Purple Martin Forum

The Purple Martins are claiming gourds and mating up now.

I offer crushed eggs shells and pullet-sized crushed oyster shells on a sand pile in the corner of my garden near the gourd racks. The Martins and other birds eat them during egg laying time and feed them to the young.
Jim

https://www.kingstreenews.com/news/martin-mansions-make-for-interesting-site/article_77de7190-7ec6-11e8-83e8-3f1ccb2395c3.html A local Newspaper visited Bubba Johnson's super colony in New Zion, SC and interviewed him. Bubba's colony was a participant in Julie Hovis' South Carolina Purple Martin ban...

The story is that some hunting dogs were chained in the yard of this now abandoned home last winter. The chains burst some gourds and scattered and planted the seeds in the yard. It's a far better yield than me and my brother get cultivating a patch.

Very informative! Well done. Thanks.

Think I'm finally going to get the photo with the write-up

Photo taken by Mike Bond appeared in the latest issue of "Sumter Living Magazine." Photo taken this spring at the Old Towne Landing community colony previously maintained by Julie Hovis and now maintained by Paul Beardsley.

Tor of Pee Dee SC,
That's an impressive avatar. How large is your colony?
Jim

Having my best year ever. 30 out of 32 of my gourds have eggs or babies.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/capturing ... s-origins/

Does anyone know if this feather DNA tracking is being done on Purple Martins?

Jim

http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article91689182.html
This roost report was in today's State Newspaper.
Jim

Nice! Just a test to see if I can post.

Jim

Larry,

This is a real anomaly. The huge roost that had been on Bomb Island, Lake Murray, SC since the late 1980's moved en masse 20 miles NW to Lake Monticello for unknown reasons last year. I'm told they were back on Bomb Island in total this year?

Jim

State paper article:
http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article27950263.html

Nice set-up, wonderful banding project and your sister is a professional photographer. It's good to see people really enjoying this hobby.

Jim

Truman, TimG is right, They are probably looking for a place to hang-out briefly, If you had birds this year they are probably yours. My birds left with my last fledges July 9. For the past 5 days 10 or 12 have come back in about 10 to 10:30 am. Three are banded birds that were part of my colony thi...

Bobt, I have not been this year. You know they moved to Lake Monticello last year. But my buddy and local PM expert, Julie Hovis, says they are back at Bomb Island, Lake Murray this year. We plan to go to the Lake Murray roost some time in the next 2 weeks.(Primetime) For anyone without their own bo...

This is the 3rd and last year of retrieval for Julie Hovis' 3 year SC PM GEO project. Joey Holleman from the STATE Newspaper did a real good job interviewing her on this retrieval.

We have retrieved 11 of 27 so far this year.

http://www.thestate.com/living/article19347888.html

Jim

Thurman, I mostly lurk now. But I remember when you and Emil and others carried the dialog here. Especially the guy in San Antonio. Y'all certainly schooled me in martineering.

Jim