Rain, Snow & Cold Observations

Doug Martin - PA · Fri Apr 05, 2024 11:26 am

Mother nature is dishing it out once again in Western PA. (as usual)

Since mid March temperatures have been too cold for my lone Martin Buddy to feed, so he has relied on my services for the most part.

Finally another male joined him on the 25th and we had a few borderline days for them to feed.

A slightly warmer beginning to April brought another dozen or so birds and 3 days of steady record rainfall. Streams and creeks all ran over their flood levels. But...

Each day had a brief window of an hour or so when the rain stopped and birds could feed in the cold but they seemed to get enough. This is also when more birds seemed to arrive.

Currently I have many migrant layovers on their way north. We are in the middle of a 3 day span in the 30s and 40s. Good thing for old Buddy who shows them the ropes on eating mealworms from the platform and catching crickets tossed in the air from my deck. Some of these birds are not familiar with the routine here and are fast flying, tough alpha birds from the north. I watched 3 of them flying in the snow eating snowflakes this morning high up above like it was a summer day. Most all the others stayed inside the housing. Buddy went out and flew with them and they all came in to the bed and breakfast to fill up on dried mealworms. I soak them in cold water for a few minutes and then powder them with Nekton I supplement for insect eaters. I usually have 10lbs of freeze dried mealworms and 5000 crickets on hand. Mealworms are the easiest to feed on the trays and are the staple when there are more birds here.

Sunday temperatures will finally get back to the 50s and then it looks good going forward and surely a major migration will come in. Many of these birds will move on and many, many more will return home to Fombell.

It sure is a chore keeping this gang afloat, but soon I will be able to just sit back and enjoy the rest of the colony's return. That is until the next prolonged cold spell.

Doug

defed · Fri Apr 05, 2024 8:53 pm

i'm near buffalo ny and someone a few miles from me has a scout report in (lots of snow the past 2 days). nothing for me yet. i'm torn between being anxious to have them back to know if my few (2 pair and 3 or 4 single males) make it back (my lone pair the previous yr did not make it back) and having them delay a few days as it will be in the high 50's low 60's next wk and i know they will be able to feed.

maybe a few of those are mine and i appreciate you taking care of them for us further up north.

Dave Reynolds · Sat Apr 06, 2024 8:38 am

,, This weather has been a tuff one this year down in the Southeastern Ohio valley. I had two martins show up a few days ago at my satilite site. I have not seen any at my home site so far this year.. I had 16 pair at home so may be some of them will make it back this year. Looks like one more night of low temps here, then the warm up should start. April 5 two years ago was the start of the season. So hopefully they are on schedule to arrive. Good Luck to all of those Landlords with Martins north of me.. try and keep them fed and warm.

Dave

flyin-lowe · Sat Apr 06, 2024 5:46 pm

We had a cold wet week last week. After the 2nd day of poor weather I went out and tried to feed them to see if they would take it. There was one female who took the first offering and ate several, the others didn't budge. I knew she must have been fed before because she took the first toss. The next day 7-8 more joined in. We had sun and high 50's today and they have been gone most of the day. Gave me time to get my other gourd rack up and my 2 T 14's in the air as well. I have 10-12 here right now and I expect that number to double the next week or two as a warm front is moving in.

Martintown33 · Mon Apr 08, 2024 10:52 am

Good luck to you northern landlords.. hope the weather warms up soon!
Rob

randyM · Mon Apr 08, 2024 11:06 pm

I had 2 ASY males show up on April 6 with strong south winds and temps in the 60's. Fast forward to the morning of April 8 with an inch of snow and temps around 30. I now have 4 ASY males at my site. Tried flipping grasshoppers and crickets I collected last fall on the evening of the 7th and one readily took the flipped insects. The afternoon of the 8th I again flipped hoppers and crickets until 3 of the 4 stopped eating. The 4th one did not chase or eat any flipped offerings. I then flipped a large dragonfly I collected last summer. The 4th bird chased the dragonfly to the ground but missed it. I picked the insect up and flipped it again and the 4th male ate it. I flipped 3 more dragonflies, and the 4th male ate two of them and another that previously ate hoppers and crickets caught and ate the last one. The birds were feeling so feisty after eating they were fighting over compartments and two of them went all the way to the ground right into the snow! They got right back up and went into their respective cavities. Temps are supposed to rebound into the 60's for the next 5 days, so they should be able to find food on their own, but I'll offer some if they look hungry when they return to roost. I better get the rest of my houses up soon so the territorial fighting slows down a bit before the next push of birds moves in.

Randy