On April 26, 2011 at around 7:30 pm our two purple martin colonies were hit hard by a violent storm that most likely contained a tornado. My martin colony was almost totally knocked down but some of my housing systems held up though several of these were badly leaning. Bob’s colony was completely knocked down and not a single system remained standing though one small gourd rack was only about two feet from touching the ground.
This was the worst purple martin experience I have ever been through. After the storm passed, I peeked out of one of my front windows and it was dark with flashing lightening. Then I saw the catastrophe in my front yard: most of the gourd racks and houses either on the ground or leaning. I couldn’t believe it and felt totally helpless and sick.
I had 22 housing systems and maybe five were still somewhat standing correctly while all the others were either on the ground or badly bent. Nearly all my large racks, including my Gemini and 36 gourd Super System, were blown down though my 24 gourd Super System was still standing but the pole was bent near the winch. Martins were vocalizing and flying around in the dark.
I then checked on Bob’s colony which is about 100 yards north of mine. His colony was totally flattened. All his Trio Castles, his Goliads, and his two 24 gourd Super Systems were on the ground. His small 12 gourd Deluxe rack was almost touching the ground. Several martins were flying around the area and vocalizing. He had 13 housing systems and all were down.
I was overwhelmed by this situation and wondered how we would get our housing back up. I now understand how folks feel when they face a major catastrophe and become almost “dazed and confused”. It is getting late in the nesting season and many of the martins were on eggs. How long would the martins stay around without their housing up? Time was critical to get the housing repaired and raised.
In spite of this devastation, our martin colonies are now almost fully restored though many of the poles are much shorter, some of the housing is a little dented, and some of the systems are leaning a little. In just several days our colonies have nearly all the same housing up and the surviving martins are re-establishing their territory, building nests and even new SY males are trying to move. It was miracle and God sent some of his finest angels to help us. They definitely saved most of my martin colony. Though Bob is much more capable than me in fixing things, his colony was also greatly helped by the action of these angels. We could NOT have had nearly all our martin housing up in such a short time without their help. On April 26 our colonies were devastated and by the afternoon of April 28, they were almost completely restored. That is a miracle!
Bob and I can’t find the words to express our gratitude to Troy Galloway from Dallas, Texas, Scott Dyess from Glenmora, Louisiana, Sam Fertitta and his friend Jeff from Leesville, Louisiana, and Robert Jernigan and his brother Ron and employee Eddie from Shreveport, Louisiana. These guys came to the rescue and knew exactly what to do to get our housing back up in record time. And some of these angels drove several hundred miles to help! This was a major emergency and required an emergency response. They saved our martin colonies and we will be eternally grateful for their help.
We also thank the PMCA and Louise Chambers for taking the lead in organizing help for us and Diane and Robert Oberlander from Creative Universe Enterprises for offering to supply any needed parts to help with restoring our housing. We deeply appreciate this caring. I believe we are in good shape regarding replacement parts.
And we thank all of our friends on the Forum who offered words of encouragement and prayers and I was able to talk with some on the phone recently. You helped us very much.
Many of the martin housing poles were badly bent at the base near the ground stakes/sockets. The bottom bent portions of the poles had to be cut off before the pole could be placed over a ground stake or inserted into the socket. In several cases the iron ground stakes were bent badly and fortunately I had some extras. Robert Jernigan had some square tubing which he used to substitute for the cracked/bent iron ground stake on my multi-purpose pole. His fix worked great.
Most of our Troyer Gourds, Super Gourds and Excluder Gourds survived the storm though some of the tunnels were ripped off the gourds and some porches and cling plates were broken. Of course, a few of the aluminum houses were damaged some when they crashed to the ground.
It is hard to estimate martin losses due to this violent storm. I had around 300 pairs of martins and Bob had about 150 just prior to the storm. After the storm, we found maybe 20 dead martins around the colony and hundreds of smashed eggs. We released many trapped martins inside the housing. All the eggs in Bob’s colony were destroyed; some of the eggs in the still standing housing in my colony appear to have survived. Possibly we lost anywhere from a half to a third of the martins in our colonies. I suspect many martins were killed when they were hurled to the ground in nearby pastures and woodlots. I have noticed that some of the housing has fewer martins than before and that is to be expected after such an ordeal. But we really will not know anything certain until later when we have a better idea of the number of martins actually laying new clutches of eggs. However, I still believe we both will have super colonies of at least 100 pairs of martins a piece.
