Well here we go again!!!! Just noticed a report of a martin in the county west of me so I have to take the day off and head home to get my gourd racks up!!! Good luck to everyone who posted on this thread last year. Can't quite remember if we lost any members but hoping we did!!! Unfortunately, with my 5 nestlings not making it last year, I'm back in the club.
Martin Colony History: Several colonies with in 6 mile radius. Have had visitor every year 2014-24. Two large trees removed in fall 2024 and moved T-14 to a more open location. 2025- 1 SY pair. Fledged 2.
Sign me up. I saw a Scout report that martins are in SW PA!! Im going to put my house up this weekend.
Bellefonte PA
2014, 1st year-a few lookers, no nests
2015-23. Visitors each year. But no pairs.
2024- most active year. 2-4 SY male’s hang out most days.
2025, 1 SY pair. 2 eggs, 2 fledged!! Other martins visited daily.
Still eliminating starlings and sparrows.
I'm a partial wannabe; had 2 pair at satellite site but still need home site to get going. If they don't return to satellite will be full-fledged wannabe again.
TimG
I'd REALLY decided to quit this past winter (see my profile info)... but am now back in "the club". A little wiser and more patient, I might add.
If the PMs come and stay this year, awesome! If not, so what. It is what it is.
PS: TimG I am so happy that your Quarry site has a new colony. They will surely be back. Eventually your beautiful home site will get PMs too. I think it is a lot about how big the PM population is in the area, and how "Brave" the "Homesteaders" are. I saw with my own eyes last summer while visiting Tim Mangan's place, there was an SY pair trying to take over a gourd late in the season while the REAL ASY gourd owners were out with their fledglings feeding for the day! (Tim said there was an eviction every evening, hehe) Martins just like to be with other Martins.
~Mary B~
Lifelong PM Admirer and Nature Enthusiast.
Ruthless trapper of S&S year round.
2013-2016 Unsuccessful at starting a PM colony. Health problems.
Rehomed all my PM stuff. Good Luck and Best Wishes to All.
Martin Colony History: Several colonies with in 6 mile radius. Have had visitor every year 2014-24. Two large trees removed in fall 2024 and moved T-14 to a more open location. 2025- 1 SY pair. Fledged 2.
MB, I'm glad your still trying. I remember you posting about your health issues. I'm rooting for everyone to get out of the wannabe club, but you get an extra helping.
Bellefonte PA
2014, 1st year-a few lookers, no nests
2015-23. Visitors each year. But no pairs.
2024- most active year. 2-4 SY male’s hang out most days.
2025, 1 SY pair. 2 eggs, 2 fledged!! Other martins visited daily.
Still eliminating starlings and sparrows.
Count me in. I will be setting up my Tree Swallow gourds this week and then setting up my new-used gourd rack this weekend. I won't be opening up my houses yet; just getting excited.
I trapped two House Sparrows in my shop yesterday. Easy shooting with the BB gun. The cats had fun chasing them around also.
I am really hoping that this is my year to get kicked out of the Wannabe Landlord Club. Hope you all get kicked out this year also.
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!
Martin Colony History: Started at unsuitable location in 2008. Many lessons learned since. Two tentative locations: Rogers International School and the "Fish Church" (downtown.) One pair in 2015; no fledglings though. No pairs 2016.
One more here - I'm in CT and had a pair nest, but then a bachelor came and destroyed eggs and all - that was though to see... We will upgrade the set too! Crossing fingers and toes!
Thais Gherardi Wannabe Landlord in Stamford, CT (2 tentative sites):
- Rogers International School (S&K barn since 2013; Alamo House installed 2016)
- "Fish Church"/downtown Stamford (Alamo House installed 2016)
Mary I'm right there with you. I've thought about not trying again as well. I'm currently batting 50 percent at my new house. Two years nothing and two years I had one pair. At least I'm over the thoughts of "Is my site inadequate, do I need more open flyways, is my housing insufficient". This is the first year where there are no changes or improvements to make. It's funny that I really do not try that hard to have wood ducks, tree swallow, eastern bluebirds, black capped chickadees and mallards nesting all around my house. I've done everything I can do with the martins and if they come they come. If not, I'm not sweating it any longer. We are even hosting a pair of grey squirrels that took up residence in one of the wood duck boxes. I'm at peace knowing all 42 cavities have tunnels, porches, owl guards, pine straw and predator guards. I'm done putting up housing and if they come they come.
Good luck to all and it will be fun to share our season as we did last year.
Great to hear from you MBruff and MBooth! This is year 5 at my home and I have the exact sentiments you've both expressed. I have faith the Martins will come. Prayers are answered in one of 3 ways: "no", "yes", or "not yet". I have to believe that we are not dealing with the first one!
Stay ready; they're coming!
TimG
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!
That's a big AMEN! Tim, Mitch, and Mary! When you've done all you can do its just done! I really want them but won't be upset if they decide not to. It is what it is! There's Enough in my life to be thankful for. Having martins will just add a little spice to my life!
