Thanks neighbor

[deacdiddy]

As a first timer I have had a few birds visit my site this year but no takers. I haven't seen any martins at my site in a few weeks. Today while eating lunch I heard quite a bit of martin singing going on. I went out on the porch to see at least 12 to 18 fledgeling martins from my neighbors site checking out my gourds. I have a very good feeling that I'm going to be very busy next year...Thanks neighbor for maintaining a good site!

[Seller]

As a first timer I have had a few birds visit my site this year but no takers. I haven't seen any martins at my site in a few weeks. Today while eating lunch I heard quite a bit of martin singing going on. I went out on the porch to see at least 12 to 18 fledgeling martins from my neighbors site checking out my gourds. I have a very good feeling that I'm going to be very busy next year...Thanks neighbor for maintaining a good site!

This is exactly what's going on at my place right now. Once I realized the other colony had babies a few weeks ago I actually lowered my house and closed the cavities so I wouldnt have to fight the sparrows. (didnt bother closing the goards, sparrows never showed an interest) The other day I noticed about 8-9 birds hovering over where my house used to be so I ran out and raised it up leaving the house cavities closed. Yesterday they came back several times with a few birds landing now and then. A LOT of fly bys. This morning while they were here I lowered the pole and opened two of the house cavities, no real change in their behavior but a couple landed and peeked in. They're coming by several times a day spending 10-15 minutes. Good stuff and I'm like you in that Im hopefull for next year.

[Guest]

This is exactly what's going on at my place right now. Once I realized the other colony had babies a few weeks ago I actually lowered my house and closed the cavities so I wouldnt have to fight the sparrows. (didnt bother closing the goards, sparrows never showed an interest) The other day I noticed about 8-9 birds hovering over where my house used to be so I ran out and raised it up leaving the house cavities closed. Yesterday they came back several times with a few birds landing now and then. A LOT of fly bys. This morning while they were here I lowered the pole and opened two of the house cavities, no real change in their behavior but a couple landed and peeked in. They're coming by several times a day spending 10-15 minutes. Good stuff and I'm like you in that Im hopeful for next year.

Seller...What you describe is the same as what is going on at my place. 4 weeks ago there were 2 pair that came and checked out the house and flew around for about 20 minutes and then nothing for 2 weeks...then on Monday 06/06/11 one lone male stayed around for about 30 minutes, Wed. 06/08/11 there was a male and female checking out the house and they hung around for a couple hours, then today there were 5 martins checking out the house, they hung around for over 4 hours. I saw them go in and out of the nest cavities a few times.
I haven't seen them in the last couple of hours.
BUT...I got hopes for next year now!

[Indiana_Tom]

Hi Deep Woods and Seller,

Sound like both of you need to be ready next year. Now is when a lot of the martins check out housing for next year. The more martins you see looking around the better.

Make sure you are ready next year and check the reports often to see where the martins are at.

Best wishes to both of you.

[Seller]

Hey Deep, I have an established colony just a couple of blocks away that i've watched all year. In fact early on there was a single sy male trying with all his might to get a female to nest here but I guess she was more fond of the established colony. Im pretty sure the other coloney has two or three nesting pair, 6-8 birds. At least I got to watch them for a few months right? I'll take what I can get at this point. Now there's at least 12 -15 birds so the young are fledging. And like yours they'll come over several times a day and hang out. Today we were out by the pool and they came in for a visit and sang and cruised around for at least 20-30 minutes, a few landed and did a brief inspection. Im with you on the high hopes for next year!

Yea Tom, summer's not even over and Im ready for January 2012!

[Seller]

BUMP!

This is getting crazy! Today on about a dozen occasions I had 12-15 birds hanging around. Most of the times they came in a few landed on the house perches. They're chattering and clicking away. Funny thing this time is there's at least 3 ASY males, never had that before. Since the beginning of the year there's always been one ASY male in the area.

So my question is this, at what time of the year does the color change take place on the males going to an all black/purple color? Could the all dark ASY males be the SY males that arrived back in the beginning of the season?

Could the birds be getting ready to head back south? I thought they typically stayed in this area until at least August or September? This seasons fledglings are probably about 2 weeks out of the nest now.

[deacdiddy]

Last year my neighbors birds stayed all summer. They left near the end of august. I enjoyed watching them so much that I decided to start my own site this year.
His birds are still here visiting almost daily...Today we were cutting the pasture for hay and the pms and the barn swallows were swarming all over the place. I am getting great enjoyment even though I wasn't successful in getting any nesting pairs this year...

[Mary Dawnsong]

Hi Seller,

Purple Martins complete their molt into adult plumage during their second winter in South America.

You can read about that and much more in the Martin FAQ section:
http://purplemartin.org/forumarchives/archive/FAQ.htm

My best, Mary

[Seller]

Thank you very much Mary.

That means we've got a couple of new ASY males around here now.