Newbi and excited!!!

[Daox13]

Richmond va here. have my set up in place, had it up last year but the Sparrows took over... I tried my hardest to deter them, block their nesting areas, trap and relocate, etc.... had to move to more permanent solutions and for now I'm sparrow free.

Set up:

S&K tri telescopic pole with a 12 room house on top, starling proof holes and a eight gourd rack with no gourds currently on the bottom. I put the gourd rack up as I thought it would be a good place to put the decoys. I have plastic gourds on order and may switch to naturally growing them next year after I research it a little more.

I have an urban set up with your typically 1/2 acre lot. I will have to get pictures of the set up so you guys can get a better feel for it. small pond towards the bottom of the pole and its about 30' from the house. My major issue will be cratemertals as my neighbors have them and I have a few as well which is the only source of shade in the back yard since my neighbor's black walnut tree came down in last years storm (needless to say I was ecstatic when that happened). I have trimmed them up to give as much room as possible and this weekend I will be taking down a sections to give them a little more room.

As stated I have decoys (2 to be exact) and I recently purchased the daytime chatter cd which I play weather permitting and built two nests in the house and add green leaves every few days to mimic activity.

and guess what... within a week of putting up the decoys and playing the chatter only twice (its been rainy) I have my first fully matured male... forgive me if I don't know the abbreviations yet. I know I'm showing my newbi colors but I got so excited as I've never ever housed purple martins. His little chatter is so awesome and I love how he response to the cd.

so with all that said I've seen him about three times over the last few days, today has been the longest he has spent at the house. I know its late in the season so I'm not expecting a miracle in which I get a full colony overnight and know it can take multiple seasons for that to happen. But I wanted some more experienced landlords to advise me on the possibility of attracting a female this late in the season... also why is he looking so late?

question 2... I don't have owl guards up but last year I saw a Barred Owl land on the house and scope out my pond fish for eating... should I be concerned and are there DIY ways I can deter owls without a giant cage around the house?

as stated I will try and gather some pics of the setup tonight.

[Martinfarmer]

Hi Daox, I'm a newby too. Started last year no success. This year I put up vertical Troyer gourds with colony2 entrances and tunnels. Jackpot, I'm up to twenty martins.
They have started nesting full bore the last day or so. My fingers are crossed hoping for Martin babies .

[[email protected]]

Hi Daox, I'm a newby too. Started last year no success. This year I put up vertical Troyer gourds with colony2 entrances and tunnels. Jackpot, I'm up to twenty martins.
They have started nesting full bore the last day or so. My fingers are crossed hoping for Martin babies .

Congratulations to you!!!! Wonderful news for you....

Newbie here still waiting.

John

[[email protected]]

Richmond va here. have my set up in place, had it up last year but the Sparrows took over... I tried my hardest to deter them, block their nesting areas, trap and relocate, etc.... had to move to more permanent solutions and for now I'm sparrow free.

Set up:

S&K tri telescopic pole with a 12 room house on top, starling proof holes and a eight gourd rack with no gourds currently on the bottom. I put the gourd rack up as I thought it would be a good place to put the decoys. I have plastic gourds on order and may switch to naturally growing them next year after I research it a little more.

I have an urban set up with your typically 1/2 acre lot. I will have to get pictures of the set up so you guys can get a better feel for it. small pond towards the bottom of the pole and its about 30' from the house. My major issue will be cratemertals as my neighbors have them and I have a few as well which is the only source of shade in the back yard since my neighbor's black walnut tree came down in last years storm (needless to say I was ecstatic when that happened). I have trimmed them up to give as much room as possible and this weekend I will be taking down a sections to give them a little more room.

As stated I have decoys (2 to be exact) and I recently purchased the daytime chatter cd which I play weather permitting and built two nests in the house and add green leaves every few days to mimic activity.

and guess what... within a week of putting up the decoys and playing the chatter only twice (its been rainy) I have my first fully matured male... forgive me if I don't know the abbreviations yet. I know I'm showing my newbi colors but I got so excited as I've never ever housed purple martins. His little chatter is so awesome and I love how he response to the cd.

so with all that said I've seen him about three times over the last few days, today has been the longest he has spent at the house. I know its late in the season so I'm not expecting a miracle in which I get a full colony overnight and know it can take multiple seasons for that to happen. But I wanted some more experienced landlords to advise me on the possibility of attracting a female this late in the season... also why is he looking so late?

question 2... I don't have owl guards up but last year I saw a Barred Owl land on the house and scope out my pond fish for eating... should I be concerned and are there DIY ways I can deter owls without a giant cage around the house?

as stated I will try and gather some pics of the setup tonight.

Great News good luck with them...

[handyman315]

Welcome and we all applaud your efforts. Not exactly a newbie myself (this is my fourth year) but still no nesting pair; worse, this year has been especially bleak so far . . . but at age 72, patience is not easy.

