Took this picture 3/24/2019 and this evening I had 2 ASY males come and One female. Now today I have 3 pairs 3/25/2019.
Bristol Ridge Colony New Lexington,Ohio Dave Woofter
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mwren
- Posts: 174
- Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 2:43 pm
- Location: OH/Athens
- Martin Colony History: I have had my martin colony on the dam of one of my ponds for nine years. The colony has grown each year, but I am now concentrating on helping friends and acquaintances who have shown interests in martins. My colony consists of three T-14's with 8 Troyer gourds attatched to each T-14, a Troyer gourd rack with 12 gourds, and another gourd rack with 18 Troyer gourds for a total of 96 nest cavities. I am having serious predation issues with hawks and owls and am experimenting with various hawk guards and "screens". Established successful supplemental feeding the last few seasons and have had a blast flipping mostly meal worms and some crickets. Faculty from Ohio University are using my colony as a research site to study parasites that target cavity nesting birds. In exchange for access to my bird trail nest boxes and martin housing, they are banding all birds involved in their study.
Bluetick,
What a great picture of your colony! We are starting to worry about the fate of our birds down here in Athens county. Not a bird so far.
We have an established colony, but I worry about the amount of avian predators that these birds have to deal with all spring and summer long while they are here. The next few days could be critical!
"Bird"
What a great picture of your colony! We are starting to worry about the fate of our birds down here in Athens county. Not a bird so far.
We have an established colony, but I worry about the amount of avian predators that these birds have to deal with all spring and summer long while they are here. The next few days could be critical!
"Bird"
Mike "Bird" Wren
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Dave Duit
- Posts: 2145
- Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2003 2:02 pm
- Location: Iowa / Nevada
- Martin Colony History: In 2024, 82 pair with 350 fledged youngsters. 110 total cavities available, 82 Troyer Horizontal gourds and a homemade PVC / metal 28 compartment unit, 1 fallout shelter. Hawk and owl guards included. Martin educator and speaker. President and founder of the Iowa Purple Martin Organization. Please visit Iowa Purple Martin Organization on Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1627283871068161 Emails send to [email protected]. Subject line include Iowa Purple Martin.
Thanks for the beautiful pic Dave. That is very soothing.
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PMDavid
- Posts: 534
- Joined: Wed May 16, 2018 8:50 pm
- Location: Boyce,Louisiana
- Martin Colony History: 2018 1 lone nut and lots of visitors
2019 6 pair -21fledged
2020 18 pair -60 fledged
2021......to be seen.
24 natural gourds on a satellite rack,9 other gourds scattered around
2-12 compartment trio houses
Rarely see a sparrow or starling,but when I do they don’t last long!
Will have a second satellite rack for the 2022 season and phase out the houses,the martins here strongly prefer natural gourds.
Dave , that is a super cool picture! Very deserving of an enlargement and frame for the wall!! Shoot I’m thinking ......lawn chair,glass of wine, sounds of all the birds..does it get any better?