Texas Martins?

[Spiderman]

I notice there is only one report of Purple Martins in Texas a little north of Houston.

When the Ice Storm came last year on Feb. 13th, I had 8 Martins at the time.

I guess that means that some of the early arrivals last year perished in the freeze and aftermath.

[Whippy]

Yeah, Spidey.

We were discussing that earlier and I believe a majority of established ASY Martins who arrive early to get there cavities perished in last years freeze. The rotation then will start over meaning that those younger birds who took over for the perished ASY's will, over time, continue to arrive earlier and earlier as they age.

For example:

My colony was started 6 years ago by an SY male and his mate. The next year he returned in April. The year after that he returned in late March and then earlier March. Last year he arrived Feb 24th.

I was covered up in SY Martins last year and I expect most of them to return this year a bit earlier than when they were SY's but not as early as the elder ASY's.

To be fair I did not lose any Martins from my colony in the freeze unless they were killed south of me while en route that I don't know of. However, I did lose more than 7 to a hawk infestation but I still managed to double up from the year before.

They'll be here soon. And I think there will be a lot of them.

Coolwhips

[C.C.Martins]

Two now, I think next week and week after will tell alot.
Tom

[Whippy]

Two now, I think next week and week after will tell alot.
Tom

I agree. They should start flooding in soon. Looks like we had another pop in near Houston today so that's 3 sightings so far.

Coolwhips

[Jones4381]

Here is a pretty cool article i think most in here will enjoy as it relates to the delay of the Texas/LA migration due to last years events or this years understanding of the weather?

https://morebirds.com/blogs/news/how-bi ... ct-weather

[C.C.Martins]

Thanks for sharing that, quite interesting!!!

[Birdiegirl]

Very interesting Jones- thanks for sharing this! Birds really are best, aren't they? It's amazing that we still don't know for certain how they do it.

Martins aren't due in our area for several more weeks, but I find myself watching daily for my southern landlord friends Can't wait to see those first arrival photos.

[Spiderman]

Last year on Feb 8th there were 103 ASY’s reported in Texas by this date.

This year it is three reported. Initially you would say well loosing 100 Martins in the whole state isn’t a big deal, but we had eight Martins. Everyone south of me probably had many more. So then you have lost thousands of Martin.

In addition to the Martin losses there were a lot of other species of birds affected by the freeze. We did not have any bluebirds here last year at all. Any birds that needed insects, bugs or worms to survive had a hard time.

We have a pair of Flickas that stay in one of our houses every winter and they did not return last fall. Flickas are big bodied birds but again they eat bugs, grubs and worms.

[Don Troha]

Wind map doesn't look favorable for gulf crossing until maybe middle of next week, unless we get some coming up overland thru Mexico. Meanwhile taking advantage of the mild weather to get housing ready for their arrival. Wildlife was hard-hit across the board in last year's winter storm, including bats residing under a bridge in my neighborhood: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/wi ... ife-deaths
Looking forward to the new season.

[Whippy]

Louisiana is starting to get more and more sightings as the days progress and, as of typing of this message, there are 5 reports around Houston and the coastal areas with one being somewhat south of Houston.

Today is Feb 13th and I will be putting the final touches on my systems and putting them all up. I think the next 2 weeks will be busy for all of us as I believe any cold front that comes in from here on out may be pretty weak and survivable.

Keep looking up.

Coolwhips

[C.C.Martins]

This last cold front had winds here at 30 to gusts of 45. Left systems up to run through it, see how they did. The lone star gourd rack "sleeve" that holds the gourds and arms was wobbling pretty good. Took the whole thing down, took off the gourds and took it apart this morning.
It was the pads, had to add pads to the inside of the sleeve. I use those multi purpose felt pads for furniture, they work great and stick well to the sleeve. No more wobbling.
Checked the trio sparrow trap at the satellite site, no spare o doors sprung from wind. Put some snake netting on it too, don't want that headache.
Nows the time for those finishing touches.
And yep, look up!

[Don Troha]

Wind forecast still looks promising this week around Tue-Wed for south winds out of Mexico over the Gulf to the TX/LA coast. Use the slider at the bottom of the Windy.com map to move forward to Wednesday to see the wind forecast for that day. https://www.windy.com/?2022021703,26.451,-92.373,6
Hoping to see an increase in Martin reports for Texas with the favorable winds. Housing ready & waiting for their arrival.

[Whippy]

Well, Don. It looks like those winds are coming along just fine. Texas had a few more sightings today with one being way up here in Colleyville which is just NorthEast of FortWorth and a couple of minutes due west of DFW airport. It's actually only 30 miles west from me here in Plano as the car drives. In years past the purple dots would bleed on up through the state but it looks like this guy was ready to get back to Colleyville.

Always looking up.

Coolwhips

[Spiderman]

Another Texas sighting reported near Lake Fork today!

[JulieMattox]

So happy to say that the first ASY male arrived at 5:15 PM this afternoon. Had not put up any housing when the ASY male arrived but quickly put up gourds on three racks. Observed him checking out several gourds and then go in one for a good nights rest. Still amazing to me even after 25 years of hosting that they make it back.

[Whippy]

So happy to say that the first ASY male arrived at 5:15 PM this afternoon. Had not put up any housing when the ASY male arrived but quickly put up gourds on three racks. Observed him checking out several gourds and then go in one for a good nights rest. Still amazing to me even after 25 years of hosting that they make it back.

Since I started 7 years ago I always remember that you report Martins about a month or more prior to mine arriving here in Plano. However, as my colony has grown, I am seeing them coming earlier and earlier with last years first arrival being Feb 24th. So, your 25 years, and your report, along with the one in Colleyville, who is also one of the first every year to report, has caused me to spend the better part of the day looking up.

It is amazing they make it back but what's even more amazing is they arrive to the exact same spot and the exact same cavity year after year and thousands of miles. When I moved a trio two years ago by 25 feet, and I saw the martins hovering over that exact same spot where it was located, that's when it sunk in as to how strong their homing instinct is.

I'll bet we see at least 5 more reports tomorrow (Tuesday 2/15).

Coolwhips

[Whippy]

So happy to say that the first ASY male arrived at 5:15 PM this afternoon. Had not put up any housing when the ASY male arrived but quickly put up gourds on three racks. Observed him checking out several gourds and then go in one for a good nights rest. Still amazing to me even after 25 years of hosting that they make it back.

Julie,

Checking in to see how your arrival has been doing in these cold snaps we've been getting.

We have one more cold snap coming up this weekend of the 24th which should be an overnight or 36 hour deal. But it will be cold.

I've not had any returns yet. I hope they wait at least 10 more days.

Coolwhips

[Spiderman]

Tonight (2/19) there are a total of six scout reports for north Texas, which is the day the ice finally began to melt last year. So the Martins that arrived after that day had a high chance of surviving the freeze and were able to find food.

So we should start to begin seeing a lot more Scout Reports for this area over the next week.

Today was a Good Day!

[Spiderman]

Martins arrived at our site today!

[C.C.Martins]

Fantastic!! Glad they arrived!!! Wind is whipping off the gulf now, nice, clear and windy.
Wish u all the best!