During our weekend nest check, we found some newly-hatched babies (1 day old according to the PMCA size chart). This is our first year of attracting martins and we have a total of 14 eggs!!!
I couldn't get an accurate count of the hatched eggs because one of the females refused to leave the nest and I didn't want to disturb her. She actually stayed inside the gourd even while we opened the cap and took a photo. She just stayed perfectly still with a dragonfly in her beak! I'll post the photo when I have some time.
Martin Colony History: Colony started in 2009 with 2 pair. Currently I have 3 gourd racks with 24 gourds. One gourd rack will be for sy arrivals only. Bo Eleven gourds 20
Congratulations. I hope all goes well. I have a female that stays in the gourd when I do nest checks. My eggs haven't started hatching yet. They should start hatching next week.
Martin Colony History: Erected 1st house in 1997. Birds were checking it out before Mike got down from the ladder. Six cavities had a little colony 1st year. Grown to 88 cavities all gourds with near 100% occupancy. Most important factor for success is rain = bugs.
It's always cool to open a cavity and find the parent inside prepared to defend its nest. I never disturb them. I would hate to cause a panic and end up with a broken egg...
