Hopefull in 43543 Ohio

willbird · Sun May 19, 2013 8:02 pm

I put up 6 commercial plastic gourds last summer, added tunnels too but got no residents. Had not even seen a Martin yet this year but the houses were still closed up. So I opened some last Tuesday and they came out of the woodwork , added another tier of 6 more on the pole yesterday and they really paid a lot of attention to that process.

And it is near dusk now at 9pm and I saw a pair creep into one and they have not come back out :-). Hopefully, fingers crossed :-). There was a sparrow messing around and they an him/her right off. I have cedar shavings in some gourds and others empty so they have option :-), not sure which they picked to camp out in :-).

Bill

MamaBruff · Sun May 19, 2013 8:05 pm

Congratulations! May you have a fun and successful season! Keep us posted.

Mary

willbird · Mon May 20, 2013 9:38 am

Martins are a hoot for sure...this morning I was out working on the roto tiller, and an adult male PM made a flight INTO the garage to see what I was up to. I have had the "feeling" they were keeping an eye on me in years past when I was IN the house...but this experience with the one flying into the garage means I was NOT just imagining things hehe.

Here is the whole condo :-)

willbird · Mon May 20, 2013 9:44 am

And a few visitors.........

chickadee · Mon May 20, 2013 1:15 pm

that is the exact same pole I started out with. I remember i would watch till dark and they would fly in at the last minute. enjoy your birds hope you have a good year!

jr 2 · Mon May 20, 2013 1:25 pm

congrats;;we need more landlords in ohio so we have plenty of subbies comming back too the area;;jr2

chickadee · Mon May 20, 2013 1:32 pm

I fledged over 200 young last year. and hate to see this year I have 370 eggs now. so I wonder where do they all go ?half of them had to make it. my neighbor should be filling up. but he has few pair subbies. d its funny because when the young fledge out you can never tell their is 500 birds here.

Tim Mangan-Kansas · Mon May 20, 2013 2:45 pm

You have a nice wide open area for attracting martins which should enable you to grow a good size colony, if you want. It is hard to tell in your picture but I cannot make out any type of predator guard, unless you have it electrified.

I would strongly encourage you to install some type of predator guard on your pole. You would not want to attract nesting martins just to have them and their young wiped out by a snake/raccoon.

Good luck.

Tim

jojo92 · Mon May 20, 2013 7:34 pm

im in Fairfield Ohio this is the first year i have attracted Martins I have 3 pair ...my Father used to have them but lost them I usually ride bikes for a hobby to stay in shape but since i have my Martins im doing nothing but making sure they reproduce they are a blast to watch I love them

willbird · Mon May 20, 2013 10:06 pm

Tim Mangan-Arkansas wrote:You have a nice wide open area for attracting martins which should enable you to grow a good size colony, if you want. It is hard to tell in your picture but I cannot make out any type of predator guard, unless you have it electrified.

I would strongly encourage you to install some type of predator guard on your pole. You would not want to attract nesting martins just to have them and their young wiped out by a snake/raccoon.

Good luck.

Tim

You are correct I do not have a predator guard yet. Will need to figuire something out this summer if we do get tenants, this fall if we do not.

willbird · Tue May 21, 2013 11:49 am

I have the tri tel pole, need to figure out some way to attach a predator guard, should it go on the lower section that stays down near the ground, or on the upper section nearer the top ??

Some folks say they use an upside down bucket, and leave it "rattly" loose ??

chickadee · Tue May 21, 2013 12:36 pm

i have never used anything until just last year. and i have boxers in my yard all night so not many raccoons come into it. but i know it is a no no not to have anything on the poles. so last year we used stove pipe. and i have heard of people using huge flower pots upside down. i have that on my tree swallow and bluebird box. and put them at least 4 ft up from the ground.

willbird · Wed May 22, 2013 9:41 am

Lowered the gourds for a look today, a few green leaves but no nest building.

They sure seem to like to hang around :-).

Bill

willbird · Thu May 30, 2013 7:21 am

HEY :-)....looks like at least one pair is dragging nest materials in to make a nest....there are 2-3 other pairs hanging around, did a check yesterday and did not see any serious nest building, got to keep a good eye on them while I mowed the yard. They seem to be doing a good job running sparrows off :-).

willbird · Thu May 30, 2013 8:47 am

This was not there yesterday :-).

willbird · Thu May 30, 2013 8:55 am

I know it might sound a bit crazy, but I try to notice patterns in the wildlife around our house, there is a pond across the road and the turtles migrate to the swampy spot on my side of the road every year, and that migration seems to follow the last frost within a week.

And now maybe I have some PM nest building (and TRES nest building too if I had bothered to take notes) to try to tie into that. The turtle migration time is easiest to see because a few get run over every year.

Bill

willbird · Sun Jun 02, 2013 9:59 am

GOOD news, no doubt now, at least one pair is working their tail feathers off building a nest :-). Will do a nest check Monday, might be TWO pairs :-).

jr 2 · Sun Jun 02, 2013 10:13 am

it is a great idea too have nest material already in your gourds if you don't already do;; jr2

willbird · Sun Jun 02, 2013 10:15 am

jr 2 wrote:it is a great idea too have nest material already in your gourds if you don't already do;; jr2

I put in some Cedar shavings, and also left some empty so they had options, they seem to have picked empty gourds for some reason :-).

chickadee · Sun Jun 02, 2013 10:41 am

use pine needles or straw.put just a small amount. give them room to build their own by adding to it.