Just keeping my gourds and apartments closed longer has really helped with the Sparrow problem . . . and a 1960s vintage scoped Benjamin .177 air rifle. Also THINK the Tree Swallows are under control . . . so just need some PMs.

Having those trees down and trimmed should also help. Envy your pond .

Best of luck!

[Daox13]

Thanks!!!! As promised I have pictures... the male seems to just be visiting for now, but I hope he sticks around but haven't seen him today. I currently have not seen any real nesting activity so I think he is just curious. As you can tell I have some trees/shrubs near by that need a little trimming but I'm hoping it'll be enough to attract them. I'm pretty confident that with one visiting just two full weeks after ridding of the sparrows that I may be successful next year. But for now there's not much more I can do but role the dice and hope.
also my neighbor two doors down has a house up too so if I get some hopefully they will spill over to his as well and I know he has been a little more successful with the sparrows then I have.

[Daox13]

Just an update. The male is basically here to stay for now. He took the fake nests I built and arranged them his way and I saw him bring a female back. She didn't stay long but at least he is trying. So I know it's late in the season but I'm hoping he can work his magic and get one to stay.

[Archer]

Your male is an adult, called ASY(after second year) will most likely attract a mate. The SY(second year, born last season) are now migrating into your area. The SY's find the ASY most attractive. If your ASY is committed to your location, you will most likely start a new colony. There's lots of things that can happen, there is still time. Hope it works out for you.

[4th Gen Martin Fan]

You need to convert that S&K house to 6 double compartments. That will be your first and most important step to flying predator protection.
The hawks and owls can easily reach in and grab your martins or their nestlings with single compartments. Plus, SREH is used with double compartments.
Easy to do and is an immediate task before the female mate arrives.

[Daox13]

Your male is an adult, called ASY(after second year) will most likely attract a mate. The SY(second year, born last season) are now migrating into your area. The SY's find the ASY most attractive. If your ASY is committed to your location, you will most likely start a new colony. There's lots of things that can happen, there is still time. Hope it works out for you.

Thank you! Now that I know the abbreviations I can actually sound like I know what I'm talking about! I'm super excited about this because I literally finally got rid of the sparrows after a year and within a week I have a ASY... not bad... I hope it continues and we end up with a decent colony! I appreciate your support!

You need to convert that S&K house to 6 double compartments. That will be your first and most important step to flying predator protection.
The hawks and owls can easily reach in and grab your martins or their nestlings with single compartments. Plus, SREH is used with double compartments.
Easy to do and is an immediate task before the female mate arrives.

my plan is to upgrade this house next year, but I will knock out the tabs in the back now to create a larger compartment. I have 6 B09's on order and they will go on the racks. I will be making my own Owl guards for them and will more than likely add 2x4 wire on the house for now. My next house I will order with owl guards in place.....

lets face it, I was one of those people who went cheap on a first setup and because of my location I honestly didn't know if I would get any and didn't want to spend the $$ to be disappointed... now that I am getting some PM activity I have a feeling my wife is going to regret letting me buy a PM pole and house....

[Daox13]

I would like to add that last night I was sitting out watching the ASY male and all of a sudden like 8 Purple Martins started circling the house. they all looked like SY females so I think Archer hit the nail right on the head. I had never seen so many of them in the sky at one time. two of them stuck around and circled the house for hours... I didn't see them this morning but it looks like my house is definitely on the radar.

I also took out the backs to all of the nest areas and created doubles to help with predator protection. I am going to stop by the hardware store and get some of the H hangers for yard signs and add two on each side in hopes to prevent owls. I will also add those to the Gourds once they come in... I'm beginning to get impatient haha

[Daox13]

I made some additions to the house last night. I'm not 100% confident in it just yet and think I may add a piece right in the middle but I think with the double compartment and this I should be doing much better with predator protection. I stole this idea from someone on here and they used these for their gourds, which is also my plan once the order comes in. The ASY I think now has a mate with him because they visited while I was installing these and he was so eager to use the nest that he landed on the house while I was working and starred at me like "what the heck is this crap?"

my next task (when I get back from my wonderful week of vacation) will be to install a snake guard with bird netting. I tend to like to create things from other's ideas so I have some foundation ideas but nothing concrete yet. I want it to be easy to remove, not in the way of lowering and not ugly... sorry but I'm particular about things looking good in my small back yard haha.

[Daox13]

and just like that I learned a very valuable lesson... leave well enough alone.... I believe my eagerness to tamper with the house and "upgrade it" scared off the ASY male I had, I have not seen him after putting up the guards... I think I got in his way with attracting a female to his place and he just said screw it and found a different spot. needless to say I'm kind of frustrated with myself. but the season isn't over and I still have hope, i've started playing the chatter cd on repeat again all day and I hope that'll attract more, I did that last night and had a few SY come check me out but none stuck around. did I mention I can be super impatient?

