Northern Mn up date 2018 Glimmer of Hope Ive Seen

[Dave Sig]

I had a SY male and a female show up together late this morning....They circled and landed on one of my T 14's....they sat on the house for 10 minutes or so...the female sticking her head into an entrance,, but she didn't go in....I know it's late but maybe i have a slim chance of them settling in......They stuck around for a total of 15 minutes.....Question,,, I didn't have the dawn song playing when they showed up....after 15 minutes or so they flew off to the north....Should i play the dawn song and if they come back should i shut it off......Like I said it's a glimmer of hope but having the female stick her head into an entrance tells me she's looking for a place to set up camp....Any and all input Greatly Appreciated....Thanks Dave Sig

[Ed Svetich-WI]

The purpose of the Dawn Song and other vocal recordings is to attract martins. They have located your site. I would turn it on and see what happens. If they or others continue to return, there may be no further need to play it. I assume you have done the other things necessarily to make your site attractive such pre nests, mud around an entrance or two, etc.

You don't indicate where you are in Northern Minnesota. If you are far enough north, there may be time for late nesting. Late June around here is pushing it but a couple hundred miles north could make nesting a possibility.

Good luck.

Ed

[Dave Sig]

Ed,, thanks so much for the reply.... Im located between the cities of Grand Rapids and Hibbing,,, west end of the Iron Range.. I have smeared mud on the entrances and some inside,,, pine needles...... I been a landlord on an off for the past 7 years or so....Ive had 1 nesting pair 3 years,,,fledged their young....No nesters last year but the previous year, 2016 I had 1 pair but a hawk got the male just after the 5 eggs hatched.... I lowered the T 14 ,, 2 or 3 times a day to put crickets in the entrance...between the devoted female and myself she raised and fledged all 5... A hawk did make an attack on the young ones as they were flying around but he didn't get any.... Dave

[Archer]

I would turn it on, and keep it on. All day. Every day. I was desperate in 2014 and that was my strategy. I did not turn it off, till I saw that my first pair was nest building. They didn't mind it at all, why would they? They are martins after all. I ended up with a bunch of pairs. Hope it happens for you.

[flyin-lowe]

I've experienced the exact opposite, I left my CD player on one time and a ASY Martin kept swooping at it and hovering over it down on the ground for over an hour trying to figure out what was going on. If they have already found your site there is no need to play it. Every one is different some might not pay any attention and some might get frustrated by the song.