Today not a good one.

[DornCounty]

Virtually no feeding trips made today by the martins with young. Not sure how long they make it without food. Can't even try to feed as adults are not present.

[Cheryl S]

I hope your young ones are okay. It was cool and cloudy here, too, and I didn't observe any feeding all morning. But it warmed to 64 here this afternoon and they were bringing in food. i am worried that I have lost some nestlings but it's been too cool and rainy to do a nest check to see. Mother Nature hasn't been very nice this year. With all the unseasonably cool and rainy weather in the South I will be surprised if there haven't been some major losses.

Good luck.

[tonyg]

My worst year ever that I can remember..loss of eggs and nestlings..some renesting going on, so hopefully weather will warm up and things will get back to normal!!

[Tim Mangan-Kansas]

Andrew:

I know how you feel. I watched my small 12 pair colony exhibit the same thing the past week or so with all the rain. In a matter of a few days, I went through my supply of 2,500 crickets placed in my feeding tray. I was finally able to conduct a nest check yesterday and was pleasantly surprised not to find any dead nestlings. I was very fortunate and have no doubt the supplemental feeding saved my nestlings. I banded one nest of five nestlings yesterday, 20 days old, and although not super fat, they all appeared very healthy.

I will send you a message regarding banding at your site.

Tim

[Matt@atx]

Im sorry to hear about the feeding issues you folks are experiencing up there. Would you say these feeding issues are being caused more by cool to cold weather as opposed to rain?

if cold is mixed with rain, its a killer. I know some folks in Oklahoma have experienced some similar things because of unusual cold weather in addition to the heavy rain they have been getting.

[DornCounty]

well did a nest check yesterday and all the nestlings seem to be alive. Not sure how as the martins simply were not around. Not a terrible day I guess. Martins were able to feed the young well yesterday seeing several trips in the hour span I watched.

[Dick Sherry]

Dorn, I am glad your young ones made it through the rotten weather.

I will see you in the morning at 10:30 and am looking forward to seeing the Parsons colony.

[avesrun]

I'm with you dorn and Sharon seems to have same situation too with her sy pair. Tough season thus far especially with lone sy pair. Didn't see them at all yesterday upon a few visits. Wasn't able to be at my satellite site at evening to watch them come home but hoping they're still around. Hope your martins have found a honey hole of bugs somewhere/somehow. For me believe it's mostly been an issue of too low temps. We've had enough breaks in the rain events for feeding but bugs just not active. I'm sort of glad I don't have eggs yet........
TimG

[John Miller]

I'm just back from nest checks in St. Louis city; we did lose a few babies, but most okay. Babies seem most susceptible to cold and poor feeding when they are about 4 to 8 days (give or take); maybe too big for the female to keep warm and no feathers yet.

Some did seem lethargic, and some showed little signs of growth from nest checks four days ago. I'm going to check again tomorrow.

I moved one runt from a clutch of six to nest that original had five but three had died. Worried as I was walking away that maybe parents were not feeding, but I the female enter. Too much information John

[wastrox]

John, do you have an update? I'm doing a nest check tomorrow after 3 and a half days of near constant rain and cool temps. Fear what I might find. Last nest check 9 days ago only had eggs but expect there are some nestlings now.

[John Miller]

Brenda

I did a spot nest check this morning in the park, and indeed did find a few more died; but most fine. I'm not sure about moving runts anymore. in that nest where I had added a runt to two remaining in a nest --all about 8 days old -- where some had died, today one had been pushed out and was dead on the ground, and not sure if it was the runt or one of two survivors from original clutch.

but overall in the park most babies are fine, and as I said in a separate post, the babies in excluder gourds at Cahokia Mounds -- a site across the river in Illinois -- were all fine.

John

[wastrox]

Oh! I'm so worried what I will find tomorrow! Hopefully I'm wrong and none have hatched yet.