50 plus pairs loss in Upstate NY.

[cransy]

I've loss my purple Martin colony in upstate NY. I apparently had a mink problem while on was on vacation last year. 21 plus years with Martin's gone. Hopefully they will find new homes. This is devastating to me because I put in so much hard work over the years. Good luck to future landlords.

[[email protected]]

Wow,

I'm so sorry to hear that.

John

[Dan G]

That is terrible. Are you sure that none will come back this year, or others will appear? Your site must have been suitable or they wouldn't have stayed there 21 years. good luck. This is the first i have heard of a mink as a predator. We do have muskrats in the nearby stream. I wonder if they could be an issue. And i have seen mink at the pond that is1/2 mile away.

[Ed Pace]

Hi Cransy, I've been looking for your scout report and wondering why you were a little bit slow, that is devastating and I'm terribly sorry to hear about it. Hopefully some of the birds will return ,things are very slow down here in my area . I have three that just came in at the Vikings this morning, I have four at my own place which just came in the last couple days except for my first bird which came in on the fourth. I daughter just got her first
and only bird yesterday and many of the people down on the lake don't have any birds at all yet I had a mink attack on my pigeons many years ago and I know how bad they can be there probably the worst predator going, there one of the few animals that will just keep killing for the fun of it.

We're hoping for the best for you keep us posted. Ed. PS ... Dan G muskrats are no problem.

[jhcox]

I am so sorry Cransy. How was it able to get up to the houses or gourds so often to wipe out a whole colony. And is there any way to prevent it in the future. Again very sorry.

JHCox

[cransy]

When the young came out to fly and took off, the other birds would knock them into the lake and the mink would attack. I guess having a big colony has it's disadvantages. I only loss about a dozen babies to mink but my neighbor colony had more predation than mind with approximately 16 pair.

[Ed Pace]

Cransy ,I forgot to mention that we have not seen one tree swallow or barn swallow yet . I have over 30 pair of barn swallows in my barn and usually they're not this late, so maybe that will help a little . Good luck. Ed.

[ToyinPA]

I've loss my purple Martin colony in upstate NY. I apparently had a mink problem while on was on vacation last year. 21 plus years with Martin's gone. Hopefully they will find new homes. This is devastating to me because I put in so much hard work over the years. Good luck to future landlords.

I'm located in central PA. Almost smack in the middle of the state. They are running late this year, some by weeks. Migration started with a bang, came to a screaching halt, picked up & stopped again. The weather has not been good for migration this year. Too many bad storms in the souhern states, a blizzard in the north, lots of rain, etc.

It's possible some of your Martins stop over at my site during migration, as I'm almost straight south of you, just a little west (20 miles west of Williamsport). Last spring I had 11 very batered looking martins arrive. I flipped them crickets, some ate, some did not. They spent the night. 2 females died, the other 9 pushed on north, possibly to your site. Sometimes I get a few migrating south too. Too bad we have no way of telling.

I Just had 3 new ones arrive today. I had 4 arrive last week & have only seen the 1 male since last Saturday.

I would guess you should get some adults back. So don't give up yet.

Toy in PA

[cransy]

Thank You, I can only hope so. Several of my Martin's have been banded by Cornell University. Praying for their return. I'll keep you informed.

[Mitch Booth]

Yes please keep us posted. I can't imagine you lost your entire colony.

Mitch

[cransy]

No Martin's yet!

[flyin-lowe]

So if I am reading correct the only time you lost martins to the mink was when fledglings fell into the water? I will be curious to see what others think, but I don't think the surviving martins (especially any that didn't lose young) would abandon a site based on this. If the mink was climbing the pole and raiding the nests I could see them leaving but if you had 50 pair and lost a few fledges I don't think they will abandon your site for that reason alone. I'm guessing they are running late. If none of them return this year my guess would be that there is more going on then some fledges getting captured in the water.

[cransy]

Ed and everyone else. There are no Martin's here or at my neighbor's. My neighbor has been feeding the minks the last couple years and there are about three dozen of them now. I tried to eliminate them but there were to many of them. I do checks almost everyday for predation. I also have servillance video of houses with no predation going on. All gourds and wooded houses have predator guards and the poles have snake netting with PVC tubing. The colony is gone! I have put out 1000. Babies over the years. I guess until I move South my colony is gone.

[Martin man RI]

Martins are running Late. There are none on Cape Cod and I have only 5 males and I hosted over 100 in my town. Your birds
are in route and you will have them in a week. This has been a cold spring. The birds I have now are old. The two year old
birds don't show until the last week of April and many females the first week of May. I have studied Martins since 1996. And we have
a host of Predators and that has never stopped The Martins. Take a vacation when you return you will see your flock. If don't see them by May 5th then you are in trouble.
Ray
Barrington RI

[Anthony Neira]

Ed and everyone else. There are no Martin's here or at my neighbor's. My neighbor has been feeding the minks the last couple years and there are about three dozen of them now. I tried to eliminate them but there were to many of them. I do checks almost everyday for predation. I also have servillance video of houses with no predation going on. All gourds and wooded houses have predator guards and the poles have snake netting with PVC tubing. The colony is gone! I have put out 1000. Babies over the years. I guess until I move South my colony is gone.

So sorry to hear that ! Not that this changes anything, but for me being from down south of you, are there any FISHERS over there ? I just saw a Nature show on how savage those guys are. Worst than Minks ?, again, so sorry for your loss. I hope/pray a miracle happens for you !

[Ed Pace]

Cransy,I have been watching the scout report daily hoping to see your name come up. I haven't seen a new bird ln at least the last five days ,my daughter still has her same old male with no change and Chautauqua Institute and , Long point both have large colonies and I haven't seen either one of them list a bird yet either . I know that what happened last fall is going to hurt you but because there are so many not here yet in other areas there's still room for hope .

I have many barn swallows nests in my barn and today is the first day that I've seen one of those and that's somewhat unusual for me ,oh I also saw my first tree swallow today. Good luck. Ed

[cransy]

Wow, I woke up this morning to find 7 Martins at my site. I normally have between 20 and 30 birds at this time. I was sure my colony was wiped out from the mink. Thank you everyone for all the advice and now I got to do something about these mink. Any suggestions would be helpful. Fishers are definitely a vicious animal, and I hope I never have a problem with them.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

We have racoons that will attempt to climb the poles, they leave a bloody mess on the housing. I seriously doubt that the mink are causing such a problem if you have snake guards, animal guards on all of your poles. Martins will not leave because of babies that are on the ground or fall into the water (where the mink can get them). I bet the martins are late, and your entire colony will be there for this year.

[Ed Pace]

That's great news cransy, I bet you'll sleep good tonight . Ed.

[ToyinPA]

Glad to hear you had some arrive. More will follow soon.

Toy in PA