This compartment had 5 eggs on May 15 and all 5 eggs hatched on May 30 with all of the babies doing fine. Three days ago, in talking to one of the employees of Rogers Wildlife Rehab Center, I ended up taking a young Purple Martin from her and I placed it into this nest of 5 babies, so now there are 6 babies in this nest! (Rogers Wildlife Center had been taking care of this infant but wanted it to continue it's development with a Martin family). The adopted infant appears to be a day or two older since it's a bit larger than the others, but a really close fit, I think.
The two parents of this nest are both SY's and are VERY busy feeding these 6 youngsters. I have been watching them for a while and I'm very impressed with their skills in feeding these infants. They don't just stuff the food down the infant that is closest to the entrance, or that is stretching out the highest, or is making the most noise. The female, especially, will look over the group for a bit, then often step in and feed one of the infants that is way in the back of the group.
In order to put this new NestCam on Purple Martin TV, I disconnected the Barn Swallow NestCam and I am using that channel for this new MartinCam. So to view this NextCam just click on this link:
http://www.purplemartin.tv/gus_stangeland/default.htm
Or if you want something easier to remember, just go to:
http://www.purplemartin.tv/ and click on Camera 1 under my name. (This URL is easy to remember)
The camera I am using for this nest streams color video during the day, when there is enough light, then switches to night vision using infrared lighting at night. This is the same camera I'm using in the gourd.
You can view both NestCams at the same time, just use two separate browser windows. I keep both of these on PLUS the High Definition ColonyCam on my screen all the time. It's nice to watch the Colony Cam because you can see when an adult comes in with food, then switch your attention to the appropriate NestCam to watch the feeding. The Internet delay on the ColonyCam is much less than the delay on the NestCams so this gives you a "heads-up" that a feeding is about to occur.
I'm working with another streaming video server so that I can also put the Barn Swallow nest back on the air. At the moment, there is not much to see since it's just the female sitting on the eggs. The eggs are due to hatch on or about June 16. I'll try to have this 3rd party server operational by then. Or maybe the owner of PurpleMartinTV will allocate a 3rd channel for me.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via IM or directly by e-mail at gus at tx dot rr dot com. Enjoy!
...The subbie left the gourd when you started lowering the rack..