Visiting martins

[Jackel350]

Third year without a nesting pair , still hopeful for next year. These guys have been hanging around everyday for the last few weeks since I erected this homemade rack and with new gourds . Sure hope some of these martins come back next spring

[GeneP]

Seems that many visiting should net you some nesting pairs. Hang in there.

[John Evans]

Good luck Jackel . Rack looks great!

[Jackel350]

Thanks John, I ran across a 4" dia. 22 ft long section of aluminum tubing for 50$ so I had to build a rack system to fit it ! I have really enjoyed watching the Martins these last few weeks. Their aerial maneuvers are great to watch .It seems when you get a flock flying around your bird houses 40 or 50 more just seem to drop out of the sky

[Rodger Drye]

Jackel
Good luck to you. Looks like you did a brillant job on your Martin Rack. The photo was excellant as well. Congratulations, looks like your well on your way to becoming a Great Landlord. Don't give up its plain to see you've already got the birds. Have you had this many birds all year? Or could this be some migrating from further up north. My birds left back about the first of August here in North Carolina.
Rodger

[Jackel350]

Thank You Rodger, I'm happy with the rack system it works quite well and should be good to go next year. I had males here thoughout the nesting season trying to get a female to nest but they would just check the area and units out and leave . When I decided to put a new gourd system up I moved about a hundred yards to a spot near my barn , moved my old gourd rack over near it and hopefully next year will be the charm

[Rodger Drye]

Hey Jackel,
Got to looking at your Pole & Rack system and I'm curious. Is that pole a 4" Round aluminum pole? If so how do you keep the Rack from spinning or moving when the wind blows. My old Poles were round but you had to lean them down. My other poles have winches and they are all square, (no movement when the wind blows). In fact I'm building a new pole and just purchased a 2" x 2" x 20'. I weld my pulley about 16' and weld two sets of 1/2" perch rods about 18' & 20' . I make them so the whole pole can be laid down for inspection & maintenance or complete removal.

No more lifting for me - got hurt in Viet-Nam (Back Injury) so all that lifting for nest checks is out. I'm also in the process of converting my winches to Worm Gear Winches with Hex drive, so that I will be able to raise and lower all my racks with a Cordless or Electric Drill- (much easier). Rodger

[Jackel350]

Rodger , I used a short piece of 4" pvc with a pipe cap to adapt to the 4" OD alum. tubing and screwed it tight. I crank the rack up tight against the cap with a winch system, so far it has has held it in place. I live in rolling hill country of s. e. Ohio so I used a ground sleeve with 2 feet above ground so the pole is 22' above ground and can be removed if necessary. The rack is around 21' above ground. The Martins seem to prefer it over the other gourd rack which is 16' above ground. I ran a 3/8"dia. piece of electric wire between the two poles which they like too. Sorry I forgot to post my name before
Jack

[Rodger Drye]

Jack,

That's great as long as it works for you. Is the Aluminum pole threaded at the top or how do you screw the PVC down to it? They say a picture is worth a thoudsand words. When ever I can figure out how to post a picture I'll send you a picture of my set up. What kind of Gourds do you use. I use a little bit of everything, Super, Excluder, Troyer and Big Bo's. Thinking next year of getting some of the Troyer Horizontal Gourds. From what I've heard & read they need to be vented with 3/4" PVC Elbows. I guess because they are so deep (like 14").

My poles are 20' & 16' all are made with ground stakes in the ground 30" - 36". My ground stakes rise 34". It bolts at 32" and 2", repectively and if you take the 32" bolt out it will hinge down at the 2" bolt. They're very sturdy (made out of Schedule 40 Steel) and they have been up for 25 years. And of course they all have winches.

Do you play the "Dawn Song" for your Martins at the beginning of the year? I did for the first time this year and I really think it made a world of differance.
Rodger

[Jackel350]

Rodger, know what you mean about pics and videos I had to keep cropping that one to get under the size limit and each time it magnifies the pic which starts to blur the image after a while! I had several good videos I wanted to post but couldn't figure out how to change the format from mov to one of the ones required. This new technology is tough for us old dinosaurs ! Back to your question ,I used 1/4" self tapping screws to attach the pvc cap to the aluminum pipe. Forgot to tell you I too was in Vietnam in 68 and 69, 25th Infantry Div. Seems like I'm writing a book here
Jack

[Rodger Drye]

Jack,
First of all thank you for your service to our country. Viet Nam veterans didn't get the Respect they were intitled to back then. But I do Respect your con tributions to the Military.

That was a very ingenious way of mounting that PVC cap to your Aluminum Pole. I just bought a steel pole (2" x 2" x 20') and the pole itself was 120.00. I had some 3/8" x 3" x 5 1/2' that I'm constructing the ground stake out of. I drill two 5/8" holes through the 3" and the pole, that way it can pivot or lean down. I drill 1/2" holes in the top of the 2" pole for perches & weld them in place. I have a 1 7/8" pole about 6' tall that I want to install a quad feeder on.
Might look into some PVC I.D. pipe, and just might get lucky.
Rodger

[Jackel350]

Well I'm sorry to say but the Martins and my Hummingbirds have abandoned me ! Haven't seen a Martin for 3 days now and only 2 hummers are still at feeding stations. Sure going to miss watching all those guys
Jack

[Jackel350]

Rodger,Thank you for your service as well, It was a dark time in my life