No Martins ...

Tom Teague · Fri Mar 05, 2010 4:24 pm

In Grapevine either. Just visited a well established, very large colony within three or four blocks of my house ... none there That gentleman had well over 30 pair last year.

Tom

~Patrick~ · Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:52 pm

None here at my site in Fort Worth either. I had about 22-25 pairs last year. I haven't even seen a martin this year. I think last year's high nestling mortality combined with this year's cold weather has slowed or maybe even stopped my colony. I've gotten to where I don't even watch for them anymore.

parkerdes · Sat Mar 06, 2010 2:54 am

None here either...BOY am I fretting with the mortality rate that is posted here that only 50% of ASYs make it back & only having 2 pairs last season...I'm sure hoping & praying they didn't succumb to all the cold weather we have had this last month! I pray they are just running late...but I sure am worried! Everything is ready for them here...I do need to put a little more nesting material in my housing & I went ahead & put up predator lights because of the trees that are around 3 sides of my site...they are over 100ft away but if I do indeed get more pairs, I wanted to protect them. The lights are up but I haven't taken the protective tape off the solar panels yet since I don't have any PMs back. Playing daytime chatter daily like I did last season! I haven't seen any in the area as well as in SW Fort Worth, where there are lots of houses along Mira Vista golf course. Watching the sky...hoping & praying!

~Patrick~ · Sat Mar 06, 2010 9:52 am

Well, I finally did see some martins today but they didn't stop on my housing. They must be arriving in the area, considerably late. Though I would miss them, if they choose not to nest here this year I'm okay with that, too. After 2 conecutive years of high nestling losses, I don't need the stress. Good luck to all.

Patrick

geezer · Sat Mar 06, 2010 2:28 pm

There is hope.....

My birds arrived 16 days later than last year , but they are now beginning to arrive quickly.

March 4......... 1 male
March 5..........3 males and 1 female (4 total)
March 6..........5 males and 3 females (8 total)

The 10 day weather forecast is good, so I predict that everyone will have average numbers within 7-10 days.

geezer

Tom Teague · Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:06 pm

Nothing in Grapevine...at least the North side...maybe tomorrow.

Guest · Sun Mar 07, 2010 9:41 am

Don't give up hope. They are arriving later than normal. Ours were almost 2 weeks later than last year. We saw one male on March 3rd and we now have 2 males and 2 females.
Judy

Steven Spencer · Sun Mar 07, 2010 9:48 am

My numbers are at about half of what they were this time last year. EXTREMELY slow start!

Guest · Sun Mar 07, 2010 2:45 pm

I had a male come in earlier this week and stayed. However, he hasn't returned.
I figure they know when to get here better than I! I may be worried in a week though

Guest · Sun Mar 07, 2010 4:38 pm

None here in Aledo either, but then again, there are no cliff/barn swallows.

Tom Teague · Sun Mar 07, 2010 8:09 pm

Still zippo.....

tonyg · Mon Mar 08, 2010 5:00 am

When times are tough.....play the dawnsong...they will hear it...and they will come..if for nothing else..to check out your housing...I play mine every year..and ive been established here for 5yrs..and have increased in population every year..Good Luck

parkerdes · Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:34 am

TonyG, I'm playing the dawnsong & daytime chatter all day long & haven't seen even a flyby!!! I thought I heard a real PM the other day & low & behold...it was one of the mockers teasing me! Sure am getting concerned but some of the landlords further south are just now getting PMs at least 2 weeks late...so hopefully we'll see some soon!

I hate the thought of having to start completely over after waiting 6 years for my first 2 pairs last year! They were both successful & had 8 fledglings!

Tom Teague · Mon Mar 08, 2010 3:02 pm

No fly bys...no fly overs....just rain....

Louise Chambers · Mon Mar 08, 2010 3:12 pm

Lila,

We had 3 SY pairs at a new site last year, but don't expect to see those birds back for a while yet. They would be 2 year olds, and their arrival time will be closer to SY window, rather than adult window. April is subbie arrival time around here, about when ASY birds have nests built and are laying eggs. So don't give up on your two pairs - were they adults or subadults?

We saw our first barn swallows of the year this weekend, an encouraging sign of many more good things to come

Louise

CHenry · Mon Mar 08, 2010 4:32 pm

Well i don't know what to think, the scouting report shows lots of landlords reporting martins in Oklahoma and near by me as well - Blanchard is only 15 miles from me- and i haven't see n one yet BUT the last 3 seasons, March 15-16 was the arival date for my PMs. so are they early or late? And maybe they came here and didn't see there old red house which i replaced with the supergourds in almost the same location?

Tom Teague · Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:06 pm

Rain is gone...warm up on the way ... hope the PMs hear the forecast.

parkerdes · Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:40 pm

Finally, SUNSHINE!!! Warm tomorrow in the lower 70s!

Louise, I had an ASY male first on Feb 24, 2009 & he found a mate on March 3. Then got a SY female that hung around for about a week in late March & she brought home a SY male. They laid 4 eggs & fledged 3. Total fledges my first year were 8. I know the SYs won't be here until late March or early April...I was just hoping I would have at least 2 ASY males here to really get my colony rocking! I wanted my SY to come home with his new all purple suit on. Hopefully they are all running late because of all the bad weather!
We have lots of barnies in our neighborhood, so hopefully they also will be home again soon!
I just wonder if most of the North Texas ASYs come thru Mexico & the lower Gulf coast or do they come from the SE??? Seems like Texas has really been running behind this year!

Louise Chambers · Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:50 pm

If we get enough data back from our Texas geolocator birds marked last year, we may get an idea which route(s) are favored. We were intrigued last year to find that one martin returned to PA via a land route that took it up the Texas coast, as opposed to the cross Gulf route all others used.

Subbies should be en route any time.

Louise

Tim Mangan-Kansas · Tue Mar 09, 2010 5:04 am

In addition to the martins arriving later this year, I find it strange that I have yet to see a tree swallow. I always see a couple of TRES before my first martin arrives each year. My initial martin has been here a week and still no TRES. It is not just the martins arriving late.

Tim