Snowing In Dixie

[Steve Kroenke]

Snowing In Dixie

Our poor purple martins have been under siege from Mother Nature since Sunday February 22. We have had cold temperatures, rain, sleet and now snow. Today February 25, it has been snowing and this may continue for most of the day. Tomorrow February 26, it actually may clear some with a high temperature in the upper 40s if we are lucky. If this happens, the martins will be able to find flying insects over the many pastures and small ponds in our area. Sunshine will make this even better. Then cold again Friday February 27 and then a warming trend for the weekend. What crazy weather!

My order of crickets is on the UPS truck to be delivered today, but that could be late this afternoon. I plan to try flipping crickets and see how the martins respond.

Our martins have been flying around even in the snow and some are sitting out in it on the housing. I did see a few of the martins make “poop flights” and that could mean they actually caught some insects earlier.

Last evening a number of the martins communally roosted with as many as 8 or 9 martins in a single Troyer Horizontal gourd. Other martins roosted together in two of my Trendsetters. We may have 40+ martins in our two colonies.

Some of the martins seem more stressed than others while other martins are vocalizing and even defending their cavities. I believe there are transient migrants in our colonies and these martins may be more stressed than the permanent residents. I haven’t found any dead or grounded martins yet and if the martins respond favorably to the crickets and can feed on their own tomorrow, then I believe many will pull through.

This morning I took some photos of my martin colony with all the snow coming down. Most of the martins were still inside but several were out on the porches of two Trendsetters. After taking these photos more martins came out, flew around and perched on the Trendsetters.







Steve

[DornCounty]

crazy. I bet we haven't had 1/2 inch total of snow in my neck of the woods all year.

[Louise Chambers]

It hurts to know so many martins are struggling to survive this unusually cold weather in the south right now. The martins aren't coming back too soon, the winter weather is lingering too long!

The PMCA scout arrival page and main web page both have links to a pdf on feeding martins during bad weather. reptilefoods.com is one good source for buying crickets, mealworms, and giant zophoba worms in quantity, and everyone has access to eggs (all for emergency feeding of martins).

Check weather forecasts and plan ahead - martins can feed in upper 40s if it's sunny, but windy, rainy weather can stop them from feeding even if temps are in lower 60s.

Steve, thanks for the update, and we hope the martins can get through this.

[pmartinlover2]

No rat snakes today, I guess??? Hope all your martins survive, Steve. I didn't think that you usually did supplemental feeding, but I guess the situation calls for it now. Keep us informed.
_______
Jody

[avesrun]

Hi Steve: Hopefully March will go out like a lamb.
Was wondering; do you have the luxury of not having to worry about raccoons in your area? I've always questioned how easy it would be for a raccoon to climb the 3" alum. pole anyway. I know they can climb pretty much anything though. Thanks.
Tim

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Louise,

I believe that many of the February purple martins in northwest Louisiana may perish due to this hideous weather that has plague us since Sunday February 22. There is little for them to eat and the cold weather is not going to really let up until Sunday March 1 if the weather reports hold true. I was hoping that we would get some sunshine and at least upper 40 degree temps tomorrow, February 26 but it looks like it may still be cloudy with temps in the lower 40s. By Sunday March 1 the temperature may hit the mid 60s and that will be great but possibly too late.

Due to the bad weather, my crickets from reptilefoods was held up by UPS in Shreveport and I guess they will be delivered tomorrow. They will probably be all dead if left in a cold truck.

I am noticing that more of the martins are really stressing now and two males fell to the ground today. All that cold snow no doubt hurt them. I got them immediately, warmed them up and fed them scrambled eggs. They have perked up and I hope the crickets come tomorrow so they can eat some "insect protein". The martins are flying more slowly now and they often just cluster together on the Trendsetter porches. It is really getting desperate.

I have never seen such weather before. It is mainly the duration of the bad weather that is so bad. In the past we would have two maybe three days of rotten weather, then things would improve. This time the bad weather may last about a week.

Fortunately, we don't have a large number of martins that have returned to our colonies. So any losses from this bad weather won't have a big impact on our colonies.

Though I have not really done any supplemental feeding in the past because there really hasn't been a need for it, this recent weather disaster has changed my position on the subject. From now on I plan to order crickets in advance and have them ready for bad weather. Be prepared!

Steve

Hey Jody,

Nope, no snakes in this kind of weather!

I have not done any supplemental feeding in the past as there was really no need to do it. We would have maybe two or three days of nasty weather and the martins survived. But this weather disaster is much different and may last almost a week. Martins will have an almost impossible time surviving under these conditions. So this situation has really "opened my eyes" about supplemental feeding and I hope the martins will respond when I offer them crickets.

I am ready for warm weather and I keep singing that old Beatles' song, "Here Comes The Sun" and hope the Sun shows his face soon!

Steve

Hey Tim,

We don't have many raccoons that venture out in the open to visit our yards. There are coyotes in the area and these predators will kill and eat a raccoon if they can catch one out in the open.

Raccoons can climb almost anything it seems! So they can most likely go right up a 3 inch square pole. I have the netting for rat snakes but the netting will NOT stop a raccoon. I have thought about adding another baffle for raccoons just in case. This would be some kind of cylinder type guard.

