Subbies are on the move

[Doug Martin - PA]

Saw my first subbie male for certain today. He had a hard time finding a bed for the evening as my site is pretty full. So did a few other new arrivals. After dark there was still some fighting going on.

There has been a few SY females here for a few weeks however and they are already paired up with ASY males.

The weather has been very borderline and my birds have been very hungry. Today was a surprise as the sun came out for a bit and temps hit 70 late day and the bugs came out. So all ate well today for a change.

The next few days will be prime time for those looking to start a new colony or build numbers. Warm temperatures and south winds. Storm are possible as well.

Good luck to all

Doug

[ToyinPA]

We had 56 & rain showers all day until late day. Sun popped out for a few minutes, but not long enough for them to find food, so I flipped crickets again. It's been a cold wet spring so far. Cold hungry birds requiring lots of crickets to keep them going. It's been 41 days since first arrival & 20 of those days I had to supplement feed due to bad weather.

As of tonight I had 23 Martins. 12 are ASY Males, the rest (11) a mix of ASY & SY Females. Due to the cloudy weather I haven't been able to get exact Id's on the females. I know 5 are ASY Females & 3 are SY Females. Not sure of the other 3 yet. If we ever get a nice sunny day I'll be able to get a better look at them.

No sign of any SY Males yet. The first one arrived last year on May 22nd.

I wish I knew where the other 11 (lost 2, so 9) that had stopped over for the night went. Several joined in supplemental feeding.

Toy in PA

[Mitch Booth]

Doug and Toy,

What area of Pennsylvania are you guys in? I'm in Northeast Ohio and struggling to get a colony started. I had a few ASY birds stop by for a few days about 3 weeks ago but no activity since.

We are getting close to when I have to start typing Next Year. I figure I have a solid 3 weeks left to get something going.

It's funny I haven't seen a hummingbird all spring and just happened to hear someone on the radio the first sighting of a hummingbird May 10th.

Do you guys think the SY's are on time or late this year?

Mitch

[ToyinPA]

Mitch:

I'm in central PA....almost smack in the middle.

According to my records all the Martins, at my site, are arriving about 1 week earlier than last year. My first SY Male arrived on May 22nd last year. However I have had ASY Males & Females arrive after SY Males as well. The last arrival date of an SY Male last year was June 22nd. So you have lots of time. Migration dates vary each year.

If the Martins like your site they will stay. If it were me I'd let your housing open. Once past the time you think you may get any, keep it open.....here's why.....you can pick up an ASY or SY Male that has lost his mate & choses to move to a new location. I don't know what set up you have, but you could close any cavities you can't see from your house. Also during end of season migration you could get some visit & decide to come back next year. I never close my houses until mid October, sometimes later, depending on the weather. I often get a stray Martin stop over. May 1st, evening, I had 11 show up, spend the night & move on the next morning. They were in bad shape & needed a place to rest.

My Chimney Swifts are back too. Only 1-2 arrive & then a week or two later a few more arive. I usually have 5-9. Always seems to be an odd number.

Hummingbird reports are they arrived a few days ago here. I have not seen any at my feeders yet, but that doesn't mean they aren't here.

Toy in PA

[Dan G]

I hope your right Doug. I have been patiently waiting for the SY's but i have not seen a martin at my site. I rarely see a HS or a starling in nearby. Most that stop by, dont leave. I have the dawn song playing each morning and when the TRES are facing away from me they fool me some times an i think im seeing a martin. The tres are nesting in two nearby boxes. In fact, i checked the nest last night. Neither has eggs, but one has more feathers on top of the pine needles i put in the garden. They were intended for martins, but at least they are going to use. My BB's are still around, and still three eggs in the box, but they have not hatched. I think something is wrong there.

Mitch, I too am in the center of PA(Centre county in fact) about 40 minutes from Toy. We saw a hummingbird on sunday and i put the feeder up immediately. I thought he would go right to it, but no. He has been around daily and my daughter saw it go to the feeder, but i have not witnessed that yet.

