Purple Martin Forum

There are 2 sizes available, the 3/4in mesh will catch the large snakes, the 1/2in mesh will catch the small snakes. The 1/2in mesh will not catch a large snake, and the 3/4in mesh will not catch a small snake. My opinion is that you only need the bird netting (you do not need both metal guards and ...

I'm sorry to answer you back so late Siberman. For some reason, I do not get notified on post replies like we used to.(?) That's great news. 20" sets up your area with good saturation and moisture for a time. I think we got 0 to 1" in December~ hahaha.. :grin: We did just get a nice rain f...

The Troyers are real swell folks. I had just ordered a few things including one of their slot entrance BB houses which I hope some BBs will take to. I read some good stuff about slot entrance boxes right here from folks sharing. Troyer gourds are really nice IMO. This may have been available last ye...

Hey yall, Good to see you Anthony and RR. :grin: A few showed up around I'll say 02/19, maybe 02/18 so it looks to be the same time frame in our region. Last night was about 9 to 10 so they're trickling back in little at a time which has been the norm past years. Earliest arrival date I think I reme...

Thank you all for the replies. It is good to see ya Vern. I am with you Louise on the weather. It seems dryer then the forecast we been hearing since last Spring/summer. The rain is life for the Martins as well as everything else. Watching those Feb temps too eyeamtheman. hoping the birds don't show...

Hey Mr. Kroenke, Your super site is looking mighty nice and squared away as usual good sir. I'm sure you and your neighbor friend work pretty darn hard at preparing it for every season. Thanks for the share and the all the stories as well. Best of kind blessings from The Lord to you to get back all ...

Thanks for the information. Sure hope we get more rain then what the maps imply and from what we are doing presently.

Happy New Year to everyone. What a nice new site but I will definitely need to figure out how to navigate in it. :grin: I was wondering what you are hearing about the predicted weather and rain for this season in Central and South Texas. Keeping an eye out for a late Feb freeze like last year and pr...

I have been thinking in the last 2 years about how long it takes me to clean the gourds out and this year was the longest. Glad to read this post because now I know its not strange or isolated to me for the time it takes to clean those babies out... :lol: :lol: Would anyone have a recommendation of ...

Sure hope none are downed if that rain does come. Folks here are telling me that we can expect some rain here this week for what that rumor is worth. If we get some, I imagine, OK will get some. You guys usually always get more rain up there. There is a big roost here in Austin which I visited on 09...

In the past couple of years I went to the Austin roost usually as late as beginning of August to see them and there were lots of people watching them This year I went up there on 08/06, 08/14, and 08/20 to see how many birds where still roosting. There were still thousands or them first part of Augu...

Hey Anthony, Thanks for your reply. I thought you had BBs this year? I sure hope we get scads of rain this fall and winter. I thought I read here maybe a couple years back on a post that it takes months in advance of enough water( usually by rainfall) to feed the all the water bodies in a given regi...

Hello Dick, Thanks for the reply. You guys did get a lot of rain too and probably more as Oklahoma usually does. 30 minute heavy rain fall does not sound like too much but don't wanna see Martins getting grounded by soaking from it. :???: Im sure it was time consuming for you to do what you did for ...

HI Anthony, How did your bird do this season? How about your BBs? I'm thinking pretty good since we got some good rain. I have heard/read the same thing about the EL Nino this late fall early winter. They are reckoning it to 1997-8 and another flood year too, maybe 1991 or something in Texas. Kinda ...

Hello Dick, It is nice to hear how much time and care you took to take care of the birds. I'm was just wondering how high the winds were and was it cold during this storm around 08/24? Texas has been dry through June, July, and one rainfall around August 20th or so and then another yesterday. One co...

Thanks for the info Louise. Glad to hear how well these 2nd broods did. We had our last rain fall last day of May so it must have continued to get rain done south a little longer ( to July?) which is really good.

Went up to Capital Plaza area last Thursday which was 08/06/15 which of course was late this year and there was quite a big cloud of Martins there. They are innumerable beyond counting so my guess would be tens of thousands returning which leads me to believe that there must have been an unbelievabl...

Thank you for the update. That's is pretty neat that these 2nd broods fledged today or yesterday. Did you notice if the heat and dryness gave any trouble to the parents in feeding the babies down there on the coast? or is it cool enough that the heat in August in that area did not effect the babies?...

Martins and all our native songbirds, birds of prey, etc, are protected. They cannot be disturbed during the nesting season in any way. But dispersing a roost is legal as long as no birds are harmed or killed. You answered the question right there Louise. I kinda remember the thread a few years bac...

Thanks Louise. It a big place and they do roost in different areas year to year so I will head to that location. I remember a few years back a guy posted here what some business owners did at a roost in Houston( think it was), hiring out to put smoke or gas under the trees at night to make them leav...