I am located in New Hampshire and I am fairly rural and completely surrounded by mostly heavy forest in all directions. I have a decent sized field for a backyard that is basically an island in the woods. It's about 150 feet X 250 feet completely cleared. There are at least 2 ponds within 1500 feet and 2 large lakes less than a mile away, however all of this water is again, surrounded by deep woods. There are other homes nearby with cleared lots like mine scattered around and some open meadows and swamps throughout the woods. I have TONS of owls, ravens, and hawks too...
Here is a picture of the yard taken from the back of the house. The pole I drew is where I am leaning towards placing the housing, it is up against the back side (outside) of the garden fencing. It would have the 6ft fence posts and sunflowers growing ~6ft high pretty close to the base of the pole on one side but otherwise in an open area. Closest trees are about 65 feet away but as you can see they are very tall trees. This places the martin gourds about 150ft from the house, but in an area that I am around frequently all summer.
Second possible location is further out in the middle of the field marked with the red X. No fencing or tall sunflowers near the base, and again about 65 feet from the tree line, but further from the house (200 ft).
![Image](%5Battachment=0%5Dbackyard%20-%20Copy%20Martins.jpg%5B/attachment%5D)
I have TONS of dragonflies, horseflies and honeybees all summer, and a million other flying beetles. I do not know of anyone else within a couple of miles of me with any martin housing but I have seen some within 20 miles of me that are in less forested areas.
Do I have a good chance of attracting them, or is the surrounding forest too much of a detractor?
Thanks!