This morning April 6, 2015 I took a few photos of some of my various housing systems. It was kind of nasty weather with clouds and some mist. Yesterday was actually almost cold and it rained nearly all day long.
I believe most of the ASY martins have arrived now though there will probably be some more throughout April. We did have some good ASY “waves” in late March and these martins really helped to increase our numbers which were WAY DOWN. We may be close to the number of martins we had at this time in 2014, but we are much better off than what we had in early March.
SY martins are now arriving but not in large numbers. I have seen four or five SY males that have secured cavities in my colony and that is all right now. In the evenings I am not seeing good size flocks of non-resident martins arriving to try to roost. Last year at this time I did see this. So far, there may be ten or a few more “sleepers” coming in the evenings. Of course, all this could change soon if the SY martin migration really picks up.
Most of my gourd racks and Trendsetters are about half full with a few systems having more martins. Nest domination by aggressive martins is rampant with some pairs controlling three or more gourds or house compartments and they are vicious in keeping other martins out. I believe I am approaching around 250 pairs of martins.
Here are some photos of various gourd racks and Trendsetters.
12 room Trendsetter with ten gourds on a three inch square aluminum pole. I have five Trendsetters: three 12 roomers, one 16 roomer, and a 28 room system.
My new 16 room Trendsetter with martins. There are currently two ASY pairs and a single SY male. I raised this system recently mainly for the later arriving SY martins.
K24 gourd rack with all Troyer Horizontals with tunnels/porches. I have eight of these gourd racks and really like them a lot and so do the martins.
Gemini gourd rack with a variety of gourds. This is my favorite commercial gourd rack and I like the two ring approach with a diverse gourd arrangement.
Trendsetter with gourds and K24 gourd rack.
Another Gemini gourd rack. I have two of these systems.
24 Gourd Super System.
36 Gourd Super System.
K24 gourd rack with variety of gourds.
Steve
