Martins return after all have fledged

[MartiStupka]

This is our third year as landlords, and the best, in terms of numbers fledged, despite some problems with sparrows that were taken care of earlier in the season. In previous years here in SW Florida, all of the babies have fledged by mid June, and soon after the Martins are gone until next year. The Martins have already begun to roost in downtown Fort Myers, but this hasn't reached peak numbers yet.

This year the babies fledged by June 18. All of the Martins stayed for awhile, and then they were gone. We assumed that this was the end of our season, as it had been the last two years, which is a sad time, as we enjoy the Martins so much. Earlier this week, however, at least 20 Martins, and sometimes more, have been returning to our house on a daily basis. They arrive between 8 and 9 AM, and are gone by early afternoon. This is not something we've seen before, and were wondering if this is common Martin behavior. We also were wondering where they go when they leave here. As I mentioned, the roost is just becoming active, so we're guessing that they may spend some time there at least at dusk and overnight. We'd appreciate any information or experiences that others may have had that are similar to this. Thanks. Marti and Bob

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Yes, its very common to have visitors. I do not know if these were your birds at one time, or if they are visitors from some other colony. They usually never enter the housing when they come back to visit. This usually continues until the martins leave the roost. The nearer to a roost you are, the more of these visitors you will have, usually on a daily basis.

[Guest]

Marti and Bob,

I've noticed this at my site also, they get very vocal at this time. I still have some young that haven't fledged yet but I have way more Martin's in the morning. I don't believe that they are all mine, maybe visitors from neighboring colonies checking things out for next year. HA,HA.

Extend your season by visiting a Roost nearby!!!