One more thing I am doing different than I have done before. I have ordered a dawnsong "magnet" to see if that will help. DebA, Tim Mangan, and countless others swear by them. So I drank the purple Koolaid and figured what the heck.
People say that "A boat is a hole in the water to throw money into." Got that T shirt. Guess I need to get one that says "Establishing a Purple Martin Colony is like a hole in the air to throw money into."... Wheee! I would like one of T shirt in Purple please. (Just being silly.)
Thank you all for your encouragement. Life happens. All days are good days, and some are better than others.
~Mary B~
Lifelong PM Admirer and Nature Enthusiast.
Ruthless trapper of S&S year round.
2013-2016 Unsuccessful at starting a PM colony. Health problems.
Rehomed all my PM stuff. Good Luck and Best Wishes to All.
I will tell you the Kool-aid is tasty. I utilized the Birdsong Magnet playing the dawnsong last year and i was lucky enough to have a sym hang out for a few days. This year I've got some fresh new housing with a winch set-up. Got rid of my tilt pole fiasco. I'm going to be blasting that dawnsong from mid-april all the way until the end of june here!
This is our year people!
PMCA Member
2013 - 1 SY Male Looker. Couple of Fly-bys.
2014 - Observed no Lookers :(
2015 - Bird-X Songbird Magnet, Sym and 2 others with him visited 4 days in a row.
2016 - Few Fly-bys at home. Started Public Site, a few vistors
2017 - Home, Visitors, Satellite Site, 3 Pairs, 14 eggs, 10 Fledged!
I think you should keep the want to be club open ,I like it, the only thing is I think that all you members in there now should graduate. But keep the club open for new enlistees . I like the form too but the truth of the matter is ,it would be a little bit stale if it weren't for you wannabes. Keep your decoys up and your CDs playing ,good luck.
Welcome back mama , so glad to hear from you again, keep your chin up. Ed.
Count me in the club too.
Last year was my first year. I grew some natural gourds around 7 1/2 - 9 inch diameter and put them up and got a few visitors. I found some better seeds and grew 10 -11 inch diameter gourds and put on tunnels and porches this year so I am hopeful this year.
I also have 16 other boxes and host many tree swallows, bluebirds, chickadees, titmice and wood ducks on our 12 acres.
We have a huge Tree swallow population here due to the creek and beaver pond, so I can't really open up the gourds til they settle in to their boxes.
I will tell you with 100% certainty that the Dawnsong works!!! It will draw in every martin for at least an initial look if they are within the area.
My old location was directly across the street from the Nimisila Roost. Every evening, an hour before dark, I would have literally 1,000's of birds circling my house due to the Dawnsong playing. As soon as I turn the Dawnsong off they would disburse. I've experimented quite a bit with it from playing it as loud as a rock concert and playing at a relatively low volume. The more natural low volume worked as well as playing it too loud. My new location is about a mile away from the Nimisila Roost instead of being across the street and from July 15 to September 1st I play the Dawnsong 24/7 and have several thousand birds here a day. I also play it 24/7 in the spring until I have birds spending the night. Since I really haven't been successful getting a colony going I may just play it all season this year.
Just don't give up, guys. Some try for years before they start seeing results, myself included. We had 4 nesting pair last year, with at least a couple of dozen rambunctious yearlings staying for from end of April until end of season. What a show. First couple of ASY males showed up yesterday. Never ever seen martins this early before. This tells me we might, just might have returning martins.
Ed Pace, I like what you said about our "Club". There will always be Wannabees, all with similar problems, trials, and tribulations, and tears... To "graduate" sounds like a worthy achievement goal!
Today, I have discovered that one of the investigating starlings is NOT "too fat" for my Conley II entrances! UGH! I have 3 Troyer-Haskell traps now deployed, and blocked my other gourds. I have enough Lewis Modification parts for 4 gourds if need be. Starlings have just not been a problem at my location until now. Perhaps I will get lucky (Ha Ha) and catch this one outlier bird.
3/11/6:22 PM... UPDATE: Smallish Male Starling caught in the Troyer-Haskell Trap.
Last edited by MamaBruff on Fri Mar 11, 2016 7:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
~Mary B~
Lifelong PM Admirer and Nature Enthusiast.
Ruthless trapper of S&S year round.
2013-2016 Unsuccessful at starting a PM colony. Health problems.
Rehomed all my PM stuff. Good Luck and Best Wishes to All.
Martin Colony History: Started with Amish copy of Trendsetter 12 room house, added Trio Grandpa with expanded rooms, and North Star 8. Taking Trendsetter down this spring and adding gourd rack.
Count me in. I'm taking the gourds off my houses and putting them on a rack of twelve. There's a guy about ten miles north of me with gourd racks so I'm going to go after those birds. Caught five starlings and four sparrows this week so I'm trying hard! Good luck to all!!
2020 - A pair of SY birds with three nice chicks. Lots of visitors all year long.
2015-2019 - A few lookers.
2014 - ASY male and SY female fledged four chicks.
2013 - Several visitors but none stayed to nest.
2012 - Lots of visitors all season long. We had a pair of sys but no chicks survived.
2011 - New location - A few visitors
2010 - First year – Poor house location.
