Upper mid-west facing two cold weeks

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mwren
Posts: 174
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 2:43 pm
Location: OH/Athens
Martin Colony History: I have had my martin colony on the dam of one of my ponds for nine years. The colony has grown each year, but I am now concentrating on helping friends and acquaintances who have shown interests in martins. My colony consists of three T-14's with 8 Troyer gourds attatched to each T-14, a Troyer gourd rack with 12 gourds, and another gourd rack with 18 Troyer gourds for a total of 96 nest cavities. I am having serious predation issues with hawks and owls and am experimenting with various hawk guards and "screens". Established successful supplemental feeding the last few seasons and have had a blast flipping mostly meal worms and some crickets. Faculty from Ohio University are using my colony as a research site to study parasites that target cavity nesting birds. In exchange for access to my bird trail nest boxes and martin housing, they are banding all birds involved in their study.

Here in the Ohio River Valley, southeastern Ohio, we are hoping that our birds have been checking the weather reports and will be smart enough to stay south for at least ten days to two weeks. Those weather reports do not look good for our martins if they continue to travel north and "out-fly" the insects. We have meal worms and crickets ready to go, but I cannot help them all ! Very interested to see if the birds slow their progress north as they hit these terrible weather systems forecast for the next two weeks. Landlords in Tennessee and Kentucky, please post any sightings on the scout research page! :-(
"Bird"
Mike "Bird" Wren
Mudflap
Posts: 48
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2016 9:07 am
Location: SE Ohio
Martin Colony History: 2011: Set up 16 room S&K house.
2012: nothing.
2013: lookers but no takers.
2014: lookers but no takers.
2015: 3 pair nested, 7 fledged.
2016: second year: S&K house is now an 8 room house and added a separate pole with eight Troyer Vertical Gourds. 13 pair nested, 50 fledged.
2017: third year: S&K house is now a 6 room house (blocked attic access). Same Troyer gourds.

We're in Hocking County and are also concerned about the PM's outrunning their food supply. Our first arrival is normally closer to the end of March but last year our first arrival was on the 19th. Snow is in the forecast but we intend to get their housing up later this week.
pmlover
Posts: 805
Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2013 3:30 pm
Location: OH/New Concord

im in new concord and my birds came march 19th last year i hope its april 1 this year
2015 69 pairs 418 eggs 396 fledged
2019 I have 148 openings now
2016 100 pairs 600 babies fledged added another t-14 and have 126 openings now
2015 Jun 24 360 babies and 58 eggs also found one that had died
2017 632 babies 11died and 20 were killed by hawks
2015 74 pairs and 9 eggs 5/14
2010 3pairss
]JOINED PMCA JUNE 6,2018
2018 651 babies 5 hawk kills 11 floater kills 25 died in houses and 610 fledged

2014 80 pairs 283 babies 282 fledged one died
Dave Reynolds
Posts: 2444
Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:35 pm
Location: Little Hocking, Oh.
Martin Colony History: Satellite Site “Oxbow Golf Course”..
2018 - 15 Pair, 36 Fledged
2019 - 26 Pair, 97 Fledged
2020 - 30 Pair, 137 Fledged
2021 - 30 Pair, 144 Fledged
2022 - 27 Pair, 125 Fledged
2023 - 31 Pair, 130 Fledged
2024 - 41 Pair, 198 Fledged
2025 - 44 Pair, 168 Fledged

Home Site "Little Hocking, Ohio".
2019 - 1 Pair, 5 Fledged
2020 - 1 Pair, 4 Fledged
2021 - 8 Pair, 36 Fledged
2022 - 13 Pair, 46 Fledged
2023 - 16 Pair, 84 Fledged
2024 - 22 Pair, 104 Fledged
2025 - 28 Pair, 83 Fledged

pmlover wrote:
Sun Mar 03, 2019 10:33 am
im in new concord and my birds came march 19th last year i hope its april 1 this year
..
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pmlover —- I’m with you,, I’m in Little Hocking, and the 18th and 19th is about right for this area.. I sure hope they don’t get here before that. I’m good with April 1 too. My colony was the first year last year, and they showed up on the 16th of April. So that will fine with me if they wait again to the 16th of April..

Dave
PMCA Member
Little Hocking, Ohio
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