Get ready Indiana

Rich Jewell In · Fri Mar 25, 2011 10:23 am

Good luck Tom. Keep them down South for a while!

Jim 1990 · Fri Mar 25, 2011 7:58 pm

I have a interesting story with a tree swallow I seen early in the morning march 19 setting on the gourd rack I thought oh no not a martin yet it is going to be to cold for them here being just a few miles south of Fort wayne . I went out and got a close look and it was a tree swallow.
I did not see the swallow the rest of the day . The same thing happened last year I saw a swallow here in march sitting on the gourd rack and then left and did not see any until April.
Is it possible that it gets here this early to see if its house is still here which is 40 feet from the gourd rack then goes back south where it is a little warmer.
With this cold I was thinking about how to keep the martins warm I been reading about landlords using hand warmers. I was thinking of taking a small light bulb and enclosing it in small metal can and mounting it in the upper part of a gourd any thought on this .No martins here yet but just been tossing the idea around.
I did teach the martins to take crickets and eggs last year it took a few tries but they caught on to what I was trying to do.

I sure have been catching the starlings in the nest box trap 26 so far . I have not seen any HS for 3 weeks I started trapping and shooting them early this year

Jim in northern Indiana

landonn · Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:48 am

Indiana - Tom,

It looks like Indiana will be back to 50s and 60s by April 1st. The good news is that alot of the days next week are sunny, so martins that are here might find a little food. I'm hoping I don't have arrivals till April. Good luck everyone.

Landonn

flyin-lowe · Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:17 am

Typically I have tree swallows show up and then I don't see them for a couple days. This year I saw several around my property last Friday. Since I have only see one or two, and those were perched on my gourd rack and T14 pole. I think either the cold weather has them held up somewhere else or they are just more interested in feeding this time of year, after the migration, and not yet interested in nesting. I just hope my young martin's will fend them off this year as it looks like they are going to be starting at about the same time. In the past the TS have started nesting before the martins really start arriving. This year the TS are behind and the PM's are early.

Rich Jewell In · Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:13 pm

I haven't seen any tree swollows yet. I'm thinking the same thing, the martins and ts will come together. In the 20's tonight and 34 for a high tomorrow. No change for the next 7 days.

Indiana_Tom · Sat Mar 26, 2011 8:21 pm

Hi all,

I have not seen a martin since the scout first showed up before the cold snap. I put some crickets in the two gourds I have open and have lowered the rack twice to see if the martin was or has been in. I don't see any signs of anything staying there and am figuring he went back south. He wouldn't have to go very far to get into a little warmer area.

Before the cold snap, I had seen several tree swallows. One stayed here almost all the time looking for a female. I have two BO-nines up for them. The others came and went. I would guess the tree swallow arrived four days before the martin.

Well, I hope they are all alright but there is nothing else I can do. Just waiting for warm weather to return.

Good luck to all

landonn · Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:59 pm

Well I have great news. It look like the temperatures will not be as bad as forecasted earlier today. Noes it supposed to be high 40s and 50s next week.

Landonn

flyin-lowe · Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:42 am

According to the site I have been using after tomorrow the highs are supposed to get back into the mid 40's Tuesday and then mid 50's by the end of the week. The lows are still in the mid to high 30's but that is a lot better then the 20's. I think mid to high 30's over night is alright for the martins if they have a place to get into at night.

Guest · Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:01 am

I had 3 Tree Swallows here last week,have'nt seen them since the cold weather arrived i guess they may have left for warmer temps where they could get food.I drove by some of the local martin landlords friday and some of them have'nt raised their housing yet,i'm sure that will change this week.

Indiana_Tom · Sun Apr 03, 2011 10:01 pm

Hello again Indiana landlords,

During the cold snap at the end of March, my ASY and Tree Swallows left and presumably went south.

I had two pair of martins here today. I know one is spending the night but I am not sure about the second pair. They were still flying around when I had to go in.

I think this thread is long enough and am starting a new thread called Indiana April.

Hope everyone checks in there and lets us know how they are doing.

Good Luck to all