Location, Location, Location

Jose Rodriguez · Sun Feb 15, 2015 8:36 am

My wife and I have been working hard on getting the Martin Site ready for the season. We put down rye grass seed in January to make it look inviting from up above lol. I wonder what the white gourds look like against the green grass from up above? I have already mowed as you can see the tire tracks on the grass.

kehunter · Sun Feb 15, 2015 9:13 am

Jose, how are other sites set up? Do they utilize gourds, houses or a combination of both? Last year's fledglings from other nearby sites might be attracted to new sites that bear some resemblance to their "home" site.

KathyF · Sun Feb 15, 2015 9:25 am

Very nice site, Jose! How close is that big tree to the right? You may want to consider taking it down - it looks huge!

Best of luck to you this season!

taxidermy lady · Sun Feb 15, 2015 9:57 am

I would think your 2 pair will be back. If they do not come back this spring you may want to consider taking that tree out! I know it is hard to do. It is suppose to be 40 ft. But that is a tall tree. If it would fall down would it hit the site? If so it is to close. I think if martins find a better setup they will go to it. Good luck, make yours the best!

Jose Rodriguez · Sun Feb 15, 2015 10:51 am

True on all accounts. That is the last tree standing in our Martin site. I really do not like that old water oak tree, but the good thing it is slowly dying. So it will come down soon enough. It is over 80' tall, I'm guessing, but it is leaning away from the last BB house in the photo. So it will differently miss the gourds. We had another years back "same size" that came down and landed on our bat houses and killed a lot of our bats, not to mention our fence. If you look closely you can see on the far end are other dead oak trees in the other lot, only those trees are still standing and house Starlings.

Hunter, other sites in the close area "2 miles plus" are houses. We didn't get any Martins last year till March, so I'll wait patiently.

Thanks for everyones concerns/tips

JeanS · Sun Feb 15, 2015 11:14 am

Beautiful view! How far from the house is your Purple Martin Rack? Purple Martins have a relationship with humans and they don't like to be too far away from human activity. I'm sure you did your research though. :-)

Curious thing about Purple Martins. They don't read the books about themselves, so sometimes they break their own rules about where to nest. We have a neighbor that placed a Coates Metal house next to a tree. The tree grew and the branches actually reach out all around the Coates. It grates on my nerves that a few Purple Martins actually use that Coates in the tree canopy every year. So unsafe for them.

kehunter · Sun Feb 15, 2015 12:07 pm

Do you think a second pole with a house might attract any SY birds from the surrounding area that might be more "imprinted" on a house as opposed to gourds? This would give any "lookers" this year a choice of housing type.

~Ray~Gingerich · Sun Feb 15, 2015 1:01 pm

The tree is not too bad, it's not real dense and has open space around it, also appears to be close to 40 ft away, I think. Believe it or not martins do make use of a nearby tree if not surrounded with other trees.

Jose Rodriguez · Mon Feb 16, 2015 7:52 am

Thanks folks!

Just to clarify, this picture is really deceiving. The large oak tree is 24 ft past the last BB house shown and it is 78 ft to the gourd rack shown in the picture. I hope this puts a better perspective of this photo.

Have a good week everyone!

taxidermy lady · Wed Feb 18, 2015 8:16 pm

Well Jose anything yet! I am super doper rooting for you! I pray, pray, pray you have your birds return! Keep us informed!

Good luck!!!

Jose Rodriguez · Fri Feb 20, 2015 4:11 pm

Nothing yet Sharon. Thanks for checking. Trust me, I will definitely keep you posted as soon as I see/hear anything! Sure did have a lot of fun watching them last season! Fingers crossed!

Bulldog1 · Tue Feb 24, 2015 11:20 pm

Your location is much more open than mine. You should do well.

[img][img]http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g80/h ... 0030-1.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g80/h ... 0032-1.jpg[/img][/img]

Jose Rodriguez · Wed Feb 25, 2015 11:42 am

Thank you Bulldog! I can hardly wait!

avesrun · Wed Feb 25, 2015 12:17 pm

Hello Jose:

Your site is uncannily similar to mine in the way you're set up with the open field and surrounding woods. See photolink. I've made significant changes since the photo was taken; there is two utility poles now to the right of the t-14 shown in the photo with about 50ft. of cable strung between. I also have another pole with houses and gourds that will be located a little closer to my residence. Also, the young red cedar tree to the left of the t-14 has been transplanted to a different location on my property.
Anyway, I still can't get over how similar the lay of the land is between our two sites and I'm hoping both our chances are GOOD! To me it all comes down to ample flyway (which we both have) and how great the martin population is in the surrounding area (which for me is not so great); however, I have enough martins around that I think it is a matter of 3-5 years. Anywayx2, good luck in 2015!
Tim
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h136/ ... abaf09.jpg

taxidermy lady · Wed Feb 25, 2015 1:01 pm

You look good Tim. You just need some martins!

Jose Rodriguez · Wed Feb 25, 2015 2:57 pm

Tim,

Yes you are correct. Very similar sites. I looked through your photos. Very nice. I especially like the Google photo from above.

Good Luck this season!