Still waiting

rrmartins · Tue Mar 22, 2011 6:10 pm

So when will we have a rush of SY birds arrive? I see a few are showing up, but wondering if we will see a large number of them show up soon. Good luck.

bwenger · Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:48 pm

If you look at the scout report for 2011, you can go to the bottom for Texas and check for SY returns in 2010 and 2009, it appears that most of the SY birds will start showing up soon and will continue through the whole month of April.

Good luck this year.

Bill

Fredmyyster · Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:14 pm

They are here at our place

Laverne · Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:11 pm

and I would like to let you all know that I have not been able to positively identify an SY male yet...!!

I've been watching and waiting and all I'm seeing are ASYs. I might have a couple of SY females and I watched 5 ot 6 ASY males chase a bird to the ground, beat it up, and then I watched it fly off toward the horizon. If I were him, I'd never come back.

As your colony grows and matures the subbies don't find any room at the inn. I hope you all have this problem one day. Every year I have to fight off the urge to hurry up and stick more housing in the air so all these poor homeless birds will have a place to raise their young. It's exasperating!!!

Sincerely,
Laverne

rrmartins · Wed Mar 23, 2011 5:57 pm

Well thats just it, no colony here. This is my second year trying, so I need those SY birds to start mine.

Matt@atx · Wed Mar 23, 2011 6:14 pm

I think I may be witnessing just a very little of what Laverne has talked about with some birds being rejected by their mates because of a gourd shortage. what is maddening is that I am fighting Sparrows for 3 gourds and until I get rid if them, martins cannot have them in peace. I watched a martin fight with two of these bird-rats for their gourd. I have only 19 gourds up and I think we may be getting full. One martin flew off last night without a gourd to sleep in.

They are still coming through all of April and you are in the area of Austin.
get ready my friend with your dawn song...They are coming

DaveHRRTX · Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:25 pm

So far I have 3 pairs but no subbies yet. hopefully I will get a full house soon. The population seems to increase a bit each weekend.

The damn sparrows are a real pain this year and I am having a real hard time keeping them in check.

Starlings have also been a bit of a problem. The like to roost on the roof of the house which creates all kind of havoc with the PMs. Thank goodness that the SREH's seem to be keeping them out. I permanently ended the roosting habit for a few. javascript:emoticon('

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apundt-TX · Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:50 pm

I haven't seen any in the neighborhood over here yet. Usually the ASYs show up around March 15th around here but none yet.

A.P.

Matt@atx · Thu Mar 24, 2011 3:11 pm

lol Dave... So some Starlings are kicking the bucket over there at you place?? ..

I have just ordered a Deluxe Repeating Sparrow Trap and hope to get it soon. There is just no other way to get these pests. Im looking forward to its arrival and hope to take out some trash beaks with it.

Watching Martins flying off to no where after dusk because he has no gourd to sleep in because of trash beaks is bad news stuff.

Down with trash beaks !!

...and they ran off some Blue Birds thinking about nesting at the property about a week ago.

apundt, you are a very neighbor. Im surprised you have not seen any yet. ?

apundt-TX · Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:56 pm

The neighborhood colony today just starting getting a bird back.

rrmartins · Thu Mar 24, 2011 8:20 pm

What a exciting day for me. I had a pair show up this afternoon and went in and out the house and gourds. I was hoping they would spend the night, but they left right before dark. I sure hope they come back tomorrow.

apundt-TX · Thu Mar 24, 2011 8:30 pm

I bet they will be back tomorrow too.