[marcus]

When you enlarge cavities, you must close one of the entrances. On the pic, I can't see that you did.

[Daox13]

When you enlarge cavities, you must close one of the entrances. On the pic, I can't see that you did.

Thank you!!! Call me dense but I am literally learning as I go. That would explain why I lost the ASY male. I have fixed this and hopefully I can start attracting again.

[Rediwill]

I have the same pole as you and I had some sway in it as well. I read a tip from another post online about using butter knives where the poles come together. Just stick it in between the poles and it will prevent most of the moving around. I did that and I reduced the sway by more than 50%. I also drilled a hole in the second pole to allow the pole to sink in about 1 foot more. I lose 1 foot in height but the pole is more sturdy and sways less in the wind. I technically have a little more on my pole than I should but the house doesn't weigh that much.

I have the barn on mine with gourds below. Painted the Barn white since I didn't like the red for my HOA. I have some visitors but nobody taking yet. Last two days have been slow and I thought I saw a few fly bys. I can not blast the dawn song as loud as I would like due to neighbors but still keeping my fingers crossed. I think the martin numbers will be a little less for visitors as some will be sitting on eggs during the day. I wish I had a ASY male like you. They will do their best to pull a female down so keep your hopes up. I had one last year but he didn't come until mid June and it was a bit late to nest by then. I am just north of you in Fredericksburg so I wish you luck. Maybe I will run in to you at the Martin field day on June 24th.


P.S
If you modify your house to make it 6 instead of 12 make sure you follow the directions in the paper that came with it. It is much different from modifying an aluminum 12 to a 6. Aluminum houses rest on top of the pole and ours the pole inserts to the second floor. So you will have to remove the black inserts inside in the right locations. To block the locations you will need hole caps if you have gourds they came with them if not then you can try to find some plastic and silicone in over the hole best you can until you get the proper cresent hole caps. You can sorta see how the hole will be looking at my picture. taken from my second story deck and zoomed in a bit. You will see a sub male visiting me on the bottom right...the rest are decoys.

Shane

10 hole Barn
1 Troyer horizontal gourd
1 natural gourd
4 Bo9's
6 Bo11's

[Daox13]

I have the same pole as you and I had some sway in it as well. I read a tip from another post online about using butter knives where the poles come together. Just stick it in between the poles and it will prevent most of the moving around. I did that and I reduced the sway by more than 50%. I also drilled a hole in the second pole to allow the pole to sink in about 1 foot more. I lose 1 foot in height but the pole is more sturdy and sways less in the wind. I technically have a little more on my pole than I should but the house doesn't weigh that much.

I have the barn on mine with gourds below. Painted the Barn white since I didn't like the red for my HOA. I have some visitors but nobody taking yet. Last two days have been slow and I thought I saw a few fly bys. I can not blast the dawn song as loud as I would like due to neighbors but still keeping my fingers crossed. I think the martin numbers will be a little less for visitors as some will be sitting on eggs during the day. I wish I had a ASY male like you. They will do their best to pull a female down so keep your hopes up. I had one last year but he didn't come until mid June and it was a bit late to nest by then. I am just north of you in Fredericksburg so I wish you luck. Maybe I will run in to you at the Martin field day on June 24th.


P.S
If you modify your house to make it 6 instead of 12 make sure you follow the directions in the paper that came with it. It is much different from modifying an aluminum 12 to a 6. Aluminum houses rest on top of the pole and ours the pole inserts to the second floor. So you will have to remove the black inserts inside in the right locations. To block the locations you will need hole caps if you have gourds they came with them if not then you can try to find some plastic and silicone in over the hole best you can until you get the proper cresent hole caps. You can sorta see how the hole will be looking at my picture. taken from my second story deck and zoomed in a bit. You will see a sub male visiting me on the bottom right...the rest are decoys.

Shane

10 hole Barn
1 Troyer horizontal gourd
1 natural gourd
4 Bo9's
6 Bo11's

Shane,

thank you so much for that breakdown. I will definitely sure up the pole with your suggestions. I took out the back inserts for the double compartments so that should be good now and blocked off the extra entrance that was not needed. I wish I still had my ASY and hope he comes back but I may have screwed the pooch on that one... we'll see. I have very close neighbors but play the day time chatter as loud as I can without disturbing my neighbors. I definitely get a ton of fly by visitors and hope that the interest continues.
I had no clue there was a Martin field day haha so you quite possible may see me there this year! I love your set up and I wish you the best of luck this season as well... here in Richmond I have seen a huge influx of SYs coming from the south passing through so I'm pretty confident we are now in the thick of things.

[marcus]

Glad I could help!