We were out of town and got back Sunday - since then I have heard/seen martins flyover twice, and what a nice surprise to hear them!
Things are pretty quiet here and will stay that way til hummingbird migration picks up. Chimney swifts are gone too. Butterfly activity should build anytime now, though it's so dry, that might limit numbers.
I still have martins around as of yesterday. There was 4 going in and out of compartments on my Trendsetter last evening.. The numbers are dwindling for sure. Happy to see them though. Annie
Keep trying and keep your chin up, its easier to see the martins coming!!
My last 3 Martin nests fledged the 8th,9th and 12th of August. These babies, and other babies, plus Mom's & Dad's have been coming back to the natal site every night. Plus, there's approximately 30-40 Martins, babies and adults that show up occasionally during the day. They like to preen on top of the T-14 and nearby power lines. But it won't be long now and they will all be gone.
I do have a boat load of barn swallows that nested in my out buildings and dock. My little Boston Terrier is getting a lot of exercise chasing them around the yard when I'm mowing grass. They will be here for awhile, well into September.
Slow Blue Bird season because I couldn't keep the House Wrens out! However, I still have 2 that are nesting. This will be the 3rd time for each of them. One has 4 eggs in it, and 4 young in the other. They should fledge, at the earliest, Aug. 27th & Sept. 4th.
Tree Shallows, I guess, only nest once a year. And they've been gone for a long time, maybe a month and a half.
Martin Colony History: Started trying to attract purple martins in 2012! It's finally happened in 2017! 5 years!!! ASY male and SY female came May 1st, fledged 5 babies!
Louise I heard and seen some in the air very high yesterday. None today. I am in southern Il.
Last Fri. Evening we went to a sand bar where martins fly over the Mississippi River into Missouri. We seen hundreds flying in one direction. Then Saturday evening went out to same location and did not see as many. There were martins but I am sure each day is fewer and fewer.
Still have about 8 showing up in the evenings and see them flying around once in while during the day but not in my yard. Parents are still training the last fledglings.
We still have 15 to 20 HY birds coming back to stay at night.Our last nest fledged on the 16th so I expect they will move on anytime now.also still getting the occasional migrating groups that stop in for a short time and then move on.
Location: Pennsylvania/Espyville/Pymatuning Reservoir Area
Martin Colony History: Taking care of 11 active public colonies and trying to start two more in northwestern PA. Also attempting to restart another one in southwestern PA, in Collier Township's Hilltop Park. In 2017, not sure what happened but the ASY male returned and then a couple of weeks later he was gone. It could have been weather related. No other birds showed up. I had a starling nesting at the Public site that I had trouble getting rid of. In 2018, we fledged 629 martins at all of the sites.
My last nestling was in the T14 at the Pymatuning Learning Center on Saturday, August 16th. There were originally 4 young in the nest, and I found one dead one in the nest at that time as well. I had marked 4 young in my nest report, and one of those was a runt. The earliest possible fledge date was on August 11th. With that information, I believe that 2 birds fledged, the other bird of equal size had died, and the runt was still in there as of Saturday, the 16th.
I visited the site on Monday, the 18th, and there were 14 birds at that site at 1:30pm in the afternoon. The nestling was not sticking his head out of the entrance at that time. Hopefully the congregation of martins at that time were there for a fledging party, and that the little one finally fledged. I'll be checking that cavity again tomorrow or the next day and hopefully it is empty.
It was a fairly good martin year here in northwest PA.
Martin Colony History: The 1972 St. Agnes flood wiped out all the Martins in my area. One day, in 1997-98, 5 or 6 Martins landed on the power wires crossing my back yard. I had no house for them. They kept coming back day after day. We got a martin house a few weeks later & they have been coming back every year since. I average 12-15 pair per year.
Fledged the last nest today, still have 15 or so buzzing around during the day. Asy males bringing their young ones around for a visit. My pairs were all sy.
2011- first year trying, a few visitors.