Numerous chimney swifts are in Bellefonte where i work. I see 10 to 20 everytime i walk in or out of the building. This in an older town with lots of housing options for them. They are a unique bird, flying in formation an chattering as they buzz you.

The next few weeks is primetime for wannabees at this area. Good luck all.

[Mitch Booth]

Toy,

Thank you for the reply. I wish I knew how to take a photo of my site AND be able to edit it but will have to ask my kids. I sit in the middle of 12 acres and the perimeter is completely surrounded by trees. I have a 1.5 acre pond in front yard. I have two gourd racks to the left of my beach viewing from above, about 50 feet from the house. I do have a couple of trees around the house but it's got to be 100-150 yards open in all three directions away from house. I just put up another gourd rack to the right of the the beach about half way between the beach and end of pond with the nearest tree about 120 feet away. The third system was is a T-14 house and it was present when I bought the house back in 2012 and is on a 6 inch wooden post way across the pond maybe only 40 feet from the tree line. This is a bad location but too much of a chore to move in my opinion.

When viewing my site from google earth or google maps the first impression is that I'm completely surrounded by trees which I am but 12 acres is a large area. Both years I had nesting martins they were in the gourd racks about 40-50 feet off the front porch. The lawn may not look like a lot to mow until you start mowing. It takes me approximately 3 hours with a 72" deck.

Thanks Toy!

Mitch

[Dave Reynolds]

Mitch --- Sounds like you are doing everything right... It's hard to have patience.. I'm still waiting for the Subbies to start arriving soon. My wife said she may have seen one yesterday... so I'm hopeful for the next few days.. High in the 70's, so they should be on the move.. Good luck.

Dave

[gray fox]

I tried getting martins at my farm for 27 years. A few came around each year but no luck. Two years ago I got permission to put gourds up on a farm 1 mile away. It has a pond near the gourd rack.Last year I raised 3 martins at this site. The pond seemed to help. Im still waiting for them to come back this year. Maybe the adults died in this cold weather we've bin having.Im located in central Pa.

[Mitch Booth]

Here is an overhead photo of my site. I'm completely surrounded by trees on all 4 sides of the 12 acre tract. I have two gourd racks to the left of my beach viewing from overhead and had a nesting pair in 2013 and 2015. I added another gourd rack half way from the beach to the end of the pond on the right side of the beach this spring with the nearest tree about 120 ft away. It's very difficult to get a true appreciation for how wide open the site is being that the photo is taken so far away. It's about 400 feet from the pool cabana to the Northeast corner of the woods which is about 2:00 in the photo. The other spec you see at about 9:00 in the photo near the pond is a 24 foot tall windmill.

That little speck and shadow you see at around 11:00 at edge of pond is a T-14 w 4 hanging gourds about 40 feet away from the tree line. This is not a good location but this is where it was located when I bought the house in 2012.

Thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mitch

[Henry Limpet]

Doug: Thanks for that update. Good news that I have been waiting on. I truly appreciate that insight. Again, thank you.

Mitch: I think you and I are pretty much in the same boat. Your spread looks awesome! This might be our year. But please, stop with the "Wait til next year" talk. Much too early for that!!!!!!!!!!

Now is the time to be looking toward the skies! Good luck.

[Mitch Booth]

Thanks Henry will do!

Yes I typically do not see a martin until May 17th which happens to be my wife's birthday and is funny because 3 or 4 years in a row I spotted my first martin on this day.

Mitch

[mike2656]

Thanks Doug! That gives me hope.

I am in SE PA and it has been a terrible couple of weeks.

My first pair from last year returned mid April,l but we have had cool, rainy and overcast days constantly. I tried to feed, but after 100 crickets and a dish of mealworms, I figured they were not getting hungry enough. But now I fear that my female has died because I have not seen her in a while

Hopefully, May will bring additional migration and at least get another breeding pair.

Sometimes I really hate weather.

