Purple Martin Forum

Hi SuzieD, and welcome to the PM forum!! Have you tried pre-nesting with wheat or pine straw? I think this year's weather has severely delayed PM's in our neck of the woods. It simply doesn't feel like summer yet. I saw my first PM (out feeding over the lake) just this past Monday. And, this is the ...

Holy Cow !!!!!

Congratulations!!!!

Someone upstairs is sending multiple blessings your way, that's for sure.

I use an upside down 5 gallon bucket. Try to find one without a lot of "ribbing" or overhanging flaps around the top. If necessary, cut them off with a sharp box cutter. Cut a near perfect hole in the center of bucket bottom to accommodate your pole. You then drill a very small pilot hole ...

Hey dbutz, It seemed as though any PM visitors I had, when using pine needles, would never stay for long. I have an unlimited supply of clean, dried white pine needles, too. Go figure. So I finally bought a bale of wheat straw last spring on my way up to the lake. I didn't plan that too well, becaus...

Hey dbutz, It seemed as though any PM visitors I had, when using pine needles, would never stay for long. I have an unlimited supply of clean, dried white pine needles, too. Go figure. So I finally bought a bale of wheat straw last spring on my way up to the lake. I didn't plan that too well, becaus...

I am pretty sure that my 2017 success was due largely in part to a change over from pine needles to wheat straw.

All of the Amish in my area use wheat straw.

Just my 2 cents...

Happy New Year to all!! I want to wish PM success to all in 2018.

N.E. Indiana I finally had a nesting pair this year (2017). This was my fourth summer. Although I wasn't at the cottage to witness it, I fledged 4. They did come back to say hello for several nights afterwards. I did one nest change at 10 days in. Repeated Sevin dust during the nest change. Nesting ...

A Masterpiece!! One day, I'd like to own/live on a farm and work the land. I am convinced that I'm a Country-mouse at heart, stuck living in the City. Let me know if you'd ever want a volunteer / free farmhand around. I bet your overall farm knowledge wouldn't fit on a USB memory drive. Thank you fo...

So, my visit to the lake last week (6/13) was quite refreshing. A house check revealed a nest, with green leaves to boot, along with four PM eggs. The nest is in one of the compartments of my T-8. I seem to have a "Three's Company" type situation, but with two Jack Trippers. I'm pretty sur...

An uplifting [bird related] news story about a great American. Enjoy!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html

Awesome numbers, I am very jealous. I do think that you should buy a scratch off lotto ticket as the odds are definitely in your favor. Nice videos, too!

Yes. There should one one, dual clamp. It connects at the top of the base pole and the bottom of the upper/main pole, securing the two together with bolts.

It should not interfere with the lowering of the house whatsoever. The clamp is apx. 4-5' off the ground.......or so.

Try this: Gently pull straight down on the rope. While still holding rope down, sway it outward, away from the pole, on a 45 degree angle. (Similar to how you would lower mini blinds). That action should release a sort of small rectangular metal locking bar (directly underneath the house) at which p...

Just a quick update from N.E. Indiana. We arrived at the cottage Saturday a.m. to find 3 and sometimes 4 regular visitors enjoying our T-8. What a blessing! They actually entered several times, now that our porch height has been corrected with the addition of cedar planks. I don't think any have ove...

Great pic! Thanks for the update. Please send one pair North to me. I usually don't see PM's until early June in my town.

As I always say........"Plenty of time left"

Thanks for those sighting reports. I have no sightings from my visit, earlier this week. Plenty of time yet!! Good luck to all!!

Thanks for that report, Bob. My family and I are vacationing in Gulf Shores, AL. this week. It is nice to see and hear Martins here on a daily basis. It is absolutely beautiful here. Today, we spotted a colony at someone's harborfront residence in Orange Beach, while we were awaiting our parasailing...

My 2016 visitor showed up around 28 May. He was attracted to one particular gourd, which was close to where I had a decoy mounted. He was obviously distressed by the decoy and swooped down and shrieked at it a few times. I moved it to the opposite side, to an interior porch. He hasn't paid the decoy...

I do not know exactly, but it is a very very small file size. 780kb? Something like that.

Most here use a 3rd party photo sharing website. I use photobucket.com. It allows you to post bigger photo files. Pretty easy to do and it is free..

packerbacker wrote:and now im watching 2 HOSP do it on the porch of one of my gourds....they're taunting me!

That's just wrong, man! Lol. Catch him!!!!!

"When this war is over, there will be a reckoning"
-Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman)
(Cold Mountain-2003)