PM'S FLYING VERY LATE IN DAY

[Don Mock]

My colony here in rural West Ky. has two poles ... one with 24 gourds, the other with 16. The one with 24 has almost reached capacity and 6-8 pairs have spilled over to the one with 16, which I put up about 10 days ago. My 1st birds this year arrived on 3/21, I started my nest checks 4/23, and the first eggs were layed 5/6. I was urged to get the 2nd pole up the day after I first observed the topic of my question.
Off and on for the past 11 days I have seen a flock of 15-20 PM's suddenly appear fairly high above my site. They always show up after the vast majority of my tenants have gone to roost. A few from the flock will peel off from the group and come to roost here. I'm guessing they are some of my late arrivals. The remaining 15 or so will make one or two more circuits before heading off into the darkening evening sky.
I don't know of any other colonies within a radius of a few miles, and if they were visiting from another colony, they should've already been at roost there. Each time I see them leave I wonder where they're going until they show up here again ... I'm assuming it's the same flock each time since their numbers & routine is virtually the same at each appearance. I've never seen this type of activity since my colony became active 5 years ago ... I'd gladly welcome them to spend the night any time and enjoy the accomodations along with the other 60 or so of their cousins. I'm still expecting new birds for about 2 more weeks. Hope I will need to add more gourds or even a 3rd pole! ... Any thoughts would be appreciated.
I don't make many posts, but would take this opportunity to thank all of you for the PM knowledge you've shared over the years I have monitored the forum! THANKS!!

[tonyg]

I'm thinking a group of SY's who haven't made up their minds on where to roost...and probably will end up at your place when all is said and done..which would be a good thing for you and that third pole..good luck..

[rtolliver]

Don, i as well have noticed the late evening arrivals. I like to watch them come in to roost. After doing nest checks i noticed there was a lot of activity in the gourds( nest bowls, leaves etc. ) that didn't match what i was seeing in the evening so i was patient, watched later and had two more groups of 6-8 that didn't arrive till well after sunset.