Nest Check #1 - Palm City, FL

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mjfog
Posts: 375
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2017 3:40 pm
Location: Palm City, FL
Martin Colony History: 2018 will be my first try. 6 S&K B09s. 29 eggs - 8 fledged
2019 - 12 Troyer Horizontals with tunnels, 6 S&K B09s and 12 B011s all with tunnels. 43 eggs - 36 fledged
2020 - Rack 1 - 6 B011s, Rack 2 - 24 B011s, and Rack 3 - 24 Troyer Horizontals. All gourds have tunnels, porches and crescent/Conley 11 entrances; racks have predator guards. 161 eggs - 88 fledged.
2021 - 54 gourds-214 eggs, 184 hatched, 168 fledged.
2022 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 363 eggs, 294 hatched, 278 fledged.
2023 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 321 eggs, 276 hatched, 246 fledged.

Hi to all, Dropped my 3 racks today and checked my 72 gourds for nesting activity. No eggs but my birds have surely been busy this past week. I created 3 groups: N-Nest, E-empty, ?-maybe. Totals of the 72 gourds were as follows: 45 nests (63%), 20 empty (28%)and 7 maybes (1%) as in hopefully under construction. Gourd lower 8 in Rack 3 had a partial nest with an adult martin sitting on it. I guess it was taking a nap; worn out from nesting activity. It never flushed that I noticed.
Rack 3, my youngest set of 24 gourds, is showing the slowest progress with only 12 nests, 10 empties and 2 maybes. Could this be the result of its "new kid on the block" status?
Happy Martining, Mike
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