[Doug Martin - PA]

Mitch,

I am in Western PA about halfway up only about 30 miles off the ohio border. I am familiar with your struggles to get a colony started but it does not happen quickly up here in our area. That's why I logged 28 years before I finally got my first pair. For you? You got a great site with a good population nearby so I give you 4-5 years after having the right housing up. My site is only open for a few acres.

Toy,
You may need to try the freeze dried mealworms instead of flipping all the time. If you buy the biggest bags from tractor supply they are reasonable in price and easy to feed. Great food for rainy days.

Henry, Mike, Grey Fox, Dave nice to hear from you all. Anyone that says this hobby is easy, peaceful, and without pain is lying to you. LOL If you would see all the Purple Martins in Fombell PA (where there once was none) .....you would never see just how much work and dedication it took to bring them here. It's not easy. But the sky sure is full of them now. Keep on dreaming, praying, dawnsonging and learning. Some day it will happen. Worth every minute of time spent trying.

Looks like the group that came in yesterday moved on. But more will come in today and tomorrow. I'm about full (50 compartments) so I will send them elsewhere.

Good luck to you all.

Doug

[mike2656]

Thanks for your encouraging words, Doug.

My male is trying to lure others to my housing. Hopefully, he is up to the task!

If nothing else, maybe he can attract a new female!

It is heartening to know there are so many "in the cause" out there. If we all can keep breeding and eliminating pests, someday our main worry will be not having enough housing!

[Mitch Booth]

Doug,

I'm not sure I will continue for 28 years!!! Wow that is long time!! Were you at the same site for all those years?

The only thing I can figure is the martins do not like the trees bordering the perimeter of the 12 acre parcel. Heck I was just at a site where trees were towering around the gourd rack but open in one direction to a lake and they have birds.

I think it has more to do with location than any sort of housing. Next year I'm going to discontinue use of Dawnsong, not put any housing until May 15th and take down all the bluebird houses and single gourds for Tres.

Mitch

[Doug Martin - PA]

Mitch,

I don't think there is anything wrong with your site.

Some simple things to remember. This is why it is difficult to start a new colony.

Martins are very loyal to their previous nesting site so they generally return to the same site each season.

The toughest job is attracting a FEMALE to a new site that has not previously nested elsewhere. Males at active sites aggressively pull them in to these sites when there is open housing there. So a male that has not nested yet (a SY or ASY 2 year old that was a bachelor as a SY) has a much easier time attracting a female to an active site. Martins attract more Martins.

So if you have active sites near you that are not full that is where the new nesters you are trying to attract go. Even if you have a "better site".

So in a nutshell the best way to attract new birds to a new site is to make it appear as active as possible. This is why dawnsong, decoys, mirrors,mud smears, fake nests, all help in establishing a new site.

The best way to start new sites is for the active sites to limit available cavities so the overflow will force birds out to start new sites. So if the active sites in your area keep adding housing and there are vacancies that's where they will go. That is likely your problem.

In my area for several years all the active sites closed down any open cavities in mid May. This pushes young birds out to start more new colonies. This is referred to as "dispersion". For it to work however everyone at active sites must participate.

Remember these are colony nesting birds you are attracting. They gravitate to existing colonies. This makes it difficult to start a new one.

Doug

[taxidermy lady]

Yep Doug, thanks that makes things easier for us trying. There's just nothing to do but wait Mitch! When we've done all we can do its up to them.

[Mitch Booth]

Thanks Doug.

I think I'm done adding housing. I have two 16 foot tall deluxe 12 gourd racks about 15 feet apart, another gourd rack in a different area plus a T-14 way across the pond in a third area for a total of 54 cavities.

I play the Dawnsong 24/7 so there is not much else I can do. I have natural gourds, Troyer horizontals and Super gourds all w Conley II entrances and porches.

If I do not get any visiting SY birds over the next two weeks I'll have to wait until next year.

Mitch

[ToyinPA]

Mitch:
You have until late June actually for SY's to arrive. So don't give up too soon.

Toy in PA