peculiar mo. report

[kcscriv]

put castle and barn house with gourds up yesterday and had 2 pair before i was done.they must have been waiting for me, 80 today,snow for monday,they better eat up. Had 16 pair last year and only lost 2 young,about 64 fledged,hoping for another good year in peculiar.

[Jeff Robinson]

Congrats and great year to you. Get those crickets ready!

Jeff

[Ed Pace]

That was good timing, well maybe a little close.

Congrats on your arrival. You did good last year, I hope you do good this year too. Ed.

[Ginny Pres]

I know you've got to be real near us. (We're north of Ray-Pec HS.) I'm amazed you did so well last year. In recent years, we've had 14 pairs (full facilities). Last year, ours started out normal. They all appeared to be in the nesting process, but then as the drought and heat became more severe, all but two pairs just suddenly left. (They both ended up doing OK, at least.)

I've seen reports of this in other parts of the country as well. I wonder if the drought created a bug shortage? Hope we have a more "normal" summer this year. (I'm not saying rainy, but at least not a drought!!!)

I am upset they're coming so early this year! Our weather just isn't ready for them, yet! This is going to be a miserable week. So far, we've just got one lone male that came in Thursday. Right now, he's out-and-about. Haven't seen him since mid-morning. Maybe he's smart enough to head back south for a while??? I wish! If not, guess I'll see if he'll eat some scrambled egg tonight (out of a tray that's a 9 x 9 cake pan attached under the house), or try to get some mealworms tomorrow?

[kcscriv]

we are north of caseys off school road, have not seen martins since cold weather came in,hopefully they went south,i tryed flipin eggs one year with no results,where do you get crickets? mealworms? good luck

[Jeff Robinson]

You can buy the dried mealworms from PMCA Shop.

Below are a couple tried/proven links for live crickets (suggest at least 3/4" size):

http://www.flukerfarms.com/crickets.aspx

http://www.grubco.com/store/store_produ ... oduct_ID=3

Jeff

[Ginny Pres]

Locally, I got some live crickets at Petsmart in Belton 2-3 years ago when we had an early April snow. Between them being very small and their quick efforts to get away, I don't think they did the Martins any good at all. I was then thinking about mealworms, but luckily, the weather improved quickly. Since then, I have seen dried mealworms at Orschelns on 58 in Raymore. I called them yesterday, though, and they were out. I then called Petsmart, and they said they had both dried and live mealworms in stock.

So, I was thinking I would go get some this morning if my one Martin was still around, but it appears he has moved on - or hopefully back south!?! (I don't know if they are "smart" enough to do that, or too stubborn?) I hope he at least found some other Martins to cuddle up with at night, and maybe a landlord that has been successful in figuring out how to feed them. This whole week, even through next weekend, with below freezing nights and days topping out only in 30-40's (except today), looks totally hopeless for Martins that have arrived and stay here.

[Jeff Robinson]

Ginny,

We'll house em rent-free and feed em too if they come down here to wait for your weather to warm a bit. Our forecast is for high in low 50s for next 3 days, but then a stretch of 4+ days with highs in low 40s and rain mixed with winter precip on some of those days. Rough times in comparison to last year this time.

Just a thought, and more for those who've Not had to supplemental feed before. You just never know when you'll need it, so "Be Prepared" as the scouts would say. For the cost of the gas to travel to/from your local Pet Marts, etc, pus their often extroardinary cost for live insects, it likely comes out cheaper and almost as fast with overnight shipping from online ordering. Not to mention the comfort of knowing you have what you need when emergency feeding is necessary.

For those who've never ordered live insects online: When your box(es) of live crickets arrive, place the entire box(es) into the freezer long enough to kill the crickets, then separate into freezer bags and place back in the freezer. When ready to use, place enough frozen crickets into a bowl of warm water and stir around so they soak up some water (doesn't take but a few minutes at best), then place thawed crickets onto a paper towel in a bowl, get your flippin spoon out and get to it.

You can also get dried mealworms in bulk from PMCA shop, and just soak them before feeding.

Jeff

[Ginny Pres]

So that's how you get frozen crickets!!! Weather-wise, I don't really consider what we're having that unusual for late March. (Last year was the strange one!) What is unusual is for the Purple Martins to arrive here this early. We normally don't expect to see any till about March 29-30. I can only hope the ones that have already arrived have found safety, and that any that are on the way will stop in their tracks till things improve.

I think I will look into getting some supplemental food ready. I'm wondering if this might work: I have a 9 x 9 aluminum cake pan set up to attach to the pole under the house. I've used it to hold egg shells, and have seen them get in it. (Don't know if they were actually eating egg shells, but read this it good to supply for them when nesting starts. I also read to put sawdust and live mealworms in such a pan, and the movement of the sawdust attracts the Martins to the mealworms.) Anyway, wonder if I could put the frozen/thawed crickets in this pan, or soaked dried mealworms?

Do hope our birds will stay and entertain you for a while before coming to us!

[Jeff Robinson]

Anything is worth a try at this point Ginny. Wish you the best considering MO's forecast for the next week. I was up to 10 martins on Sunday, but the visitors usually only stay one night then move on the next morning. Somebody up north is getting them.

Jeff