Purple Martin Forum

Hi Robert, Like some of the others have posted I too tried the cheap pump ups with very poor results. I finally broke down and bought a Hammerli 850. What a wonderful gun! It has a 8 shot magazine that you preload then just work the lever to chamber another pellet. It uses a 88 gram CO2 cylinder tha...

Jeanne, I have had wing entrapment issues in the past, but after reading all the great information posted here I have greatly reduced the problem. I have a total of 34 cavities here in town, 24 in aluminum houses and 10 gourds, all the gourds have 3" tunnels and have never been a problem. The h...

This is how my love affair began. My dad first built a six room wooden house after they moved to the country from their long time home inside of Memphis. He did not have any luck attracting Martins though he tried for many years. Many years later I bought a five acre lot in Mississippi that had a ni...

That theres funny I don't care who you are

Hughrichards,
What a great idea. I uploaded some of my shots of our "Ample Acres" colony. I will look foward to seeing more photos of other's colonies. Thank you very much for starting this site.

Lee

Dick, Just my experience,I have 33 compartments here in town 16 are crescents in Wateredge Suites 8 excluders in a Trendsetter and 9 WDC on 3" PVC tunnels into Natureline and SuperGourds. The only entrances to ever have WE are the Excluders. This happened 3 different years before I added the 3/...

Nancy, Here is how I did mine. The rods are some 3/8" aluminum perch rod that came with a Multi-Purpose pole. I drilled out 4 of the rivets holding the plastic slider to the bottom of the house then used those holes to bolt short pieces of 3/4" aluminum angle to the house. The rods go thru...

Bedrock,
What I did with mine. Drill the 3/8" holes out to 5/8" insert a 3" long piece of 1/2" CPVC water pipe and chalk it in. No more leak. Hope you have a great Martin year.
Lee

Sluggo, I'm in Memphis myself and am in the process of building a T-14 style house out of cypress. I got my lumber from Wilson Lumber on McLean near Chelsea. They have 4 foot long pieces of 1" rough cut cypress they call shorts for around $1.00 per foot. As Flyin Lowe said you will have to plan...

Eddie,
great idea for a nice roomy compartment. Just an idea if you could somehow get that bail to stick straight out, maybe attach it to the porch it would be a great perch area. Hope you have a great Martin year.
Lee

Ron I had a nest with two young fledge today. This is the first August fledge for our site here in Memphis ever in the 5 years we have hosted these wonderful birds. Our martins began arriving here before February 24 so we have had a long and productive season. Looking forward to next year already. Lee

Lily,
Check out this post by Bernie. This makes sense to me, and I'm going to try it at my remote colony" Ample Acres" in Mississppi.





http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10008

Thanks for the info Bernie,I will definatly try this at my remote colony, Ample Acres, down in Mississippi. Since I can't be there to trap and shoot on a regular basis I am always looking for a better way to control the SS. Lots of luck this .
Lee

Oops,
I see burntdog posted nearly the same thing while I was slowly two fingering my post. Any way it may work.
Lee

Scully, I would like to respectfully add a third option to Mary's list. That would be to leave the nest and let the HS lay eggs, then addle the eggs. This can be done by shaking the eggs very hard,, and then coating them with oil. You can use vegtable oil, mineral oil, or whatever is available. This...

K.C.
I'm sure you mean't 3/8" rod didn't you. If you bent 5/8" like that I sure would not want to arm rassle with you.LOL
Lee

Dick,This year I'm trying something a little different. In my natural gourds just a handful of pine straw,the super gourds got a floor of 3/16 peg board and then the pine straw. In the Watersedge Suites I am trying half shelf liner and half styrifoam to cover the slick metal subfloor before adding a...