'upside down' when you're carving your mold out of the sand.  It's also really important to pat your concrete down into the mold as you pour it, so that you don't end up with creases and air voids (see the pour spout on the bath below as an example of what it will look like if you don't pat it down enough).  I did a great job around the edges of this bath, but the spout came out kind of rough looking.  I try to work quickly with this stuff, because I'm afraid it's going to setup before I can get it tapped in.  Lesson learned - slow down and work each edge thoroughly.
For this birdbath, I used scraps of stained glass that I had been saving.  After turning the bath over (we waited about 24 hours), I found that the concrete had slid under the glass and encased it.  Thankfully, the concrete wasn't fully hardened off and I was able to scrape some off to reveal the glass underneath.

The finished bath - the overflow spout is kind of rough looking, but it's functional.  Next time, I will use bigger pieces of glass also.

I poured the leftover concrete into a few smaller sized planter saucers that I had lying around to make some stepping stones for my garden.  I also pressed some scrap stained glass into the tops of them, working them back & forth to get them secured into the concrete.  The biggest mistake I made with these was the planter saucers are made of ceramic and I couldn't separate them from the concrete afterwards.  So - lesson learned - either put down Saran wrap before pouring into a ceramic mold or use plastic molds.  Make sure you look at the molds you choose very carefully.  The concrete tends to take on the features of your mold very nicely (look at the ridges in the picture above), so make sure you like the designs in your chosen mold - because that's what you're going to see when you tip the bath out.

One of the stepping stones in my garden.