Newbie from Ohio

[Mudflap]

Buckeyefarmer, Great job of changing your "door" openings! This modification should really help you manage your site. I am predicting a great first year for you and your colony. Stay on top of those starlings and sparrows!
I am just outside of Athens and we do not have birds as yet. I am expecting to see some of my returning veterans to show up anyday now. Some of the larger colonies that I am aware of down here in southern ohio are still waiting on their birds. I am surprised to see so many other scout reports farther north than me and am beginning to worry .
I have some serious issues with hawks and owls because my colony is somewhat remote, with lots of very good hawk and owl habitat all around.
Good luck and keep the forum appraised when your birds arrive !

"Bird"

We're watching for YOUR first arrival because it means we'll be closer to ours!

[John Evans]

A bit late here as well. Some gourds are up and open. Waiting.. Counted 15 Tree swallows on or electric line today. Went from 3 to 15 in about a day.

Wondering if some of us who normally have a few martins by now didn't lose our earliest arrivals before they arrived due to weather?

[flyin-lowe]

I don't worry much about the starlings as I have never witnessed a breach. I bought an insert trap designed for the T14 and it is deadly on sparrows. There have been times when they really start nesting that I can catch 4 or 5 an hour. I keep all openings closed except for the one with the trap. Sometime I check it and have 2 at a time, they both get in before the first gets far enough back to trip the trap.

[Buckeyefarmer]

Got all the doors completed with the crescent SREH's last night. It was pretty funny watching the starlings test each hole this morning with no success. Thanks for advising me to convert the house, definitely worth the effort!

[handyman315]

Still anxiously awaiting first 2017 PM arrivals over here in SW Ohio (north of Lebanon) . . . about 125 miles due WNW of mwren in Athens. Have a Super Colony less than five miles from me.

TRES have been here 3 or 4 days, and as aggravating as they are, they're at least a Swallow, and pretty little Mig fighters. Of course their main objective is to sit on my gourd racks, preen, and play guard duty. (Yes, I am dealing with them; learned how last year from kind posters on this Forum.)

With numerous PM sightings now considerably north of us, am beginning to become a little concerned . . . of course as a now 4-year PM landlord wannabe, everything "concerns" me.

[John Evans]

Handyman, I'm south of Hillsboro and have had about 36 pairs for a few years. No martins here as well. My earliest arrivals were March 15. My latest early arrival was March 23. So I'm late was well. Drove by some Amish farms yesterday didn't see one martin. Hmm.. Counted about 16 tree swallows here. We put about 8 gourds around our ponds so most of the time they cooperate and don't bother the martin racks too much..

John

[Buckeyefarmer]

Our farm is just north of buckeye lake and I've only seen one BB but lots of TS. No martins yet here. I checked both my neighbors established colonies and nobody has taken up residence there either.

[birdbrat]

For you Buckeyes that are still waiting, I did a little checking on the scout report page this morning. This time last year there were 62 reports submitted for Ohio as of the 25th of March. This years number was 12. I checked through the past years on the same date (March 25) to see if things had run so far behind in the past and found that in 2013 there were only 11 reports and in 2010 there was only 10. Now given the fact that a lot of folks no longer report and that there are new ones added each year, this can only give us a ball park figure. But it does show how slow some years start out. I still only have 2 martins here at my site. An extra female came in a couple days after the male and female showed up, but now the male is gone. Haven't seen him for a few days. The tree swallows here are so thick that the bluebirds are having a hard time defending their boxes. Hopefully the martin numbers will increase before the tree swallows decide to take over the colony!

[sugarcreek]

Drove around a little yesterday afternoon in and around Tuscarawas and Holmes county Ohio a lot of Amish colonies, 10 - 15 or so....I saw no Martins...

[John Evans]

Sugarcreek. I did the same here in Highland County saturday. I have no martins and neither did the amish farms and other colonies I'm aware of.
Lots of TS. I guess some years migration is different.. Thanks Birdbrat for looking at the scout reports from years past.

John

[Buckeyefarmer]

Success!! I caught my first starling in the trap I built. I kinda winged it on the cantilever. I used a piece of 6" corrugated drain tile for the can and an assortment of lead decoy weights and fender washers for the counterweight. Having trouble with photobucket so I hope these pics turn out ok...

[Dan G]

Pics are fine and it seems to work just fine. Very nice. How did you mount it to the block wall? Also, the entrance hole seems over sized and then reduced?? Maybe its the shadow.
I have eliminated a lot of these flying rats, but they just keep coming. I did talk to a neighbor farmer they other day and he advised that he shoots as many as he can.

[Buckeyefarmer]

I used 8"angle brackets and tapcons to attach the trap to the block. The actual hole is 2" and I painted a 3-1/2" ring around hoping to make it more appealing. It's working great, got another one today.

[handyman315]

Same on the driving around down here just north of Lebanon, OH . . . nothing, zip, have not seen my first PM anywhere this season, now dark, 3/31.

Yes, thanks birdbrat for the statistics recap. Very interesting.

Buckeyefarmer, that's a dandy homemade trap, really ingenious design and well crafted. Hope you catch 100s!

Handyman

[Buckeyefarmer]

Thanks Handy, I just looked at pics of other traps and copied their designs. No Martins as of this evening. I did have a pair of bluebirds today. Hope they find the boxes I have out for them in the fencerow. The tree swallows that were here have been gone for several days, no sign of them around the neighborhood either.

[Buckeyefarmer]

I had my first PM visitors yesterday!!! A pair circled and perched on my T-14 for over and hour. They did not stay the night but the I'm hopeful they will return today.

My chimney swifts arrived this past week, always welcome at our house.

[Buckeyefarmer]

Got home from church and he was back but no girlfriend. He's checking every opening on the house.

[Wildriver]

Thanks for the encouragement. My neighbor's houses just have round holes, so I opted to build mine the same. We do have lots of starlings, Sunday I counted 27 marching through the yard picking at something. I guess my next shop project will be some sort of trap.
One question on the T 14. Should I add rods of some kind for perches? If so what size?

Yes add the owl guards I have two T-14 houses in northwestern Wisconsin. These are my third style of house since our colony was started in 1940. Great Horned Owls are smart and are martin killers. I also have niteguard solar lights on my houses.
About 1/3 of my nesting boxes last year had unhatched eggs. Something was killing the parents. This year I have added owl guards from PMCA. I have seen the owls land on my perches and try and flush birds to come out. I originally
thought I would not need them as I have the new starling proof entrance and a 12 inch box How wrong I was!
I am not sure how effective the nitegurard lights as they are brand new. Good luck with the season.

[Buckeyefarmer]

Three here tonight, 2 males and a female. They're putting on quite a show this evening!