Steve

[Louise Chambers]

Even if those crickets arrive in frozen condition, you can still feed them to the martins - they will flick just fine after thawing in hot water. I'd go ahead and try flicking some small egg pieces too - they may be hungry enough now to try it.

Once when we ran out of crickets I went to nearest pet store and bought out almost all of their crickets, grasshoppers, mealworms - dead and alive. The martins ate them all just fine. But you have so many birds - let's hope mortality is low.

[ToyinPA]

Steve:
You might consider building a feeding station. Stand by it to flip crickets/eggs/etc & then once you get a few to take supplemental feeding you may be able to place some on the feeding station & they will just feed off it. With so many martins in your colony it'd be hard to flip enough to feed them all. Once you get your colony to supplement feed they will not take them if they are not hungry.

Usually my colony (10-12 pair) suffers thru snow/ice/sleet/rain/wind/heat & drought each season. I get it all here in central PA. It took me 3 years to get my colony to supplemental feed. I usually have 1-2 pair that still refuse to.

In the last few years I've noticed a major decline in bugs here. Too many farmers using Round-Up & Gas Drilling companies using so much water from the river/creeks the bugs don't hatch. So anytime the weather is what I'd consider a bad day for good feeding I offer crickets. Often parents will feed the crickets to their chicks. One season I had a ASY Male catch crickets & take them across town to feed to his fledged chicks. He made several trips in the rian to feed those chicks, only eating a few himself. That was during a few days of non-stop rain.

I now keep 2000-5000 crickets in the freezer at the ready. Thaw them in hot water, drain water off & place on paper towels. Then I put them in a dish & grab a long plastic spoon. If they are hungry they line up & wait for me to flip them. I'd rather supplement feed them find them dead on the ground from lack of food.

Good luck & I hope you get warmer weather soon....even tho us Northeners are used to long cold winters this sure has been a bad one.

Toy in PA

[Tim Mangan-Kansas]

Steve:

This is terrible, not only for you, but for all landlords with martins on site and experiencing the same weather conditions. What I find sad about this, is these are the first returning martins, the older martins, the martins with the best genes to be passed along to this years fledglings.

Being stressed, hopefully your martins will quickly take to flipped crickets. After flipping, put some in a pan and see if they will feed on their own. Good luck.

Tim

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Louise/Toy/Tim,

Thanks for the information.

We just have so many martins right now including transient migrants that it will be challenging to save a lot of them. Many of the martins are spread out in both our colonies though other martins do cluster around two of my Trendsetters.

I am going to try to focus on the Trendsetters where a number of martins have been communally roosting. The wide porches of the Trendsetters may be a good place to place crickets/scrambled eggs and the martins would have easy access if they wanted to eat. I do have an old bed and breakfast system I could erect and may try that too.

Also flinging crickets/eggs in front of martins clustered on the Trendsetter porches may "stimulate" the martins to grab the food. Something else to try.

The two males I rescued yesterday are still alive and somewhat active in their "box". So I will be watching for martins that have fallen to the ground.

As a last effort attempt to save more martins, I may remove any weakened martins that are "packed together" in the Trendsetters or a gourd if I am aware of it and feed them. Just put them in a box and feed as many by hand as I can and see if they will survive until this weekend.

Large martin colonies can be a blessing and a curse. When the colony is under severe stress like what we are having right now, having more martins creates more stress for the landlord when he/she tries to save them. I would much prefer having just a few martins to feed rather than 40+.

It is cold and cloudy this morning and I so hoped to see some stars when I checked. Today and tomorrow will be cold and mostly cloudy and the chances of many flying insects appearing are slim. Saturday February 28 the temperature may reach the mid-50s but still be cloudy. And Sunday March 1 the temperature may hit the low 60s with clouds.

I am sure martin colonies all over north Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas are under siege. Fortunately, it is still early in the season, so hopefully only small numbers of martins will actually be adversely impacted.

Steve

[Tim m.]

Steve, hope i can help do you have a 8foot step ladder build a 3' x3' tray with 1x4 sides fasten to top of step ladder put close to house with most birds in it put crickets in it. I'm sure they will go for it . Tim m.

[Todd Wright]

I have been putting crickets in their compartments, on porches, and flipping since Monday. Yesterday I took a pan with scrambled eggs and mealworms and sat it on top of their house and they took to it pretty quickly. I have had 9 martins up until yesterday but only had 7 yesterday. Do not know what happened to the other 2 they were not in the houses so hoping for the best for them. The weather forecast finally shows a warm up on Sunday but with it comes high rain chances for 4-5 days. I feel bad for them but I am doing all I can for them.

[trisha]

It has also been bad here too since sunday. I have flipped crickets numerous times, I only have 3 birds back and only 1 female is catching them.. yesterday we actually reached 50 but today we are back to 30 and snowing... repeat for the rest of the week and then rain on sunday.... I am putting crickets in their houses and gourds.... hope they can survive....

Good luck with yours Steve, and everyone else too.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Tim/Todd/Trisha,

First I want to thank Tim for calling me and offering suggestions regarding feeding martins. That was very kind and thoughtful of you.

