It was a different morning today. At 9:00 AM the sun was shining, insects were buzzing and the temperature was quickly passing by 60 degrees to a high of about 80 degrees. The Martins were snatching insects from the air on their quest to bring in green leaves as quickly as possible to complete their nests. Oh what a difference from the cool rainy weather that dominated the past several weeks.
It was easy to spot many new sub-adult birds peeking into entrances and going from gourd to gourd hoping to find a vacancy. One in particular caught my attention and it was clearly a very small SY male when I used the binoculars. An ASY male was trying to evict him from atop of the T-14 but the "little scrapper" only opened his mouth and challenged the much larger and older male. AHHHHHH it's subbie time folks. This year's crop may be a bit small in both numbers and stature but they are not short on feistiness. Perhaps the small size (in both regards) due to last year's terrible June fledgling season that brought over 13" of rain and created many runts and even more mortalities.
This year promises to be warmer and dryer however from this time forward in our region. We are due for a great crop of Martins. Lets hope heat is not an issue this season. Ventilation may be more important than ever this year.
My nest check 5 days ago showed several completed clutches and 42 eggs. I expect that number has at least doubled since then. My site offers 50 cavities and other than a few pairs taking extra all should be full. On the front side of my T-14 a pair has built huge nests in all three of the compartments on the side facing my deck. The female laid 2 eggs in #2 and 2 eggs in #3. Then laying stopped. So I decided to move the 2 downstairs. Not sure if she ever added to them. Guess we will see.... the male is trying to attract a SY female to the other units but his mate would have no part of it. She rode the young gal right to the ground. However now she appears too busy incubating eggs in #3 so we will see what happens to the other 2 empty cavities with prebuilt nests.
So far so good here. I really "cleaned house" on house sparrows this year. Not a cheap anywhere. Bluebirds have feathered young in a box under the Martin housing and the tree swallows have eggs in their box as well. I also have a pair of Martins in the gourd on a shepherds hook by my pool that was intended for tree swallows. OH well, that's not the first time. Seems every year I get Martins nesting 5 foot off the ground.
Have a great summer enjoy the warmer weather.
Doug
Subbies keep rolling in. Finally warmth too.
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Doug Martin - PA
- Posts: 1988
- Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2004 10:47 am
- Location: Pennsylvania/Fombell
- Martin Colony History: First pair in 2009 after 28 years of trying. 3 pairs 2010, 17 pairs 2011 and 35-45 pairs since. Many additional colonies are now springing up around mine in an area once completely void of Martins. I offer 50 compartments at my site consisting of primarily Excluder II gourds on Gemini racks. Also a wooden T-14. I utilize electric fence type predator guards on the base of the poles. Supplemental feeding is crucial in maintaining my colony. I platform feed throughout the season as needed. My site tends to be a stop over point for additional birds as they migrate further north.
Supplemental feeding plays a major role in Western Pennsylvania. Finally got my 1st pair in 2009 after 28 years of effort. The colony has grown quickly to 45 pairs that I care for. Many new colonies have now sprung up around me in the past few years as well. Where there was none.... there is many.
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ToyinPA
- Posts: 2227
- Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:07 pm
- Location: PA/Avis
- Martin Colony History: The 1972 St. Agnes flood wiped out all the Martins in my area. One day, in 1997-98, 5 or 6 Martins landed on the power wires crossing my back yard. I had no house for them. They kept coming back day after day. We got a martin house a few weeks later & they have been coming back every year since. I average 12-15 pair per year.
Thanks for the up date Doug.
We'll be doing a nest check in about an hour. I have 2 eggs in 1 nest. Hope to find more. Today we hit 84. All I can say is WOW it's wonderful to finally have sun & warm weather. The Martins & Chimney Swifts had an enjoyable day flying high & catching insects.
I also heard we're to have a very hot summer. My houses have 2 vents per cavity, so they should be fine. I have a supply of crickets in case the insects are lacking. Chicks can dehydrate in 1-2 days when it's hot/humid, so offering supplemental food to the parents often helps the chicks to survive extreme conditions.
Toy in PA
We'll be doing a nest check in about an hour. I have 2 eggs in 1 nest. Hope to find more. Today we hit 84. All I can say is WOW it's wonderful to finally have sun & warm weather. The Martins & Chimney Swifts had an enjoyable day flying high & catching insects.
I also heard we're to have a very hot summer. My houses have 2 vents per cavity, so they should be fine. I have a supply of crickets in case the insects are lacking. Chicks can dehydrate in 1-2 days when it's hot/humid, so offering supplemental food to the parents often helps the chicks to survive extreme conditions.
Toy in PA
PMCA Member
Four subs stopped by in eastern PA today. My setup is a T-14 w/ four THGs, and they went in and out of the gourds a number of times.
They arrived at noon, stayed for 30 minutes, including some overhead flight, and returned two hours later for a short time. Hopefully they'll come back tomorrow.
Wish me luck!
They arrived at noon, stayed for 30 minutes, including some overhead flight, and returned two hours later for a short time. Hopefully they'll come back tomorrow.
Wish me luck!