Purple Martin Forum

Well well well. That was pretty colourful. However, I called Erva today and explained my problem. I was connected to Jeff. He was great. He said it sounds like the springs are set a little too tight. Just bend them a bit. He offered to send me new lock right away, but I declined and thought I'd try ...

I just put up a new MSS12R house and I'm having trouble lowering it. I have to yank and yank on the rope and it only drops an inch at a time before relocking. If I manually press on the locking box it drops freely. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks Matt. That was helpful.

i found a used Trio MSS12. The current model is an MSS12R. I want to buy the crescent doors and also convert to 6 cavities. Both can be done with MSS12R. Does anybody know what changed when they added the R?

Hey Steve. I just wrote you a note and will pop it in mail tomorrow with my contact info. Apparently private messaging is turned off on the forum.

Just curious, over the last several years, how many visitors per year did you actually observe. Judging by your comments you only saw visitors one year?

Thanks Donnie. No I'm not anywhere close to giving up! Steve, I've tried the TS house 50' away. I've also moved it progressively further away using two shepherds hooks. They still guard the airspace. One year when I had the TS settled in their own box, a second pair tried to move into the T14. I had...

Hey Steve: Great job. Interesting to discover you on this forum. I'm at Tavistock about 45 minutes away. I share your story of patience. I think this will be year 6 for me. I have had visitors every year but no takers. They have been arriving between May 28 and 30th without fail and staying about on...

Hi Gonzo I have been battling TS for a couple years now and as much as I love them, they are a major problem. I've introduced a TS box as per the protocol, however, when PM visitors arrived, they chase them away. My conclusion is that if you are starting a new colony, the TS will likely over power t...

I agree. Those animated maps are way too cool. Love them. Thanks so much.

Hi Peggy. Thanks for your interest in northern Martins. I'd like to add that the martins only arrive at the Great Lakes in April. I'm located about 1 hour north of Lake Erie and scouts usually arrive in mid April. Normal high for this time of year is around 50F so the bugs are just starting. In fact...

Thanks Matt for providing the link again. This whole thread was about the limitation of the protocol. Yes it will get the TS out of your martin house quite nicely. I followed it last year and this year and thought I had TS under control. But in some cases (like mine and the originator of the tread),...

Well it boiled down to moving the martin house or moving the TSs. Moving the martin house, although a good idea, was just too much for me so this afternoon two TS boxes took a 15' move AWAY from the martin house. The TSs happily followed. I will repeat this daily and maybe it will help. Thanks all. ...

Well it happened again this morning at 10 am.. Single martin visited. TS went crazy. She hit the highway. I am totally screwed this year.

Ray:

My experience exactly. We have to get them out of the martin house and 50' away is too close for a box. So what is the solution?

I had success with hanging a gourd on a shepherds hook about 10' below the martin house. The TS took it instantly. Then every day I put in a second shepherds hook and moved the gourd 2-3' at a time. Eventually it was 35' away.

Ray:

Please elaborate. To get them out of the martin house, I was advised to provide an alternate box. When you suggest not to let them nest, do you mean in the martin house or anywhere close to it?

Hi Idskidmore: I had the same thing happen to me just today. Last year I had problems with TS in my martin rig so I learned all about putting up a box for them. Well this year the TS returned and I had a box for them about 35' from the rig. But then another pair came and wanted the martin house too,...

Thanks everyone. And especially you Doug. I will never forget that line!

After four years of trying, I've seen quite a few visitors check out my site. I play both dawn song and chatter. We're all quite familiar with rationale behind playing the dawnsong early in the morning. So why have I never seen a visitor early in the day? They usually show between 11 am and 3 pm. An...

Thanks for the great suggestions. I didn't see them all until it was too late. It bothered me through the night so I was up at the crack of dawn song and off to the lumber store. I felt like I was in the pit crew at a NASCAR race. I had to get that door changed in a hurry. So now I have one 3 compar...