I was amazed at watching the martins hovering around their downed housing and even fighting each other over gourds on fallen racks! I saw martins entering Bob’s Goliads even though the Goliads were crashed firmly on the ground. Martins continued to enter the gourds/houses of systems in my colony which were bent at 45 degree angles or more.
And when we got their housing up in the air, you should have seen these HAPPY martins! They were going crazy getting back in their nests!
Sam Fertitta kindly gave me a beautiful PMCA multi-purpose pole with two Trio M-12s and ten Troyer Gourds to replace one of my badly damaged gourd racks. I offered to pay him for it but he declined. So I told Sam this is still his system but will be part of my colony; Sam has his own satellite colony in northwest Louisiana! We erected it in the same location as the old system and within minutes martins were going in the cavities and claming territory. I suspect that the gourds on this new system probably attracted any surviving martins from the old rack.
Even though many of our houses and gourd racks have been lowered significantly, the martins have readily accepted the change. I have gourds that are only seven or eight feet off the ground and the martins are in them. Since our colony sites are so open, height of the housing is not that much of an issue.
I plan to keep all my housing lower down in the future and will NEVER again erect a large gourd rack on poles that are 16 feet tall. My three inch diameter aluminum poles bent and even snapped. The large number of gourds on these racks may have contributed to the failure of the poles as the racks became almost like trees as the wind tore into the systems.
This was a rare weather occurrence and we may never see it again. These types of events with extremely violent winds probably would destroy many martin housing systems and the pole diameter or height may do little to prevent it. But I want to doing everything I can to help minimize possible devastating losses in the future. Lower housing and not overloading racks with too many gourds may help.
Again, Bob and I greatly appreciate the fantastic help provided by Troy, Scott, Sam, Jeff, Robert, Ron and Eddie in repairing our damaged housing and getting the systems up in record time. I am sure the martins appreciate it, too! All of you are the main reason why our martin colonies are up and running. And thanks to the PMCA, Louise Chambers, Diane and Robert Oberlander and all our Forum friends.
Here are some photos of our martin colonies after the storm and several photos of them after restoration.
This photo shows several of my housing systems down and leaning. Martins are still on the systems! You can see part of a gourd rack system behind a small clump of trees that was hurled probably 75 yards and system became entangled in barbed wire. The winds broke the pole at the ground stake and took the system for a ride across the road!
This photo shows more housing down and leaning.
This photo show more housing down and leaning. My 24 gourd Super System survived but was leaning and has a bend near the winch.
This photo shows a panoramic shot of my devastated martin colony.
This photo shows my 36 gourd Super System that was broken off at the ground stake and the system was hurled nearly 75 feet to almost the end of my driveway! I found several dead martins around this system and all the eggs were destroyed.
This shows one of my 16 gourd racks where the aluminum pole broke at the top of the ground stake.
This photo shows my martin colony after it was largely restored. I did not put up my damaged Gemini or another 16 gourd system; the new multi-purpose pole replaced the 16 gourd system. I will fix the Gemini for next season. These two gourd racks are still in the yard along with a number of gourds. I want the insurance claims adjuster to see some of the damaged martin systems.
This photo shows one of my premium gourd racks with 24 Troyer Gourds after about four feet of the bottom portion was cut to remove the bent area. This system went down during the storm. The rack now is only about 11 or 12 feet tall at the top and bottom gourds are around seven feet off the ground. Martins have returned to the system and appear to be re-nesting at this time.
This photo shows most of Bob’s destroyed purple martin colony. All his housing systems went down. There are three other systems, a Deluxe gourd rack and two Trio Castles that are not shown in this photo. If you look carefully at some of the Goliads, you will see martins perched on the houses.
This photo shows his restored martin colony with all of his housing back up. All the houses and his two Super System gourd racks are lower down because the lower portion of the bent poles had to be removed. The martins have completely accepted the lower housing and are now re-nesting.
Steve it is amazing job you and the others have done in restoring it back. I am Glad that you and Bob are ok, my prays were with ya'll the whole time. If there is anything for repairs you needed, I will buy it and have it shipped to you. You have always been a great long distance friend and have helped me on many times when I was ready to quit. All you have to do is ask and it will be there.
