Hope everyone is having a GREAT DAY. I have to say I am so thankful we got some more rain in Texas, better for the Martins.
We did a nest check yesterday and took a pic of a newborn, soooo tiny and cute...anyway, we have 58 Babies, all ranges..looking good and around 115 eggs...we also discovered a new nest..probably a SY's. We have notice not as many SY's birds as last year..maybe due to the drought from last year..lots of babies didn't survive. Also, someone who lives not far from me..in Texas says she is having a terrible season, only two nest...We have around 25 active nest..don't know how long she has had a colony but she is very disappointed..for us it's the other way around..All the birds are looking good so far, everything seems to be on attract and we have quite a few.
Hey Mike Sculley (sorry if I misspelled your name)we got your message..do you want us to do anything more..we will check out the houses either tomorrow or Friday.
Martin Colony History: 22 year landlord, 14 at current residence..offering 9 racks and a homemade T-8 for 166 total cavities. 160 Pair in 2018 Racks consist of a Deluxe 12, AAA 16, Starburst 16, 2 K-18 Series, Super 24, 2 Gemini, Multi-purpose/two trio’s/4gourds and a T-8..Great hobby to be involved in..
Congrats on your successful year so far Sheryle..I to did a nest check today (see my post, "seven day explosion")..everything is going great here in Ks so far this year also..mild winter, great spring so far, and hopefully a "normal" summer will allow the martins to fledge many babies this year.... Tony
22 year landlord..9 Rack Systems for 2018 and my home built T-8 for a total of 166 cavities..160 pair in 2018 ..SUPER COLONY!!! Love You Bev... Fan of those St. Louis Cardinals!!!!!
Congratulations on having a good year so far!!!
We're supposed to get rain again starting later tonight or tomorrow! YAY!!!
Here just west of DFW...I've had a good increase of ASYs...from 12 to 18 pairs this year but only a few SY males until last week when a couple more showed up. NOT GOOD!!! The only SY pair that was nesting had 5 hatchlings & I found 4 of them dead & the other was MIA. Yesterday, I did another nest check & one of my ASY pairs lost 3 of their 6 babies...MIA again! I'm sure it is infanticide from one of the SY males that just showed up! I only had 2 SY males(1 paired & the other bachelor) & all was calm & well until those 2-3 new ones showed up!
I had 108 eggs but now I have 73 nestlings & 24 eggs still to hatch. I've had at least 5 eggs that didn't hatch & now lost 8 babies to infanticide!
Take Care!!
Lila
2009--1 ASY & 1 SY Pair
2010--6 Pairs
2011--11 Successful Pairs + 1 Late Pair that lost their brood to heat!
2012--18 ASY Pairs & 1 SY Pair---104 eggs so far! 1 SY nest lost to infanticide! :o(
