Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.
2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)
2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total. 6 fledges.
2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs 36 hatchlings 30 fledged
2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(
2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.
The season is off to a start. 03 Feb. 5:45pm One Male ASY circled around the house for about 30 minutes chirping away and doing some final feeding I suppose and then dropped like a bullet into a ChirpyNest - like he’d done it a couple hundred times before. Almost like it was the same male from last year.
Martin Colony History: 34 Cavities offered. 24 unit gourd rack with Troyer Horizontal and Vertical Gourds. Sunset Inn aluminum house with 4 Troyer Horizontal Gourds.
Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.
2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)
2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total. 6 fledges.
2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs 36 hatchlings 30 fledged
2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(
2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.
Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.
2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)
2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total. 6 fledges.
2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs 36 hatchlings 30 fledged
2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(
2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.
10 Feb. 8 PMs arriving at dusk. Not sure if all are paired. But 8 were flying in at nightfall. Wasn’t able to ID all. But for sure a mix of males and females.
Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.
2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)
2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total. 6 fledges.
2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs 36 hatchlings 30 fledged
2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(
2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.
24 Feb: Cold rainy update…. The past few days have been cold, overcast, and rainy. Unfortunately I lost a female ASY during this period. I did not try to supplement feed or throw in warmers- I just dont have the time to manage this. But they appeared to look good yesterday, I saw 4 or 5 on the racks, but they looked a bit haggard. I lowered the rack today and found the female expired. Beautiful today.. and for the next 6 days, weather will be terrific. She may have died as early as Saturday. I checked everything Friday, so coulda been Sat o Sun- hard to say.
This is the first time I’ve ever found a dead adult in a compartment, so it’s sad to see this.
Sorry to hear that. I checked mine again today and there were 2 females huddled but they had enough strength to fly off. Yes, better weather ahead. Brent
Sorry to hear that you lost a couple. It’s not easy. But goes to show the magnificent resilience of these birds. Most of yours made it through this long stretch of bad feeding weather on their own. I was lucky. No losses.. but what a mess in the front rooms of the house compartments ..from mostly staying inside, eating crickets , and pooping for many days. Started cleanup today.
Good luck on your season
Rob
Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.
2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)
2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total. 6 fledges.
2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs 36 hatchlings 30 fledged
2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(
2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.
Just minutes after posting the previous message about discovering one dead female. I went back outside and there was one haggard, looking male sitting on top of the gourd rack. He wasn’t chirping or anything. I was thinking, man I may have lost everybody but that guy. Within a few seconds, I looked up to very large flock of what looked like 40 or 50 purple martins swirl around towards the house and many then swooped down landing on the gourd rack, and many diving into compartments for the night.
It looked like they went as many as 5 into some of the compartments for the evening. It was amazing. I’ve never seen so many PMs flying around like that.
I attached a video to show some of the action. All of these look completely healthy and full of spirit.
A great way to end the day after such a terrible few days.
That’s great! I know that had to bring you joy. Thank you for sharing the video. I like your rack set up. Hope you having a blessed Martin season. Thank you.
Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.
2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)
2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total. 6 fledges.
2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs 36 hatchlings 30 fledged
2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(
2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.
That’s great! I know that had to bring you joy. Thank you for sharing the video. I like your rack set up. Hope you having a blessed Martin season. Thank you.
Thanks! I need to add the last four gourds.. some BO9 s w/tunnels. Probably do that today.
The past two or three days have been great - warm afternoons, and blue skies.. the martins are eating well I’m sure and very active around the house.
Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.
2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)
2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total. 6 fledges.
2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs 36 hatchlings 30 fledged
2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(
2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.
Hello everyone, I am happy to announce that I have been approved to be on this website. I have no idea what I am doing as far as where to place this post. Here is why I decided to start where I did, I am a Louisiana resident around Toledo Bend. I saw Broussard Louisiana and decided I maybe could start here. Forgive me if I’m not supposed to be here. Today is my first day on.
I LOVE MARTINS!! I am ready and waiting on my feathered friends. What I want to find out ( don’t have Facebook) is can anyone around many Louisiana or Toledo bend Louisiana side, have martins that have arrived. Thank you so much and I hope if anyone replies, that I can find out,
Where to look, lol
Sincerely,
Linda Moore
Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.
2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)
2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total. 6 fledges.
2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs 36 hatchlings 30 fledged
2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(
2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.
Hello everyone, I am happy to announce that I have been approved to be on this website. I have no idea what I am doing as far as where to place this post. Here is why I decided to start where I did, I am a Louisiana resident around Toledo Bend. I saw Broussard Louisiana and decided I maybe could start here. Forgive me if I’m not supposed to be here. Today is my first day on.
I LOVE MARTINS!! I am ready and waiting on my feathered friends. What I want to find out ( don’t have Facebook) is can anyone around many Louisiana or Toledo bend Louisiana side, have martins that have arrived. Thank you so much and I hope if anyone replies, that I can find out,
Where to look, lol
Sincerely,
Linda Moore
Martin Colony History: 2010-2014 located in Slidell LA. Gourd rack with 16 gourds. Max of 2 pairs during this short period in Slidell. Plenty of fledglings.
2014-present.. moved to Broussard LA. Same Gourd Rack but added a 6 room house (modified from a 12 room)
2020: after a long drought of nothing, 4 pairs and 4 nests, 23 eggs total. 6 fledges.
2021: 9 pair, 47 eggs 36 hatchlings 30 fledged
2022: about 12 pairs.. many eggs, all fledged.. only had one hatchling die.. probably because of our schnauzer. :(
2023: 16 pairs. So far about 60 chicks with about a dozen eggs to go.
Here’s an interesting perspective of the evening return.. the second wave arrive about 1 minute after the first small group. Sorry about the blade of grass.
I like how you can see them swirling in the sky above the gourd rack.
