Northern Minnesota not giving up....

[Dave Sig]

Im in the same canoe as Mitch in Ohio and Zag in Michigan, but i'm in it for the long haul.. Ive been trying for martins for 7 years or so here in northern Minnesota...I had 1 pair in 2011, 2012, and 2013 and each of those years my one pair raised and fledged from 4 to 6 young. 2014 I had only visitors, even a ASY male that stayed over night for a week or so but never brought back a mate..This year is the least amount of martins i have seen since i first started..I've seen a total of 6 martins this whole breeding season...One small glimmer of hope is the I had a lone ASY male show up last Friday the 12th of June...he never did stay overnight but was here first thing in the morning and was back and forth until Sunday the 14th..He went into one of the T 14's several times but showed no interest in my gourd rack.. He did show back up again today and just did a flyby. But I must be doing something right to have had a pair nest 3 years in a row. My closest other landlord is 4 miles or so as the martin flies and as of last week he has no martins..He and his family have been martin landlords for 30 to 40 years.. I really think the the martin population for northern Mn is sadly on the decline big time..But im going to hang in there, still playing the dawn song, decoys, mud, pine straw, 3 types of gourds, and 2 T 14's. Just watching the lone ASY male fold up and go into his power dive for my setup was worth the whole effort.. They will come,, maybe not this year but the will come.....Any words of encouragement are always welcome....

[kirt J]

Keep the chin up, I know it's hard to see them fly away. This is my 11th year and I finally got martins to stay.A ASY male arrived on may 26th and two SY females the next day. Now he's been a busy guy, because both nest has eggs. My problem is going to be when the babies hatch and only the one female will be feeding her young. The one nest which the male hangs around has 5 eggs and the other female has 6. So she'll be feeding them by herself. This last spring I cut down a tree to open up the yard which helped. So do what you can to attract them

[avesrun]

Dave all I can say is have your housing in the absolute most WIDE open spot possible on your property and/or get out a chainsaw if necessary. I'm blessed to have first pair and a promising 2nd pair at a satellite site 2 miles from my home (2nd year trying there). This is my 3rd year trying at my home and hasn't happened. I will be moving housing to an open field. I've been following the advice that Martins want to be close to human housing which may be true but if there are any trees nearby it's tough. The 60ft rule is skeptical; If at all possible I don't think there should be trees within 150ft minimum!
By the way, there is not a human house or structure any where near my satellite site for what that is worth .
Anyway, next year at my home I'm going to sacrifice having my housing close to the house and move it further away. I have a line of trees currently about 90ft away and I don't think the many visitor Martins (especially females ) like it. Good luck Dave it WILL happen if you stay persistent.
TimG

[terriergal]

Anything going on up there yet?? here in southern MN I have a brand new nest of babies and two nests of babies that are about 1.5 to 2 weeks old.