Hello everyone,
Sat out tonight until it started to drizzle (About 5:45 PM). Counted martins coming in from the daily hunt. Last week I had 1-3 birds. Tonight, 9. Love to sit out and watch the colony as the season begins. Next week I bet I'll be seeing a couple of dozen.
See ya later and Happy Martining, Mike
Me and my birds
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mjfog
- Posts: 443
- 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.
2024 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 330 eggs, 283 hatched, 250 fledged.
2025 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 347 eggs, 281 hatched, 266 fledged.
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Martintown33
- Posts: 1366
- Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2021 6:21 pm
- Location: Laplace,La
- Martin Colony History: Colony started in 1998. 2 s&k modified houses and gourd rack
Definitely fun to watch your arrival numbers grow!
Good luck..
Rob
Good luck..
Rob
PMCA member
Laplace, La
Laplace, La
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mjfog
- Posts: 443
- 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.
2024 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 330 eggs, 283 hatched, 250 fledged.
2025 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 347 eggs, 281 hatched, 266 fledged.
Hello Everyone,
From 2-3 at the first sighting, to 9 or so last week, I'm now up to 15-20 birds. They are all going into the gourds around 6:00 to 6:05. Not much vocalization. Walking my property over the weekend picking up pine cones and found 2 dead martins; one was decapitated and the other was totally intact, just dead. Here we have had a cold, rainy week that leads me to believe that reduced the supply of avian insects. That coupled with the long, draining effort of migration may be the culprits.
Good weather expected this week. I hope my count increases on my next count.
Happy Martining, Mike
From 2-3 at the first sighting, to 9 or so last week, I'm now up to 15-20 birds. They are all going into the gourds around 6:00 to 6:05. Not much vocalization. Walking my property over the weekend picking up pine cones and found 2 dead martins; one was decapitated and the other was totally intact, just dead. Here we have had a cold, rainy week that leads me to believe that reduced the supply of avian insects. That coupled with the long, draining effort of migration may be the culprits.
Good weather expected this week. I hope my count increases on my next count.
Happy Martining, Mike
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Martintown33
- Posts: 1366
- Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2021 6:21 pm
- Location: Laplace,La
- Martin Colony History: Colony started in 1998. 2 s&k modified houses and gourd rack
Sorry to hear this. But cold and rain combo is not good for our martins… did you try any supplemental feeding?
Good luck on your numbers continuing to grow!
Rob
Good luck on your numbers continuing to grow!
Rob
PMCA member
Laplace, La
Laplace, La
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mjfog
- Posts: 443
- 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.
2024 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 330 eggs, 283 hatched, 250 fledged.
2025 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 347 eggs, 281 hatched, 266 fledged.
Rob, No, I have not tried supplemental feeding and don't plan to. This incident seems very remote and unexpected. Just one of those things. Weather today here in Palm City and most of south Florida is clear skies and temps approaching 75 degrees. Tomorrow in the low 80s. They'll be plenty of bugs (if "scarce food supply coupled with migration stress" were the culprits that claimed these two birds) and things will quickly return to normal. Thanks for asking and your concern.
Happy Martining, Mike
Happy Martining, Mike
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Kegger
- Posts: 381
- Joined: Sun Sep 15, 2019 8:58 am
- Location: Awesome Florida
- Martin Colony History: 2020: 2 pair of SY with 4 eggs ,fledge 7
2021: 5 pair 25 eggs fledge 18, 4 egg 2nd brood attempt
2022: 13 pair 61 eggs fledge 56 added 11 cavs. now 22 total
2023 15 pair 75 eggs fledge 51 only 3 of 11 eggs hatched cavity 10
2024 11 pair 50 eggs fledge
26. 1 renest cav1, cav10 8 eggs 8 fledged 2 couples ASY and Sy
Happy New Year Mike! Sorry to hear of your 2 Martins. I had 2 show up the 18th and put up my house the 19 th but Martins did not settle in till the temps rose and the drizzle stopped a little over a week later. First 3 females, then the males about a week after. Good luck this season!
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mjfog
- Posts: 443
- 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.
2024 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 330 eggs, 283 hatched, 250 fledged.
2025 - 3 racks of 24 gourds. 347 eggs, 281 hatched, 266 fledged.
Hello to all,
Again, in my chair in the afternoon watching my birds come to the colony after a day's hunt. Up to between 25-30 now and they are coming to the colony earlier: showing up now around 5:35 and entering the gourds around 5:50. The last two weeks they have been "going to bed" around 6:05 or so. Must like my accommodations!
Happy Martining, Mike
Again, in my chair in the afternoon watching my birds come to the colony after a day's hunt. Up to between 25-30 now and they are coming to the colony earlier: showing up now around 5:35 and entering the gourds around 5:50. The last two weeks they have been "going to bed" around 6:05 or so. Must like my accommodations!
Happy Martining, Mike