Would this work?

[Walter Morgan]

I'm a wannabie just getting my first house set up and I had an idea to get a quick set-up for playing the dawnsong until I get a speaker etc. set up on my pole. My camper is parked about 30 feet away from my pole and I was wondering if I played the dawnsong cd in my camper cd player with the windows cranked open if that would attract them or just confuse them?

What do you think

Everything else is set up pretty much like is recommended at this website.

Thanks,

Walt

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

The martins will fly up to the camper to try to figure out where the sound is coming from. They will quit looking after a few minutes. I had the speaker on my back porch and they came there looking for the martins. The best results are obtained if the speaker is inside the house. I put mine as high as I could on the pole when I was trying to attract them. The dawnsong didn't do anything for me. I got tired of playing it, and about a week later, about 3 pair showed up one day.
Consequently, I think the martins come when they wish, and the recordings are only a temporary attraction technique.

The best attraction method is an open site with no trees with a good wide open flyway...

[Guss P O'Brien]

I don't think it will hurt to play the recorded calls from your nearby camper until you get a better set up. The purpose is the get the martins close enough to notice your housing. Then it is up to the quality of housing and site to keep them there along with some luck. The camper should get them close enough to notice your housing.

[Guest]

walter, I am playing the dawnsong (morning hours and evening hours)and chatter cd all day myself. I have a garage in the backyard were my martin house is set up and my speakers are about twenty feet away from the martin house. I believe the tapes are suppose to get the martins close enough to your site and then they can spot the housing. Last year in August every time I put the chatter cd on within fifteen minutes I had seven show up every time. I'm hoping one of these seven will show up now and start a colony. Last year was the first year I did research on martins and gained alot of knowledge. This is why its taking me so long to attract them I was doing everything wrong because of not being educated enough. So again in reference to the speakers dont go nuts installing them in the so called perfect location its the loudness that counts so they can be drawn to your site. And make sure you have at least one gourd hanging off the house variety is a good bet to attract them.

[rickluc]

Walter Morgan

I think the purpose of the dawnsong is to get the Martins to come down and investigate your location. So I think playing it out of your camper serve the purpose, for now. I completely believe it works! Good luck

[Mary Dawnsong]

Below is a forum post from June 2002 written by a man in New York state who attracted martins to an area with very low population density. I saved the post because I found it inspirational. I've changed his name to just initials.

Kingston , NY Mid-Hudson Valley
I really consider myself lucky, since this is a very martin-sparse area. The only colony I know of in my entire area is 10 miles away. I?ve never ever seen a martin here , in many years of avid birding. So all I can say is that all the techniques of attraction that I learned from the PMCA and many other fine individuals who so willingly give their time and advice on this forum have really paid off, and I thank all of you for that !
I have a T-14 with a mix of crescents and a few r.h. shallow compartments. Underneath I have a r.h. supergourd, an r.h. natural ( which they chose ), and two porched , crescented natural horizontal gourds. I?ve been playing very loud dawnsong from a powerhorn on the T-14, which is powered by a loop cassette and amplifier. So I firmly believe that this is what got them here. I also followed the suggestions in Ken Kostka?s ? Social Attraction? article in the Archives, and made false nests with pine needles, smeared mud, used decoys, and mirrors. All of these combined must have convinced this pair to stay!
The T-14 is actually my ?secondary site? about 700 feet from my house near a small pond, and near a farm shed. The ?primary site? is a gourd rack, with a mixture of r.h. SuperGourds, r.h. natural gourds, and porched, crescented, natural horizontal gourds. I played mostly Daytime Chatter at this site, and the martins looked both sites over carefully, but settled for the one farther from my house, probably because this is where I was consistently playing loud dawnsong, and probably where they were first attracted, I don?t know. Both are very open areas.
I also should mention that I followed Dan Drew?s tree swallow / bluebird protocol, and at both sites have nesting tree swallows and bluebirds at 30 ft. from the martin house. I had no interference from either, so thanks Dan, without your advice I probably would not have martins, as I have very heavy tree swallow and bluebird populations in my immediate area. Your protocol really worked perfectly for me!
So thanks again to all the many who gave advice and support. And to the beginners struggling like myself, don?t give up! It?s worth all the ups and downs, and if you keep at it you will be successful. If I can do it in this part of NY, I?m sure it can be done most anywhere. So keep trying, the rewards of seeing your first birds are tremendous ! best of luck to all, P.C.