Purple Martin Forum

I had one stop by last Tuesday 3/30, but did not stay. I haven’t seen any since. Seems slower than last few years

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First arrival this evening around 6:30pm. Chose T14 for the night.

My experience is you need them to nest and fledge young to have them come back year after year.

I was delayed in doing my nest check the last couple of days. I was scheduled to have a bunch of nests hatch on 6/4. Did my nest check today and the totals are below: 28 Cavities / 28 Nests 134 eggs 55 hatchlings I have a few more expected to hatch over the 3-4 days as well as the remainder to hatch...

Conducted my second nest check yesterday......23 of 28 cavities have eggs.....the remaining 5 cavities have nest activity. We'll see how they go over the next couple of days/weeks. I am impressed with the number of eggs laid to date. A total of 116 eggs and some interesting nests.....very varied in ...

I live near the yellow breaches stream......during a couple of our cold days over the last few weeks (high 30's /low 40's) the birds head toward the creek to take advantage of the flying insects hugging the water

My tree swallows have been here for a few weeks. The cool weather does seem to have them a little turned around.

I have a T14 with 8 gourds and a homemade 6 gourd rack.....No issues with the T14 filling up.

Temps hit 50 today in south central PA. Had a few chilly days in a row, but my current residents broke loose of the cabin.

My first regulars arrived yesterday. Two males. Returned home this evening and have 7 total birds. At least two females in the bunch.

Had my first visitor on 3/29 through 3/30. The weather really slowed things things down. My regulars arrived today. Saw them enter two different cavities this evening. Hopefully the season starts to roll.

Had my first arrival this afternoon. Returned home from work this evening and had an adult female working the sky. She checked out the house as well. Looking forward to the start of the season. Finally hit 60 degrees after the rain. Lots of bugs. Hope everyone has a great season.

Dan, I had 26 pair that laid eggs (115), but a few nests did not hatch any fledglings. In total I had 20 nests hatch a total of 75 eggs with 69 fledge. It was a strange year, but overall, I think it finished pretty well. I know of a few amish farms near Millheim that have had housing up over the las...

My last pair had fledglings fly on 8/14. I was on vacation and and came back on 8/21. Had 6 return to roost that evening. Only saw one other return since then. To my surprise, I was barbecuing some lamb chops tonight and heard a familiar sound. three stopped by this evening. Hope to se a few more.

I had a late pair begin hatching their brood today. A little more than half of my colony has already fledged.....the remainder over the next week. Based on my spreadsheet, I should have this late group until mid/late august.

The situation here in So. Central Pennsylvania appears a bit better. I have 20 pairs, 117 eggs laid, 76 hatched. First fledge expected for 7/5. To my surprise, I had a new hatchling yesterday. Must have had a pair, re-nest under my nose a few weeks ago.

Can anyone provide information as to the process of making my colony available for banding? Appreciate the insight. Thank You. Richard

Andy,
I would not lose faith at this point. My colony got started late May by an ASY pair a number of years ago.....Still time for lots of SY's to check out your place. My birds are sitting on nests and others are still laying eggs. No hatched birds at this point.
Richard

Gary and Doug,

Same situation here is south central PA....did nest check today, and have my first eggs, and most cavities have nest building going on.....expect a ton of action over the coming week

Richard