Purple Martin Forum

Firefly, I won't be much help as my fountain rack is equipped with a 2 inch square pole. Without seeing your setup, perhaps you can insert a metal dowel at the top of your pole by drilling holes in the pole and inserting the rod. Then cut notches in your carriage so the dowel will slide into the not...

Great craftsmanship. Well done.

I don't think the martins will mind the addition of the stencils.

I am curious as photos don't lend much for size accuracy. Is that a four room house or just two rooms with large cavities?

Coolwhips

M-town, Thermal is the way to go. I don't use night vision. There are many good thermal brands on the market but, having done research based on my particular needs, I chose to go with Pulsar. They make a range of very good monocular. I've never used a monocular as I use my actual hunting scopes for ...

I wonder if my Martin flew in with yours, parted company at their place, and moved on up here. After all, they got here the same day.

Coolwhips

C.C.Martins wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 11, 2024 9:53 am

Congrats! Wow, that is cool as crap!!! Nice whips!!!!!

I used the thermal last year to check occupancy at night. Once they pair up you can see the heat signature in the bottom of the bowl.

Plus I use the thermal to scan trees and rooftops for predators at night.

Coolwhips

Black hot version of the Entrance angle for your viewing pleasure.

Coolwhips

I was out today and my Son called to say he saw two ASY males flying around above the gourd rack. I hadn't finished preparing the gourds and rack for this year so I asked him to run it up the pole anyway in case they wanted to come in and rest. I came home in the late afternoon and didn't see them f...

It also helps to move the decoys around a bit based on activity, hits and time. As C.C. Martins mentioned, the hawks will learn pretty quick after hitting a decoy so they'll ignore it the next time through. Moving decoys around the area to different locations may continue to distract it enough to gi...

I shot a starling off my T-14 with about 10 or so Martins on it. They just watched him tumble to the ground and went about their business. I used a .22 with a Calibri bullet which is a casing with only a primer and bullet. No powder. It's like a glorified pellet gun but a hell of a lot quieter. Cool...

Barb, Barred Owls typically sit on a perch and will scan with both their eyesight and use their acute hearing to detect and pinpoint their prey. Martins chatter pretty much through the night and the owls can zero in on them. This particular owl obviously heard the Martins and came to perch on the ho...

Don, That's how it all starts. Congratulations. I started with SY visitors one year then the next year an ASY showed up in the same gourd that was used by the SY the year before so he got a mate and started my colony. This year is my 8th year and I'm at 98% capacity having 48 cavities. One gourd rac...

Hey Whippy, Hope you are doing well. I noticed today that I had martins on my house here in McKinney. Seems early this year. Are they back for good already this season? I am doing good. i am glad to see you on the board. The last time I saw a post from you was when you were having troubles with a h...

G- That is pretty cool information. I was there for two years on campus and I never saw any mention of that history. But, then again, I was 18 and didn't really go searching for history. I'm still sitting on 3 Martins. During the day there are 4 in my airspace but one female always leaves. I have tw...

Abernathy, This is the email I replied with but it did not find you at the location it was sent from. Good morning. I sincerely apologize for the late response. One day I have all the time in the world and the next day not so much. I've not been able to get to the ranch due to my schedule so I haven...

On Sunday, my first ASY male returned to his gourd #3. On Tuesday, another ASY male arrived and he is in his T-14 Cavity. Last night they had a ASY female in tow but she did not stay. Today, the two ASY males are working on enticing two ASY females to select their cavity. I was lucky to be able to w...

I've wondered the same thing. I'll have several martins in my airspace circling around but, in the end, only two will stay in the gourds and the others move off. I have no idea where they go however, they come back in the morning and fly around with the two ASY males. At this time, I have two ASY ma...

Abernathy, i have a ranch in the Bryan College Staton area 15 mile east of town on Hwy 21. Its 700 acres. We have a guy who loves nature living on it taking care of things and I am tempted to talk to him about putting up the martin housing there. My only fear is the hawks and owls might be too much ...

Matt, Did you ever find a place to release the babies? If not, I found a place that has hundreds of Martins every evening for about 45 minutes then they move off. It's actually at a high school and the martins congregate there in a huge flock. I was there Thursday night watching my sons baseball gam...

Matt,

You missed mine by about a week or week and a half. Otherwise I'd say come on up.

Sorry bout that.

You might look for a rehabber who has baby martins in house who is about to release them. They might have a process they go through when it's time to let them go. Just a thought.

Coolwhips

It seems my modifications worked for today. The insulation kept the sun off of them all day plus the winds picked up and appeared to allow the oversized vents to work. I lowered the gourds to check on things and all babies were inside their gourds and alert. The parents have accepted whatever baby i...