Significant Arrivals in Corpus Christi Also

[John Barrow]

Hi Folks,

Adding to the earlier post of my friend Emil, we also had significant arrivals in Corpus Christi late this evening. Coming in at the approach of strong northeast winds and the first measurable rain we have had in months were several reported large groups of martins. They circled and overflew my colony about 30 minutes before dark and I think are roosting in trees for the most part tonight. Local landlord Jeff Webster called that martins were covering his gourd rack around 5:30--and he is to my north seeing a different group. These are very significant arrivals as they are coming in in large balls of 50-100 martins, not in small groups of 5 or 10.

If not for Emil's post I would have thought they were coming upland from Mexico, and that might still be true of what we are seeing. If the weather will stabilize the gates will completely open in the next few days. Also seeing lots of other swallows and a couple of swifts. Our hawk problems have all migrated north (sorry folks up there) and nest building will begin in the next few days. We are approaching the time of dawnsinging and the huge arrivals of the subbies. The clock is turning and I wish all to the north the best of luck.

John Barrow, Corpus Christi, TX

PS Although close visual observation of individual martins was not possible, I can say that these appear to be mostly ASY martins-probably in the 2-3 yoa class. jb

[Guest]

Hey John,
You don't know how much we appreciate these "heads up"!!! I'll be looking forward for the squabbling to begin here in 3-4 days with more PMs moving in. I got another house just waiting to be put up..... but it was missing the pulley, so when it arrives, I'll have a few more compartments!!!

Thanks again
Chuck

[apundt-TX]

wonderful news John. I will keep my eyes opened for some new recruites for my setups.

A.P.

[Matt F.]

Great report John!

I know as far as the Houston area goes, the subbies seem to make around the same time as the swifts.

The teenagers are closing in!!!!!!

[Adam Romain]

Actually Matt, I'm certain I saw one of the teenagers last night but could verify.... I know it was though....

[Jim Ray]

John, thanks! That is great!

[Guest]

We'll be watching for the masses also!

Sue
City by the Sea, TX

[John Barrow]

Update:
More good arrivals tonight. We also had 5 swifts fly over. I have my first definite SY at the colony. He arrived in a group of 9 or 10 other birds--some older females and some subbie females; a couple of ASY males. He was flowing with bravado (testosterone) and volunteered to pick out a compartment for a few of his friends. Unforttunately it was occupied and he underwent a hard lesson from the male inside. I am functionally full and it is neat to see birds that will help fill many other nearby locations.

I feel 90% certain that birds are now coming in overland through Mexico which should provide a really good supply for the next month to all in the county.

A.P. I'm happy to read of your arrival.

Best wishes to all. jb

[Scully]

John, I had my first of season Chimney Swifts this weekend, a flock of five on Sunday evening foraging over the San Antonio River with a large flock of Cave and Cliff Swallows.

Just curious, what makes you think the martins are coming up overland?

Mike

[apundt-TX]

3 ASY males and 2 ASY females played house all day this past saturday. Sure was fun watching them sign, go in/out of the gourds, and flying around.

Sunday they were no where to be seen again.

I have been leaving early and getting home late all week so far. maybe tomorrow and can get home before sundown and see what is around.

They did land on the my gourd rack so that counts as a Scout Report.
The previous report this year was for a group flying over Camp Mabry earlier in the year on my way to work.

A.P.

[Guest]

John and all....I saw my first subbie this morning...a beautiful male with his chest half purple and spots on the lower section...full of vinegar and singing the male jingle! Heads up folks up north...John and Louise are correct...the masses are coming!

Sue
City by the Sea, TX

[Sue]

John, thank you for taking time to post the good news of more arrivals. I always look forword to your posts. It is a good indicator for me to expect new arrivals within the next few days in GA.

[elyas]

Just wanted to say thank you for the reports and your input to this forum.

God bless the martins.

[John Barrow]

Just curious, what makes you think the martins are coming up overland?

Mike, that's a good question which I will try to answer. Partly it is subjective based on timing and experience. Here is the objective part:

I live on the far south side of Corpus Christi-kind of in the middle. Early migrants typically arrive in a southeast to north-northwest direction. As my colony grows from its starting points my colony will go out and seek other martins and ofter bring them home with them. These birds arrive in smaller numbers early in the season, but can ususally be identified because their habits are different than the home birds. They are often reluctant to enter cavities and when they do it is not uncommon for them to enter in groups of 5 or 6, rather than in pairs. But there is always the urge to migrate and vacating transients will leave in the direction of migration.

As the season progresses migrating groups become larger and my colony begins to fill up-at least functionally. Also the number of colony birds going out to find new birds diminishes--many are now paired up, and although some of the oldest males still go out and try to lure in younger females, most of the colony will stay put and defend cavities. At this point in the season migrants group together and are fairly obvious. They fly almost as a single unit and their urge is to keep migrating. Most arrivals I see are late in the evening, and even though they are going to roost very soon, they will often overfly the housing, be lured back in, overfly, be lured back and often finally end up coming down to roost. Their behavior is much like early transients--they will roost atop a house, they will roost in groups in a single cavity. In some cases they will abandon to another location or tree roost--but they will leave as a group and any left behind will leave frantically calling for the others.

That being said, birds arriving from across the gulf will normally arrive from my east-southeast. What I am now seeing are birds arriving from my southwest-west, which to me indicates that they are paralleling the coast (through Mexico) and not crossing the gulf. Twice this week I have seen migratory clusters heading more west to east than southeast to north.

Hope this helps explain what I am seeing. Like many things it's easier to see than try to explain.

[Scully]

John. Thanks for the explanation. What would be interesting to know is the timing of the trans-Gulf groups making landfall. In Scott Weidensaul's excellent book "Living on the Wind" he presents the current data on Gulf crossing times and even miles per gram of fat for trans-Gulf migrating songbirds as estimated from observation and banding data on each side of the Gulf.

Its been a while, but as I recall he estimated 125 miles per gram of fat, and that strong flying birds like Kingbirds coud make the 500 miles crossing in 18 hours, whereas warblers and such required 24 hours or more, even under ideal conditions. Despite this, ALL species would commonly overfly the coast in good weather, not coming down until they were several miles inland.

These Gulf crossing times were calculated on the assumption that most songbirds left the coast of the Yucatan shorty after nightfall. Of course not much is known about how martins migrate. Certainly, unlike most songbirds but like most swallows, they often migrate by day and possibly feed while migrating (perhaps especially true in the fall, when according to radar clutter the air over the Gulf is a practical soup of windblown insects).

If landfall times of day in the spring were known for trans-Gulf martins, it might be possible to extrapolate backwards and estimate what time of day they left the Yucatan. Strong evidence for an evening departure from there would pretty much answer the question as to whether Purple Martins willingly migrate overnight, as their habit of pre-dawn singing over their colonies seems to indicate that they do.

Mike

[klcretired]

Thanks for the Heads up John & Emil ,
Maybe i'll get some additions to my colony of 24