Still waiting

[Jaique]

I have seen 3 martins so far. First a male, then a few days later a female, then a few days after that, a male that might have been the second sighting of the first male. This is my 10th landlord year, but last year was a disaster. All my martins left mid July, abandoning all their eggs. So I hope they.will not stay away out of fear. My birds are not happily flitting around like usual when they first arrive, and I'm not even sure the ones I have seen are still here. Just venting here and hoping to have some martins to watch. They are so much fun. Our winter, as everyone knows, was cold and weird and spring is still not dependably here. So maybe the birds are just holding back for warmer weather.

[taxidermy lady]

I will be thinking and hoping for your martins to feel at home. Did you ever figure out the reason why they abandoned their eggs? how devastating that has to be.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Do you have snake (predator) guards. Maybe snakes got into the martins. If they did, then you may not get martins this year. The martins do not like to return to a place that had their babies eaten by snakes.

Snakes usually eat the eggs too, so maybe the owls caught all of the martins but some of them abandoned your site.

Martins do not quit coming to a site unless something big went wrong. Its probably one of the two above

Did you have owl guards on your housing. If not, then put wire cages around your housing.

I hope that these suggestions may give you an idea of what happene

I doubt that they are returning so late. We all love the martins and the thing that happens is sometimes we do not put up proper predator protection. If this is true in your case, its like starting over from scratch. Just try to fix the problem, and hope for the best.

Lastly, do you have starlings and sparrows that occupied your housing? If you did, you must get rid of them

[Jaique]

Yes to owl guards, snake/ raccoon guards. No starlings. I suspect hawks/owls/crows grabbed one or two adults and scared the rest so badly they all left. That's the best explanation I can come up with.

[Jaique]

Thanks much, taxidermy lady. I hope, too, that they come back. And I wish you much luck this season!

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Some doubt exists about your owl guards and snake guards. There have been many problems with purchased guards that do not work. This may be the problems, the guards that you have do not work. Maybe if you give a more detailed description of the snake and owl guards, then maybe someone has an opinion.

Personally, I do not like any of the purchased owl and snake guards, there have been too many problems with them.

Also, a Coopers hawk can cause such a problem. They are the very worst of hawks, and they can catch a martin whenever they please.

I just do not know what to say any further, but wish you luck

[Courtney-NC]

Hi Jaique,

Can you post a picture of your setup with pole and predator guard in the photo? Perhaps someone can offer a suggestion.