Nearby Golf Course "colony"

[avesrun]

2014 will be my second season landlord attempt. I have found only one site of existing Martin housing,( residential, public, or private land) near my home and it is a golf course that is about 2 miles away. I talked to the main maintenance guy at the course last Fall and as it turns out they have about 6 martin houses scattered throughout the 18 hole course near ponds. All the poles are without winches or pulleys. They take the houses down in Fall and put them back up in spring and are not tended to at all throughout the nesting season. Not sure if they use ladders or if the pole hinges at the base or what. The only two houses that I could watch and see from a highway outside the course had martins but also had HOSP. According to the caretaker they have been putting the martin houses up for 30 years or more. I have no idea of nesting success overall but he said I could observe the other houses on the course this coming season.
Question:If I get any martins (SY or otherwise) from this site to nest at my site do you think they'll be "skittish" about me raising and lowering my housing to check for mites, do nest checks etc.?
Overall, as a new landlord do you veterans out there recommend staying away from your housing for the first few days/week(s) when visiting birds first show up and are checking out a martin house that has never been occupied before? I had several visiting birds last year but no takers and don't want to do anything to spook away visiting birds this season. thanks and sorry for the lengthy post.

Tim in Iowa

[Bill Hyde]

Seems like your golf course is similar to the one across the street from me, where there are two PM houses along one fairway near some ponds; but, as you noted in your post, there does not seem to be any monitoring going on at either site. But I am certain that the martins that have populated my colony are likely to have selected our yard as an improvement to what they had been using on the golf course.

I made mistakes similar to what you are asking about, like showing too much attention to the first visitors than the complete privacy they were used to along the golf holes. I'm certain I scared some subbies away on my first attempt; but I learned from each experience and eventually got one pair to nest, then "BINGO!" the next year when some adult martins picked my yard for their homes. This past summer (2013) there were exactly zero martin nests at the golf course and over a dozen successful nests in my yard.

At the end of last season I donated extra PM houses to the forest preserve district that runs our neighborhood golf course, with a proviso that all my donated stuff would be placed at sites where the general public can observe the martins without having to pay for a round of golf.

Good luck with your efforts. And don't worry about "skittish" martins. In practically no time they will get used to you and actually enjoy your presence as much as you enjoy theirs!

[avesrun]

thanks for the post Bill. I hope I can echo your success! I'm switching my setup from the west side to the east side of my 3 acre property for this spring. it's less protected from the weather but a little more open for flyway. also adding feeding tray and perching cable.
if a hosp starts going into an entrance while visiting subs are present should I avoid raising n lowering housing to set traps etc? last season I think I disturbed visiting too much while dealing with hosp.

[John Miller]

Congratulations on taking on the golf course martins. My favorite public site among several I care for is the golf course at Forest Park, and we have two of their four poles right in front of the clubhouse, in a landscaped bed. It has the PMCA information sign there too. when I arrive and see someone taking the time to read the sign, I can't imagine I'd prefer having the colony at my own home.

John M

[Chris Brown]

Hi Avesrun
I'm a little new to martins more like a collage grade more education then experience. Sounds like you are in a great area and will get the formula right. I feel it important that you remember one thing. You won't get martins if you don't keep your house/gourds 100% house sparrow free. Do you have a melcher nbt or s&s controller set up with in sight of your house under some trees or up against a building. You must keep your house 100% pest free as a first priority even at the cost of discouraging new arrivals. Remember they maybe moving from the golf course to your place to avoid the sparrows.

[avesrun]

Chris: I waged major war on HOSP and Starlings my first season. At first, I allowed no HOSP in my house for any real length of time. I employed heavy use of Troyer tunnel traps, universal trap, and spare o door as well as frequent use of firearm and sparrow cage trap. Didn't keep track of total number eliminated but it was aplenty. Actually though, after nesting season set in I had few issues with either Starlings or HOSP. Am in the process of building S&S as well as Chuck Abare's version of S&S that has
1- 1/2" hole and will not catch PM's and can be set up amid martin setup for HOSP.

Maybe I need to be more specific about my question on visiting birds. I think it was on the first day of a visiting SY martin showing up; I also had a HOSP landing and going into holes of the T-14. Literally within minutes of the martin checking out my T-14 I was out there lowering the setup and messing with traps, taking out the HOSP's one or two pieces of nest material and re-raising etc. I believe I created too much commotion too soon and could have chilled out a little bit longer to give the martin a WEE bit more time to settle in. Maybe not.

Either way, found it very difficult to trap the male HOSP unless I allowed the sparrow nest to reach significant size but yet way before any female HOSP layed any eggs. This year I plan to do same as I was 100% effective at nailing HOSP by letting nest reach certain size. I'm hoping any perspective martins will be able to tolerate. I never had more than one male HOSP at any one time checking out the T-14 and 4 gourds below.

[avesrun]

Congratulations on taking on the golf course martins. My favorite public site among several I care for is the golf course at Forest Park, and we have two of their four poles right in front of the clubhouse, in a landscaped bed. It has the PMCA information sign there too. when I arrive and see someone taking the time to read the sign, I can't imagine I'd prefer having the colony at my own home.

John M

John: Actually, I don't think I'll be actually "taking on" the golf course colony. The caretaker was nice and offered me to come out and observe the houses; however, he seemed a little put off when I talked about the need for poles with wenches, HOSP control etc.( I tried to be as tactful as possible). He's been putting the houses up and down for so many years and I got the feeling he thinks all is in control and he's getting martins so no need to change........

Tim in Iowa

[John Miller]

Tim

Sorry..I got excited and misunderstood.

If I could only do one lowering per season to a martin house beyond raising it in spring, I'd lower in early to mid June in Missouri and about the same there and treat nests for mites, putting in a pinch (maybe one fourth teaspoon total) of sevin in the sides of nests. This probably would double the percentage of babies being fledged strong enough to survive, based on PMCA studies not of sevin (they advocate nest changes) but of benefit of controlling nest parasites. If the golf course guy ever wants to call me -- I manage the housing at Forest Park golf course -- I can give you my phone no. by private message.

So darn cold here...winter lingers on, but hey, it's still January.

John Miller

[DebA]

Hi Tim!
That caretaker sounds like my hair dresser! Her pole hinges at the bottom so she lays the whole house down onto a saw horse and empties out the house at season's end. She has gone a couple of years without PM's but last year she did have two pair. She just told me the other day that sparrows were on one side and martins on the other and they did just fine. She knows how involved I am with my little colony and probably thinks I'm nuts. I've given her nest check instructions, HOSP control advice, predator guards, etc... Plus she is one of my poor FB friends during martin season. I've told her about this forum.

I remember how that bothered you last year, maybe scaring the subbie away. As you have discovered that allowing a certain amount of HOSP nest building helps with trapping, you can leave them be when you spot your first PM scout. Allow the PM to settle in a few days and then deal with the HOSP. Once you have a couple of PM's committing to your housing they will draw more and you won't be a bother to them.

No one around me nests checks that I'm aware of. When I first started I didn't either the first year. I started year two. Immediate upon arrival and frequently. They seemed to take to me very easily. Skittish golf course martins will love you!

Deb

[avesrun]

thanks everyone. my plan is to record data at the golf course based on binocular observation of nesting success/failure and then to work ever so slowly on the manager for possibly converting the poles to pulleys and wenches. meanwhile for this season I hope to capitalize and "steal “ possible sy our asy martin; just being honest!