Purple Martin Forum

No problem Linda and Mike, hope it helps! lol Tor! Mine would be paper notes for sure! What’s a screen shot? Wishing all a great season! Phil At 66 I am still using high tech devices for notes. There's just no way I would be able to keep track of paper notes 😊. Nothing yet here. They arrived 2/17 l...

LCM wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 12, 2026 6:25 pm

Mr Phil, I thank you myself, I am saving how to instructions to my notes, so I can refer back for instructions in the future.

I am willing to bet those are paper notes . Have a great Purple Martin season.

Hopefully the few that have arrived in FL so far stay warm the next couple of days. According to forecasts, even south Florida will feel the cold overnight into Sunday.

I'm with John. You'll have to do some serious tree cutting on both sides to have a realistic chance on this. I'm not going to say it's impossible, but pretty close.

Great news, Peter. Good Luck on your season. Stay warm.

Nice houses. I'd suggest you put a predator / snake net on that pole though. If you have had visitors before, I'm pretty sure they will show up again. Season is in full swing, but it would still be beneficial to play dawn song early in the morning. Look for dawn song players right here on this site ...

Agree. A Purple Martin Colony chatter is a good sound. And.....I give you permission to retire

Tor

I’m so sorry to hear you’re having such a tough time. It’s definitely not a pleasant experience. I’ve had similar issues with hawks around our large colony. They usually come from the same direction, so I place my dove decoys between the colony and the area they’re coming from. It’s crucial to move ...

Sorry for the late reply, Terry. First adult showed up 2/17 in the Pee Dee of SC. We currently have around 30 martins.

Good luck on your upcoming season, Lisa. It is turning colder this coming week in SC as well, so I hope they hold off just a few days before deciding to arrive.

I've been looking at SC and NC reports, and they seem to be reporting (same reporter / location) earlier than last year as well. I usually get the first ones around the 22nd of February in NE SC, Marlboro Co. We'll see what happens.

Tor

Sorry about the attacks on your colony. When you say decoys, what decoys are you using? I use several dove decoys located in strategic locations at the colony. I don't put them up until the middle of the season. I see little activity before that time. The peek of the hawk attacks at my colony are as...

Yes, decoys work. Mostly when you try to start up attracting Martins. 2-3 on perching rods above or near the gourds / house. As soon as you get past 5-10 pair, they don't tend to work as good, not to say they don't work at all when you already have a few pair regularly every year. By that time the M...

Wanted to share this informative Purple Martin article on Audubon. Very interesting read, although some of the information is rather sad (Martins declining). Enjoy. https://www.audubon.org/magazine/fall-2022/this-tiny-brazilian-island-could-hold-key-purple I apologize if the Article has been posted ...

Great news. Hope you have a great season. Happy New Year.

Tor

Looks very good, Tom. I keep my snake nets quite a bit lower, underneath the winch. That way I can lower the rack a little lower. But, same outcome. Have had no snakes above the net. In it? Yes. A few over the years. My "problem" is hawks. Putting out dove decoys all around the colony help...

C.C.Martins wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 30, 2024 1:26 pm

Tor,
Those look awesome!!! The aluminum tube is a wonderful idea, 100% water tight.

Me too, love these projects!

Happy 2025!

Ohhhh, I see two arrivals in FL. You won't be far behind, Tom

As promised, we're giving them some more room for this year. I still got about a month and a half to complete. Waiting on a little warmer weather so we can pour concrete. Love off season projects.....for the martins :grin: Working on installing vents and aluminum sleeves on the gourds. If you drill ...

Yea keep playing that Dawn song. They less than 2% of the fledglings for any colony return to that site I’m guessing to prevent in breeding. So those young’s that make it back have to go somewhere to start a new colony or add to the population of a current colony that still has room. I have 80 cavi...

December 27 in Florida
January 6 in Texas