Yes, I have a ladder and that could be used as a moveable feeding platform.

I also have an old bed/breakfast system and I plan to use that first to see if the martins will feed from it. But the ladder idea is great too and I may end up using both if necessary.

My crickets did arrive today and I tried both crickets and scrambled eggs. No luck with the eggs. I did see two females actually eat crickets that I placed on the porches and inside the holes of two of my Trendsetters. Other crickets may have been eaten by other martins inside the compartments. However, I had no luck with flinging crickets but the martins really weren't clustered around the Trendsetters that much. All the crickets were ignored when flung out. I will still try this again tomorrow if the martins congregate around the Trendsetters.

Tomorrow I plan to put more crickets INSIDE the Trendsetter compartments and install the feeding platform near the two Trendsetters where many martins roost.

I have not found any dead martins yet though some could be in the many gourds/houses in both our colonies. My two rescue martins are doing well and I fed them a bunch of crickets today. I plan to release them Sunday when the temperature should be in the 60s.

The weather continues to be horrible with high temperatures in the low 40s, NO sunshine and a cold wind. Friday will be a cold one and Saturday will be a little better. If the martins can make it till Saturday, then they may be able to feed better. Sunday will be even better for them.

In spite of the terrible weather, the martins will fly out and head for nearby small ponds and the adjacent pastures with cattle herds. Maybe there are finding some flying insects in the areas. Today they did this and I watched them come back to our colonies. Some of the martins flew well while others were stressed.

Trisha and Todd, I hope all your martins make it! This has been the worst weather ordeal I have ever seen so far in northwest Louisiana. If we could just get sunshine, the martins could feed even in the 40s. But we haven't seen the sun in so long!

Good luck to all southern martin landlords who are facing all this horrible weather.

Steve

[Todd Wright]

Steve
We did get about 30-45 minutes of clear skies and bright sunshine this afternoon and despite it being 39 degrees the birds really responded when the sun came out. Their and my attitude got a lot better and they starting chirping and flying around. Unfortunately I think that's it for sunshine until the end of next week.

[KathyF]

Steve, I understand the challenges you're facing. I was struck by the fact that so many southern landlords are having to learn to feed this year in these unusual weather conditions. And reading through this thread and realizing how many northern landlords can chime in and, thanks to their own unfortunate experiences, offer a lot of advice.
It takes some persistence, but once they get used to the egg being mixed in with crickets, some will even prefer it over the crickets.
Once I had mine trained to take the flipped crickets, I would alternate between crickets and eggs when they got into their feeding frenzy.
Wish I lived closer, I'd come help you flip!
Kathy

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Todd/Kathy,

This morning we had sunshine and it was nice to see. But the temperature was in the 20s and the wind chill in the teens. Then the nasty clouds rolled in and the temperature is now in the mid-30s with a wind chill of around 20.

It is a disaster for the martins currently in this area as this terrible weather has persisted for almost a week. Tomorrow, February 28 the temperature may reach the mid-50s but it will be in the low 30s in the morning and that high temperature may not be reached until later in the afternoon. It will be cloudy AGAIN! Sunday will be warmer but many martins may not survive to enjoy it.

Yes, we southern landlords who have never had to deal with extended nasty weather may not be as prepared. We certainly appreciate the advice of landlords who deal with bad weather problems each season.

I have tried flipping crickets/eggs, putting them in a feeding tray next to the two Trendsetters where many martins communally roost, and laying crickets on the house porches and inside the compartments. I have only seen several female martins eat a few crickets from the porches but that may not be enough for survival. No martin has tried to catch a cricket in flight. Maybe the martins are now just too weak to even try.

I have four martins I am feeding inside and two may make it but I doubt the two others will. The breastbones of these martins are "sharp" and there is little "fat" on their bodies.

I hope to be better prepared in the future with crickets ALREADY in the freezer and start a feeding program sooner. Perhaps then the martins will better respond.

Thanks for your suggestions and advice. It is appreciated.

Steve

[Tim Mangan-Kansas]

Steve:

I have been hearing of reports from other landlords who are starting to report loses of their early martins. I don't recall an extended cold spell hitting the Deep South like this since I started hosting martins. It is truly sad to be losing these first arrivals, the best of the gene pool. Being unable to feed, many have used up their fat reserves and are just not able to withstand the freezing temperatures.

Tim

[threelilkids]

Steve, sounds like you are doing your best, I wish you all the best of luck. I hope you don't lose any birds. Hang in there the warm weather is coming, hope it will not come to late.
Mary

[Davlyn]

Hey Steve , So sorry to hear what is happening to your martins and so many others in the south right now !! It breaks my heart to even think about it , once a few years ago it was in the low 40's with the wind blowing for about three days and I went to my local hardware and bought a lot of bait ( crickets ) and tried flicking them like you have with no success ! I think I will buy some more this weekend and start working will the martins and see if I can teach them to take the crickets so if the weather was to ever get bad in the future I would be ready . I guess it took something like this to open my eyes to the fact that anything is possible . So sorry and I wish you the best !