2012-One ASY pair, raised two young, lots of subby visitors. So thankfull.
2013-daily subby visits.
2014-Six SY pairs
2015-18 pair, 83 fledglings
2016-36 pair, 147 fledglings
2017-52 pairs, 192 fledglings.
2018-60 pair, 246 fledglings.
2019-59 pair, 238 fledglings.
2020-62 pair.
2021-65 pair.
2022-63 pair.
2023-60 pair
This morning I had a dozen or more flying circles around my colony site for a few minutes, looked like migrating martins.
Later they landed on housing and wires, I counted 20 martins
Martin Colony History: 2010 we had just one sy male all summer 2011 we had the same male come back but eventually brought home a female and had five eggs but were infertile 2012 we had our first two chicks but lost them 2013 we fledged six and had two pair 2014 we fledged 13 from four pairs 2015 we fledged 24 from 6 pairs
Hey Louise!
Because of a late start and the loss of most of our ASY males due in part to the extreme weather on their spring migration.We have found that the second year birds have stepped up to the plate and have all nested but because of the late start we still have birds fledging and will have until late August.This is our first year to fledge any young birds and it has been such a treat to have them so late in the season.Until this year we have been losing our birds due to migration in mid July.
Most other landlords up our way lost alot of their ASY bird this year so im thinking the spring migration was a killer for most of them.
I saw one sitting on the power line here today as I was about to leave in my vehicle. So I pulled up into my sisters drive got out to snap a picture with my phone. Before I got a picture, an eastern kingbird attacked the martin and they both fore off. Don't know if he came back or not.
Martin Colony History: 22 year landlord, 14 at current residence..offering 9 racks and a homemade T-8 for 166 total cavities. 160 Pair in 2018 Racks consist of a Deluxe 12, AAA 16, Starburst 16, 2 K-18 Series, Super 24, 2 Gemini, Multi-purpose/two trio’s/4gourds and a T-8..Great hobby to be involved in..
Mine have been gone for about 10 days now..haven't seen any since.. Did go and check out the Wichita Ks roost last Wednesday. I'd estimate 10/15,000 martins there..they were buzzing our heads coming to roost..
22 year landlord..9 Rack Systems for 2018 and my home built T-8 for a total of 166 cavities..160 pair in 2018 ..SUPER COLONY!!! Love You Bev... Fan of those St. Louis Cardinals!!!!!
Martin Colony History: 24 Super and Excluder Gourds on two gourd racks, all SREH. Full occupancy. My philosophy is to maximize fledge % with existing cavities rather than adding gourds to grow colony, thus providing opportunities for new colony expansion. Fledge over 100 nestlings yearly from 24 gourds. Band nestlings in cooperation with state university. 2019 Adendum: Reduced colony size to 12 gourds to focus on more intensive management regimen.
Just had a fly by. It was either a female or a hatch year young. I just checked my notes, last ones seen were on the 14th. I put two older unused gourds up on saturday when I took down , cleaned and stored this years' gourds. I will have to be more observant. It is easy to miss a lone silent martin.
I have the last family of Martins still here at dusk 08/25 They will be the last
to exit Barrington RI Weather here could not get any better the entire season.
Martin Colony History: In 2023, 81 pair with 350 fledged youngsters. 106 total cavities available, 82 Troyer Horizontal gourds and 4 modified deep trio metal house units, 1 fallout shelter, owl cages around all units. Martin educator and speaker. President and founder of the Iowa Purple Martin Organization. Please visit Iowa Purple Martin Organization on Facebook. Emails send to [email protected]. Subject line include Iowa Purple Martin.
My martin were about 1/4 mile out on some power lines earlier in the day. But, this is the first night they didn't return to their gourds. The last of my babies fledged about 5 days ago. So, I assume they are either getting ready to migrate south or they just left today 08/25/14. Nevada, Iowa
Mite control, heat venting, predator protection and additional feeding during bad weather add up to success.
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The numbers are dwindling for sure. Happy to see them though. 
Annie