First year success in highlands of SW Pennsylvania

[Peter C]

This post is to encourage everyone that the Social Attraction techniques work ! ( see Forum Archives ). I'm in Farmington, PA, Fayette County, elev. 1960 feet, in the Laurel Highlands, near Ohiopyle State Park, fairly wooded mountainous area southeast of Uniontown, with intermittent small farms.
This is my first year trying at this location, and I erected a T-14 with Conley II holes and natural round hole gourds underneath on Apr. 6, and began playing dawnsong very loudly, daily, from 4 am to 7 pm. I used false nests, decoys, and mirrors as well. ( By loud dawnsong, I mean very , very loud, using a repeating CD , an amplifier, and two power horns pointing at 45 degrees up, to the south. Luckily I have no neighbors too close, and can get away with this).
It was almost a month later , May 3 before I saw my first martin, an SY-M or a female. For the next three weeks, I only saw a martin about 3 times, but on May 23 there was a definite pair ( SY male ), by May 25 they were staying the night, and May 26 were nest building. They chose a compartment in the T-14, one of two which had a mirror on the back wall. At this point I replaced the RH natural gourds with starling resistant Conley II Troyers, as I could not keep up with the starlings nesting in the RH gourds.
Today June 5 they laid their first egg, and I observed seven martins total!
The nearest known colony to me is 18 miles away as crow flies. I have a neighbor who is an avid ornithologist, and he has never seen a martin in this area ever. 40 years ago there was a colony near here, wiped out by Hurricane Agnes. So hopefully this is a start to bringing them back to the Allegheny Highlands of Fayette County, southwest Pennsylvania!

[Mary Dawnsong]

Hi Peter,

Congratulations! What an accomplishment.

I remember years ago a New York landlord reporting a similar achievement on this forum. He lived in an area where martins were unknown, like 100 miles or more from the closest known colony. Yet he attracted a pair of nesting SYs by playing the dawnsong very loudly. His name might even have been Peter. Is that just coincidence?

Good luck with your new colony,
Mary

[Peter C]

Mary, That's me. I moved here last summer, and started over, in what I considered even worse martin area, bracing myself for a minimum of 5 years wait. But again, the Social Attraction techniques, especially the article by Ken Kostka, worked it's magic. I firmly believe the key is deafeningly loud dawnsong. My house in NY sat for 9 years without a visitor until I started that. It is now in the hands of a good landlord, and has gone from 3 to 10 to 25 pairs in three years.
thanks for all your help to so many, Peter

[Mary Dawnsong]

Peter, all this time I have wondered what happened with your pair of SYs. Never would I have guessed it is now a colony of 25 pairs!

Well, I am doubly happy for you. Hope your new colony expands just as rapidly.

I believe this is the Ken Kostka article you mentioned:
http://purplemartin.org/update/9(3)social.html
Here's another by him:
http://purplemartin.org/update/DawnsongArt.html
(Ken used to be a PMCA staff biologist)

Best of luck this season,
Mary

[Don~VA]

Hi Peter,

Congratulations and thanks for posting such a great account of what you did to attract your PM's. I love to read success stories such as yours and especially in the first year too. That gives a lot of us renewed hope My area is similar as the closest colony that I know about is 20 miles away. I play my CD at medium volume but maybe I will crank it up a little now.

You are in a beautiful area too. My wife and I have driven through that area many times over the years, especially in the Fall.

Best of Luck with expanding your colony even more!

[bwenger]

Peter,

This is great to hear.

Bill

[scottfreidhof]

Hey Peter - that is good news indeed. My parents live in the beautiful Laurel Highlands of Fayette County. I have never noticed any purple martins in the area, which is unfortunate, because there are many wonderful mountaintop vistas screaming for purple martin housing. Thanks for getting them started again!

[Hanover Bill]

Hi Peter;

Great news for Pa.

I also have attracted my first visitors in this my third year of trying, in Beaver County, in SW Pa. To the best of my knowledge there is only one active colony in my County, that being Doug Falks' in Fombell, Beaver County.

Looks like things are looking up in Pa.

Great story, continued good luck to you.

Hanover Bill.