Purple Martin Forum

Thanks guys for the responses. I'm not even sure if I can get sreh's for my naturelines anymore. It appears naturelines went out of business. I can't seem to find them anywhere. Best of luck to you both this year. P.S. I used to manage a ranch in Navasota, Dawn's Promise Farms, Romagnola cattle righ...

Hello All, is it easy for purple martins to enter and exit gourds with SREH openings without porches? And if so, can a colony be started using SREH's without porches?

Thanks in advance,
Steve

Good for you Anthony! Great job on the dreaded needle beak! Enjoy the season!

Thanks for all the well wishes for the season! It really does lift your spirits when you hear that first vocalization of the year! Have a great season everyone!

About 5:20 this evening I was in my driveway unloading my truck when I heard that all too familiar tune in the sky! As I looked up it was a male and female returning to my yard! It's great to have them back! I wish you all many purple birds this year!

Thanks Louise for letting us know about the Houston arrival. That's right on top of me in College Station!

Thanks Louise! It won't be long now before my colony returns. They have already been sighted in Sealy and Katy, both not far south of me. Yoohoo! Come on purple birdies!

Hello everyone, it's been quite a while since I posted, but I do come by almost every day to see what everybody's doing. I've been a landlord for over 30 years and really look forward to this time of year. I want to ask if anybody has ever used like a 4" pvc pipe as a predator guard at the base...

So far, Steve about 20 - Sparrows 0!

David, do you have much of a problem losing fledging babies in the water? When mine are attempting to fledge a lot of them end up on the ground the first few attempts. It seems you would be losing a lot of them to the water. Maybe its just my birds, but thought I would ask anyway. Thanks.

Hey Delma, I can't help but feel your pain. One of the biggest things I see right off after reading your post's is, you need to get RID of sparrows, not just keep removing nest. This year i started new all over at a new residence. The best weapon I have is the repeating bait trap. The only thing i h...

AP are you a Hockley boy? I grew up in Waller and had friends from Hockley. Great little town.

No pics AP. I need to get my camera fixed so I can do that. Maybe this weekend I can remember to get it done. My site is not ideal in reference to trees. I have two oaks on both sides about 20 feet from my rack. But I have noticed over the years pm's here tend to violate the standard rules of space ...

Allen, all i have ever used is cracked corn and have had no problem catching them. All i've ever caught with it are sparrows save for one grackle who is no longer with us. I hate those things too but thats another story. Once you get that first female in the holding cage. Keep her in there and feed ...

Hello all, since I last posted, it appears my new site is well on it's way. As of this morning I now have two ASY pairs in my yard! I believe the new pair I picked up yesterday got tired of trying to go back to their house from last year that my neighbor has let get over run with HOSP and Starlings....

Thanks for the encouragement John. Yes, leaving behind an established colony is no fun. Especially after all the years of hard work one puts into it to make it a safe place for martins. Too bad there is no way to know where my old colony ended up. I'm sure they have found a new home somewhere though...

Well it's been a couple of weeks since I reported in. It's been about a week now that I have had an ASY pair move into my gourds. I've seen another pair checking it out the last couple of days but haven't seen them enter anything yet. By all appearances, I think I've started a new colony. Keep up th...

I'm going to experiment with a new starling/sparrow trap i want to build. If it works, I'll post pics. Good luck.

Agreed, open a few at a time. As the ones fill with pm's, then open a couple more. You will thank yourself later that you didn't have to fight so many darn sparrows!

Thanks to all! He's been back today defending the rack against HOSP (those that i haven't shot or trapped yet!). And you are right Mr. Rubble, I am among the older crowd! The Flintstones were one of my favorites.