MARTINS LEFT EARLY

[Guest]

I live in Southwest Missouri. My martins are usually here until the second week in August. They left last week, a full two to three weeks early. Has anyone else had this happen. It is too quiet here now!

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Martins do not always leave at the same time every year. They leave about 2 days to 10 days after they fledge. Most of mine left, but I still have one nest here, so we have many visitors every morning. On larger colonies, there is a very large amount of confusion when many nests fledge about the same time, and then some leave for the roosts shortly after they flledge, probably 3 or 4 days later

Martins are much safer at the roosts, that is why they leave our backyards. You have nothing to worry about unless a predator ran them away, then you should have great concern. A snake in the housing can cause all of them to leave early, the same with owls or racoons. Its best to monitor them somewhat so that you know what is happening, so you have an idea of when they fledged.

[jspurgin]

My numbers have dropped considerably here in south central missouri. I still have one nest about to fledge, and there are about a dozen birds hanging around in the morning and evening.

[Guest]

We had stormy/cool weather for about one entire week before they left. I have snake guards on my poles. I had a few here this morning. I think just traveling through. I know they do not leave at exactly the same time each year,but they have left within a few days of the same time for the last several years.

[Guest]

Chris -
I lived in SW Springfield last year (my first & last landlording adventure) and I had one pair with 4 fledges that returned nightly for about a week, and then I noticed that two of the HYs and PaPa stopped returning whereas MaMa returned with the other two for about another week, and then with only one fledge who may have been reluctant to leave what was perceived as the "Safety of the Nest"
Being my first year I feared the "missing" family members had suffered an untimely fate, but now I believe it was natural progression and my good Papa went with the more adventurous fledges whereas my good Mama risked everything to ensure a good future for her last chick. We moved to Florida in February, and we lowered the house and stored it in the shed for the new owner (a young lady who said she "like birds")
I would like to think that some of your tenants this year were from my tiny and disrupted colony. When they return next year, please do a fuzzy slipper twirl for me; I miss landlording but fear their predators here in Ocala's Florida Greenway. Think happy thoughts.........

[Guest]

Liz,
I will definitely do a little dance for you when they return next year. I so enjoy them. I usually have about forty and then add their babies to the mix. I guess I should put up another pole but two are all I can take care of right now.
Hope you are enjoying florida. We were in Miami and the Keys last winter. Loved it. It was 16 degrees here when we returned home.

[Bill & Kelley Shields]

Hey Chris!

I live 10 miles north of Springfield, MO and our birds are just now leaving... On Sunday we saw 150+ birds sitting on a high wire behind the house and then poof.... Almost all gone. There is one lone re-nester that isn't scheduled to fledge her 5 babies for another week so they are still around as are what I think are some youngins. It does seem awfully early this year and it is kind of sad to see them go... We hope to get to Tulsa to see the roost soon as we have never witnessed such a thing.

Good progress this year though in spite of losing all of our housing in a tornado shortly after initial nesting had begun...

Last year 14 nests with 63 fledged
This year 25 nests with 100 fledged and 5 young

Bill & Kelley

[Guest]

I miss my martins. It is too quiet. I have seen a few since my main group left. I think they were just traveling through. I live just south of Bolivar so we aren't too far apart. Tell me more about the "roost" in Tulsa. I am not familiar with it.
Chris in Bolivar

[The Olsons]

I do not like the quietness after the martins are gone.....it is deafening

Astrid

[Bill & Kelley Shields]

Chris,

Here is a recent post about the Tulsa roost... It must be awesome!!!

bill


Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:15 am Post subject: Tulsa Roost in Same Area as Last Year

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Saturday evening I went looking for the location of this year's roost, and found they are using the same area as in 2008. Most of the birds were going into trees on the north side of 6th Street just east of the elevated walkway between the Doubletree Hotel and the Convention Center. So this area is downtown on 6th Street between Denver Ave. and Houston Ave.. There were a lot of starlings in the trees, but there were thousands of martins swirling overhead and also going into the trees. It was between 8:30 and 9 PM when I was seeing them.

The Tulsa Audubon Society has a martin watching event planned for the evening of August 15th, but there may be some other evenings between now and then when people will be encouraged to come spend some time downtown and have a meal or just a drink and then see the spectacle of the martins coming into the roost. It has been such a difficult nesting season for our local martins that we will just have to see if the numbers at the roost are reduced. But this roost is probably made up of martins from such a large area that our local problems may not be reflected in the roost numbers.

This morning, I was watching the Weather Channel's "Local on the 8"s" segment before 7 AM, and the birds leaving the roost were picked up on the radar. Most of the birds were moving to the southeast based on the radar picture.

I will keep watching the roost and give periodic reports on what is happening. With the help of others, we will be trying to raise public awareness of the presence of the roost and their importance to the overall wellbeing of the martin population.