What's she doing? SYF keeps teasing me
SYF sometimes accompanies SYM to my site, anytime of day but most often in morning. Super gourds with crescent SREH and porches no more than ¼ inch below entrances, pine straw in gourds, and mud smeared around entrances. No trees within 55 feet of outside edge of gourd rack and completely open flyways of a minimum of 100 feet from north, east and south. Within PMCA recommended distance from house and a shed. Have predator guard in place. Have a small colony or two within half a mile or so. SYM will recruit her to the rack and often she will land, and sometimes, including this morning, will enter the gourd he is at or in. Stays around for several minutes to up to half an hour. If she leaves, he chases her down and she often follows him back until she decides to leave. Neither has ever stayed the night but this has been going on for over a month. Is this the actions of a female nesting at another site or do I cling to fading hope that I might get something started here even though it is so late?
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dsonyay
- Posts: 1677
- Joined: Fri Jul 02, 2010 3:10 pm
- Location: Louisiana/Broussard
- Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.
2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)
2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total.
6 fledges.
2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs
36 hatchlings
30 fledged
2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(
2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.
2024: 13 pair. About 60 eggs
2025: 14 pairs .. 69 eggs.
It’s a good sign.. starting a colony is a test of patience. Don’t give up. 
Thanks dsonyay. Appreciate the encouragement, I needed that. Looks like you had a 6 year wait according to your Martin Colony History. Like you, I've had a previous colony, this is my second summer of trying since my previous one. I will keep my site open and the dawnsong going until early September so anything looking for a home next year will have a chance to get a look here. Wishing you continued success with your colony.
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C.C.Martins
- Posts: 3368
- Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2017 11:15 am
- Location: Corpus Christi Tx
- Martin Colony History: 2016- Visitors.
2017- 5 pair. 15 fledged
2018- 18 pair. 85 fledged
2019- 17 pair. 81 fledged
2020- 25 pair. 111 fledged
2021- 28 pair. 118 fledged
2022- 33 pair. 151 fledged
2023- 33 pair. 165 fledged
2024- 40 pair. 185 fledged
2025- 40 pair. 181 fledged
HOSP:
Home colony: mix natural, super, Troyer and excluder gourds, enlarged compartment house. All SREH.
Satellite colony: Oso Bay Preserve: 49 PMCA excluder gourds; 16 room Lonestar Goliad with Modified Excluder entrances.
2019: Visitors
2020: 3 pair, 11 fledged
2021: 10 pair, 30 fledged
2022: 11 pair, 35 fledged
2023: 18 pair, 101 fledged
2024: 39 pair, 181 fledged
2025: 51 pair, 216 fledged
PMCA member
SYs just drive you nuts dont they? She just cannot make up her mind...id be willing to bet she is being drawn away by the promise of ASYs somewhere.
Keep doing what your doing, everything is promising.
Sounds like a great set up, I love those supergourds, nice and deep will last a long, long time. They are very popular with ours.
I wish your guy and yourself sucess!
Tom
Keep doing what your doing, everything is promising.
Sounds like a great set up, I love those supergourds, nice and deep will last a long, long time. They are very popular with ours.
I wish your guy and yourself sucess!
Tom
A good house sparrow is a dead house sparrow.
HOSP: 17. Starlings: 23
HOSP: 17. Starlings: 23