The vermin house sparrows are amazing...Gary and I have sent about 25 of the pests to their final demise during the past month and they are still coming in waves. I was gone for a short while this morning and returned to the sound of horror...that annoying cheep cheep cheep too close....I looked and a vermin pest was crawling out of a gourd. My heart sank.
I sighed relief after doing a nest check around 4 pm...only 7 eggs, all not pecked and no shells at the base of the gourd rack...Those !#*@! pests had better take cover in the morning....if they even so much as land, they are history....no mercy at this colony...the hunt is on.
Sue,
You have my sympathies after having lost all the eggs from two barn swallow nests and one wren nest here last week. I didn't know how much I hated them until that happened. It sounds like yours are hanging around a lot longer than ours did though. After we got about four males, we haven't seen any more of them. Hopefully they got the message but I know there will always be new ones at some point.
You go get um girl!
Sharon
I know how you feel Sue. I have been gone from home the last 3 days. I returned home last night to find 5 starlings and 3 house sparrows sitting with the martins. I ended up shooting 2 of the starlings and both male house sparrows (female left and never came back). Three starlings remain and the martins were fighting them like crazy. It's possible two of those starlings were just there because of that one male. Regardless I almost flew into a rage when i pulled up and saw those things sitting there like they were part of the martin crowd. It's truly just pathetically disgusting.
Fortunately, I have no martin eggs yet and the birds are just now getting hot and heavy into nest building.
I've discovered that their spring broods have been fledging. Seems the Dad brings the youngsters to the houses and gourd racks to look around. Makes me sick when they are looking into all the holes. At least the young ones don't have a clue yet what's going on.
Wonder at what age they can lay their first clutch?
I know the feeling myself. I sometimes see starlings in the yard and figure "well, they can't get at the martins so I guess I'll just let them [bang]". Whoops. That was reflex, my bad.
Sparrows, however, I actually ENJOY seeing them drop, they're harder to catch off-guard and around here are much more dangerous to the martins than the starlings are. Call me sick if you like, but my wife even notices how I'm emotionless, perhaps even slightly sad, when I shoot a starling, but there is a gleam in my eye and a smile on my face when a sparrow falls to the ground!
Take no prisoners and best of luck nailing those suckers