This Site Is Really Dead Now. What Happened to Everyone?

[Bird Brain]

I've never seen this little activity here. Wow. It's like everyone died or something.

[C.C.Martins]

And I thought it was smoking hot!! Haha, just waiting....NOT checking scout arrivals for the 10th time in one day. Barely looking at empty gourds and certainly not reading posts from 2006 on anti sparrow strategies.
Nope, not me. That would be crazy.....right?

[tor]

Nah, everybody's busy looking up into the skies for martins.

[brent]

True, it has gone quiet. I was all pumped up getting things ready, pre nesting, snake guards, owl deterrents...but nothing. No martins here. Nothing to write or inquire about with out them. I've got enough frozen insects to feed an entire colony but no birds. Just received 2000 meal worms. No birds. It's like major build up and anticipation to "ok what now?". I check the forum multiple times a day and today, finally, another scout was reported in Louisiana. A total of 9...but none here. Brent

[flyin-lowe]

Many people don't spend much, if any, time on here during the winter unless they have winter projects going on. As more arrivals show up on the map more people will be logging back in. It seems facebook does take a lot of people away from forums. I am one of the last holdouts who has never been on facebook.....

[C.C.Martins]

Amen flyin-lowe,
facebook is a waste of time, never going to waste mine on it. This forum is good enough for me. Shoot, i stayed on it all this winter, but boy was I redoing a bunch of stuff on the houses and poles so would pop in and search. seems there was a forum crash long ago, lots of posts lost, too bad. Id start my searches as far back as I could go and work to present.

[Kegger]

Tom:

I spent a half a year browsing and reading sparrow strategies on this forum 4 years ago, been there done that got the t-shirt.
I have just started to apply cedar shakes to the roof of Martin house 2. Should be able to install it in a day or so. hope all is well
fellow Martineers ! And for a safe successful season!

[Conrad Baker]

It requires audience participation. You have been a member for 6 years (joined 2-10-2016), that's 312 weeks. Divided by your 174 posts, that only averages 1.79 posts PER WEEK !! I have even less- only 1.68 posts per week, having been a member since 2007. So, I guess most of us are lurkers (looking and reading, but not posting). We all need to participate more. It seems this Forum goes dormant in the non-martining months, then it picks up activity again around January when everyone is getting ready (and excited) for the arrival of the Martins. Lots of threads might be interesting and helpful to read, but I don't reply unless it is something I can really help the member with. Facebook drives me crazy with all the dribble and the "LOL"s after every sentence and picture posted, and other useless chatter. This site is refreshing, but as I stated in the beginning we all need to participate more.

[Conrad Baker]

deleted double post

[Thomas Maddox]

I do frequent the Facebook PM forums. There is mostly entertainment from what I've seen. Not saying I'm against that. Facebook loves you police certain types of people. Mention killing Sparrows and you get put in time out. I do wish some of the more experienced people here would start a thread here and there focusing on a teaching moment. For me, I would be interested in getting able to tell the difference between adult females and SY males better. I really do like the vibe and posters here.

[Conrad Baker]

I do frequent the Facebook PM forums. There is mostly entertainment from what I've seen. Not saying I'm against that. Facebook loves you police certain types of people. Mention killing Sparrows and you get put in time out. I do wish some of the more experienced people here would start a thread here and there focusing on a teaching moment. For me, I would be interested in getting able to tell the difference between adult females and SY males better. I really do like the vibe and posters here.

Sorry Thomas, I wasn't referring to the PM part of Facebook. Didn't even know it existed. I was referring to the general stuff where people make blah blah blah comments, followed by LOL.

[Thomas Maddox]

Conrad, I agree. Yes Facebook has multiple PM dedicated subgroups. They have their own moderation (to a degree). Not near as much of the politics as the main Facebook feed, but still has lots of Lols.

[Dave Reynolds]

.. Unclear how many people are on the Facebook side of the Purple Martin forum.. But it's a few... Slow returning Martins in some states may keep the talk down..

Dave

[cary-nw-fla]

Don't like facebook. Too hard to follow/find individual threads (maybe I just don't know how to refine). Forum format such as this is so much better. Very seldom visit facebook. If I really want to find info, its here not facebook.

[ToyinPA]

I do frequent the Facebook PM forums. There is mostly entertainment from what I've seen. Not saying I'm against that. Facebook loves you police certain types of people. Mention killing Sparrows and you get put in time out. I do wish some of the more experienced people here would start a thread here and there focusing on a teaching moment. For me, I would be interested in getting able to tell the difference between adult females and SY males better. I really do like the vibe and posters here.

SY males usually have spots on their chest, legs, sides, vent area, throat, etc. Some may only have one spot, where others will have lots of spots. Also the face & throat is darker in SY males compared to females. Some are often mistaken for SY Females due to only a few spots. Some are also assumed to be ASY Females due to only a few spots. Adult females have a ring around the back of the neck, and are more on the brown side color wise. The males are only ones that sing. Females chortle, but they do not sing. The PMCA has a page showing ID: https://www.purplemartin.org/purple-mar ... e-martins/

Toy in PA

[flyin-lowe]

If you are having trouble visually recognizing the males the best thing to do is listen to their vocalizations. The males will make a series of clicks at the end of their song. It's a dead giveaway.

[BillieJR]

I'm not expecting any martins for well over a month yet - so I'm pretty quiet and just reading other people's experiences.

[MJM]

I don't know about you all- but I am happy with the way this forum runs. If you ask a question, you get an answer in a day- maybe two. All of the posts are actually related to something about Purple Martins... except maybe this one lol. No, there is a not a lot of activity- but the people are still here- I think most of us are readers rather than spammers.

Try going on another forum... like Backyard Chickens (which is amazingly helpful if you have chickens)... but, about 75% or more of the posts are either repeats, nonsense, or offtopic. This forum is refreshingly focused!

[Birdiegirl]

I found this forum about two years ago- so I guess I don't have a good feel for how much chatter is normal. I definitely second MJM's comment about how nice it is to post a question and have an answer- or multiple answers so quickly. My posts have all been questions- first how to attract martins, and now how to do everything I can to keep and build the small colony I had last season. Without much experience to offer just yet, I guess I mostly fall into the lurking (and learning!) category.

In a couple of years I hope to post more as an 'experienced' landlord- definitely want to return the favor and encourage newcomers. Thanks to all of you out there willing to share your expertise

[sugarcreek]

Lots of people on facebook, which includes the PMCA and then there are break out groups that include your states Purple martin groups so that becomes a daily site that i visit....It depends on what you like really.